Press Freedom

Censoring News to Troops?

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Article in Daily Beast by Sarah-Jane Collins, 8/22/26

Headline:  “Hegseth Launches Twisted Attack on Free Press Over Carrier Scandal”

Subhead:  “The publisher and editor of Stars and Stripes were given the boot after an interview cautioning against censorship.”

“Long-time publisher Max Lederer and Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin were given “separation notices” that allow five days to appeal the decision. . .”

“Korte and Slavin traced the decision back to interviews they did that aired on CBS Sunday Morning in July.”

“ ‘According to the notice, I am being fired for stating in a CBS interview that censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line. The Pentagon’s public affairs office has charged me with insubordination,’ Slavin told CBS. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/hegseths-twisted-attack-on-free-press-over-carrier-scandal/

Media Harping on Trump Aide

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Article in The Atlantic by Jonathan Lemire 8/20/26

Headline: “The White House Freak-Out Over Natalie Harp”

Subhead:  “The West Wing’s explosive response to a fleeting jab didn’t kill the story. It enabled days of coverage.”

“. . .This past Sunday, Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia—who has become quite good at delivering viral campaign sound bites, slickly filmed by multiple cameras—unleashed a blistering indictment of President Trump’s leadership. . .”

“But then the West Wing lost its mind. And Trump did too. Their pushback was so overwhelming, so obviously coordinated, so ugly and personal that it became a story. The White House inadvertently created news, as well as a permission structure for even the most cautious, fact-based media organizations to take on the topic. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/08/ossoff-trump-natalie-harp/688365/

Afraid of Women Reporters?

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Article in The Hill by Ashleigh Fields, 8/19/26

Headline: “Trump attacks on female reporters ‘much nastier,’ ‘much more aggressive’: Haberman”

“. . .Haberman, who has often been the subject of Trump’s affronts, told CNN during an interview that she’s seen his attacks grow ‘nastier’ during his second stint in the Oval Office.

“The ‘attacks on female reporters have gotten much nastier and much more aggressive and much less just about being a keyboard warrior where he would do it on Twitter in term one,’ she told host Christiane Amanpour on her podcast, ‘The Ex Files.’

“CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and Haberman have faced Trump’s ire directly and covered the fallout both on air and in print. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/6037866-maggie-haberman-blasts-donald-trump-rhetoric-female-reporters/

Stop Broadcast License Burning?

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 8/18/26

Headline:  “ABC sues Trump’s media regulator over demand for TV license renewals”

Subhead:  “Network alleges FCC is trying to send ‘chilling message’ in retaliation for content the administration disapproves of”

“ABC has sued the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), arguing that it is being retaliated against for content-based reasons in a move it warns threatens the independence of the press.

“The network filed the lawsuit on Tuesday after being forced to apply early to renew its license to broadcast on the eight local television stations it owns. It is waiting to hear whether the Brendan Carr-led FCC approves its renewal requests, or, more likely, holds a hearing on their merits. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/18/abc-sues-trump-federal-communications-commission

 

Trumps Dodge Subpoenas From Broadcaster

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Article in The New Republic by Hafiz Rashid, 8/17/26

Headline:  “Trump Kids Hide From Subpoenas as BBC Defamation Lawsuit Backfires”

Subhead: “President Trump is losing control over his own lawsuit against the BBC.”

“President Trump’s family members are dodging subpoenas in his defamation lawsuit against the BBC.

“The British network asked a U.S. federal judge for help in getting documents and testimony from Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and her husband Jared Kushner, the Associated Press reports, citing court documents. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/post/214418/trump-kids-hide-subpoenas-bbc-defamation-lawsuit-backfires

Media Didn’t Smile for Trump

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Article in Daily Beast by Erkki Forster, 8/16/26

Headline: “Trump, 80, Declares Fox News Host an Enemy of MAGA”

Subhead:  “The president worked himself into a fury after watching the Fox News host.”

“President Donald Trump melted down at Fox News host Shannon Bream after her Sunday broadcast failed to flatter him.

“The TV-obsessed president appeared to have tuned into Bream’s program on Sunday morning, where the Fox News host grilled Trump’s handpicked attorney general Todd Blanche over the $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization” fund and pressed him on why the president is building the White House ballroom without congressional authorization. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-80-declares-fox-news-host-shannon-bream-an-enemy-of-maga/?via=mobile&source=Reddit

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. . .  wait, wait there’s more! . . .

Article in The Guardian by Sam Levin, 8/17/26

Headline: “White House launches personal attack on CNN reporter over question to Trump”

Subhead:  “CNN says attack ‘beneath the office’ after Kristen Holmes asked president about Jon Ossoff’s comments on key aide”

“The White House launched a personal attack against a CNN reporter on Monday with a social media post that mentioned her children and accused her of asking a ‘disgusting and inhumane question’. . .:”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/17/white-house-personal-attack-cnn-reporter-trump

Kansas Newspaper Restitution

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Article and photo in AP by John Hanna, 8/12/26

Headline: “A Kansas town will pay $850K to end a reporter’s lawsuit over a 2023 raid on her paper’s offices”

“A small Kansas town has agreed to pay $850,000 to a former reporter at its weekly newspaper to end her federal lawsuit over a police raid of the paper’s offices in 2023 that ignited a national furor over press freedom.

“Now-retired Marion County Record reporter Phyllis Zorn said in her lawsuit that the raid violated press freedoms and protections from unreasonable law enforcement searches guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. She also said it almost immediately led to health problems, causing the return of potentially life-threatening seizures that had been controlled for years with medication. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://apnews.com/article/kansas-newspaper-raid-press-freedom-c94e93cb264256678194d891a36108c9

Attacks on Media Outlined

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Article in Poynter by Angela Fu, 8/10/26

Headline: “What 100-plus federal actions reveal about the Trump administration’s campaign against the press”

Subhead: “For 18 months, Poynter has tracked federal actions affecting journalists and news access, revealing a rapid, sweeping change in the media landscape”

“Since taking office, President Donald Trump has reshaped much of American political and civil life, and in doing so, indelibly altered the country’s media landscape. Over the past year, Poynter has documented more than 100 federal actions affecting journalists and access to the news through its Press Freedom Watch project.

“Some have targeted individual reporters, resulting in raids, assaults and detentions. Others have taken aim at outlets, subjecting disfavored newsrooms to investigations, lawsuits and funding cuts. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2026/trump-press-freedom/

FCC Creating Media Monopoly?

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 7/8/26

Headline:  “FCC scraps limit on local TV ownership in win for media conglomerates”

Subhead:  “The 2-1 vote along party lines repealed ‘national cap’ that served as a key check on consolidation of the TV industry”

“In a historic vote on Thursday morning, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted along party lines to overturn a key check against the consolidation of the television industry, throwing out a rule that prevented any one company from owning stations that collectively reach more than 39% of all US TV households.

“The vote is a win for television conglomerates that aim to expand their reach across the country, particularly conservative-leaning companies like Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/aug/06/fcc-overturns-limit-local-tv-ownership

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Article in Common Dreams by Timothy Karr, 8/6/26

Headline: “Free Press Plans to Take Carr to Court in Response to Thursday’s Unlawful Decision to Eliminate a Vital Limit on Media Consolidation”

“. . .Free Press and allies plan to appeal this unlawful decision in court.

“Congress enshrined the national ownership cap in federal law; it prohibits a single company from owning TV stations that reach more than 39 percent of the national broadcast audience. The FCC does not have the power to get rid of this limit, but Chairman Brendan Carr decided to move ahead. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/free-press-plans-to-take-carr-to-court-in-response-to-thursday-s-unlawful-decision-to-eliminate-a-vital-limit-on-media-consolidation

Foreign Journalists Interrogated

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Article in Reuters by Simon Lewis, 8/6/26

Headline:  “US to vet social media of foreign journalists applying for visas, report says”

“The U.S. State Department will ​vet the social media accounts of foreign journalists applying for visas to work in the United ‌States, according to a media report on Thursday.

“The report in the conservative news outlet The Daily Signal cited an internal memo that said an initiative by President Donald Trump’s administration that requires applicants for many visa types to make their social media accounts public ​for screening was being expanded to include foreign media representatives. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-vet-social-media-foreign-journalists-applying-visas-report-says-2026-08-06/