Press Freedom

Ukraine Media Frozen

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Article in The Washington Post by David Stern & Robyn Dixon, 2/7/25

Headline:  “Independent media in Russia, Ukraine lose their funding with USAID freeze”

Subhead:    “Independent media in Russia and Ukraine have been critical of their governments and provide alternative reporting, but much of it relied on U.S. grants.”

“The suspension of USAID has had a dramatic effect on both Ukrainian and Russian independent news outlets that relied on the grants to operate and produced work often critical of their governments.
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“The program that provides billions in U.S. assistance internationally is better known for its humanitarian and medical work, but the funding has also been used for democracy promotion as well as supporting journalism.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/02/07/ukraine-russia-independent-media-trump-usaid/

Putting Targets on Journalists

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Article in The New York Times by Katie Robertson, 2/7/25

Headline: “Trump and Musk Attack Journalists by Name in Social Media Posts”

Subhead:  “Since his inauguration, the president has been quick to demonize what he calls ‘the fake news media.’ On Friday, both men demanded that individuals be fired.”

“President Trump has made clear his animus toward mainstream media organizations. Now he’s getting more personal.

“Mr. Trump and his key lieutenant, Elon Musk, who has been empowered to run what they call the Department of Government Efficiency as a “special government employee,” have attacked journalists by name in recent days on the social media platforms they own: Truth Social and X.

On his Truth Social account on Friday, Mr. Trump called for The Washington Post to fire Eugene Robinson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, and labeled him “incompetent.” Mr. Trump frequently posts on the account to his millions of followers and regularly condemns perceived enemies.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/business/media/trump-musk-attack-journalists.html

Media Labor Victory

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Klaudia Zawinska, 2/6/25

Headline:  “In a Volatile Landscape for AI and Labor Rights, Journalists at ABC Secure a Win”

Subhead:  “How union contracts give workers a say in how AI shapes their industry.”

“Last week, the bargaining unit representing journalists at ABC News, which belongs to the Writers Guild of America East, “overwhelmingly” voted to ratify a three-year contract. Among other things, it includes binding protections against potential harms posed by generative artificial intelligence that the WGAE described as a “precedent setting win” for the news business. The agreement ensures that ABC News will not lay off current employees due to the use of generative AI and requires management to provide union members with advance notice before implementing AI systems into newsroom workflows.”

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/in-a-volatile-landscape-for-ai-and-labor-rights-journalists-at-abc-secure-a-win.php

Protecting Journalists

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Recent posts on international journalism from Committee to Project Journalists, 2/6/25

“No accountability after Ghanaian journalists attacked while covering illegal mining investigation”

“Sri Lankan top prosecutor seeks to discharge key suspects in journalist’s murder”

“Swedish public broadcaster SVT’s building vandalized”

“Taliban detains 2 media workers, suspends women-run broadcaster Radio Begum”

“Azerbaijan jails 21st journalist in 15 months amid intensifying media crackdown”

https://cpj.org/about/

Covering Musk

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 2/5/25

Headline:  “Opinion | The challenge of covering Elon Musk”

Subhead:  “Much of the media is still trying to get a handle on how to cover Musk and what he’s doing to the federal government”

“Here’s what you need to know about media coverage of Elon Musk.

“The New York Times published a big story on Musk on Monday with the headline: ‘Inside Musk’s Aggressive Incursion Into the Federal Government.’ ”

“As you surely know, Musk has had plenty of jobs on his way to becoming the richest person in the world. His main job these days, it would appear, is to be President Donald Trump’s right-hand man. So much so that there are whispers about who actually is running the country: Musk or Trump?”

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/elon-musk-news-coverage/

Journalist Doing Her Job

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Sacha Biazzo, 2/5/25

Headline: “Q&A: Marisa Kabas on Scooping the World on the Federal Funding Freeze”

Subhead:  “If your job isn’t to inform people in a way that will help them, then I don’t really understand what your job is.”

“Marisa Kabas, an independent journalist based in New York, has recently emerged as a leading voice in holding power to account: since Trump took office, she has broken two major stories that sent ripples across the media landscape. Two days into the new administration, she exposed a directive from the Trump administration suspending all travel for staff at the National Institutes of Health. Then, last week, she was the first to report on the Office of Management and Budget memo freezing all government grants and loans.”

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/qa_marisa_kabas_handbasket_omb_scoop.php

Reporting on Insanity?

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Article in The New Republic by Alex Shephard, 2/5/25

Headline:  “This Is So Much Worse Than Last Time”

Subhead:  “Why Democrats and the media are struggling to capture the insanity—and danger—of the new Trump administration.”

“There is practically no way to describe what is currently happening in the United States without sounding hysterical, or like some sort of crank—or, maybe, insane. . .”

“Media coverage has somehow been even less inspiring than the Democratic response. During Trump’s first term, the press struggled to find a way to deal with Trump’s admittedly difficult to describe mix of extremism and incoherence. The speed of all of this and the enormity of it is, to be fair, difficult to capture. But there are bigger problems emerging in the ongoing coverage. One is simply that Trump and his cronies are taking direct action against the press, threatening to shut down via lawsuits (or, in the case of National Public Radio, defunding) any outlet that they deem as being critical, and appear to be serious about it. ABC has already settled one lawsuit, while CBS seems ready to settle another—settling both would essentially amount to paying Trump protection money.”

https://newrepublic.com/article/191153/trump-musk-treasure-government-breach

Monsters Against Media

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jon Alsop, 2/4/25

Headline: “USAID and the Media in a ‘Time of Monsters’ ”

Sunhead: “What the aid funding freeze means for independent journalism around the world.”

“. . . In the recent past, USAID had boasted of supporting more than six thousand journalists, around seven hundred independent newsrooms, and nearly three hundred media-focused civil society groups in thirty or so countries—and yet, RSF notes, the full impact of the freeze is hard to measure, since many recipients are “hesitant to draw attention for fear of risking long-term funding or coming under political attacks.”

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/usaid-and-the-media-in-a-time-of-monsters.php

World News Chaos!

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Article in Reporters Without Borders by Staff, 2/3/25

Headline: “USA: Trump’s foreign aid freeze throws journalism around the world into chaos”

“President Donald Trump has frozen billions of dollars around the world in aid projects, including over $268 million allocated by Congress to support independent media and the free flow of information. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) denounces this decision, which has plunged NGOs, media outlets, and journalists doing vital work into chaotic uncertainty. RSF calls on international public and private support to commit to the sustainability of independent media.

https://rsf.org/en/usa-trump-s-foreign-aid-freeze-throws-journalism-around-world-chaos

Media Life Support

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Article in Mediaite by Kahryn Wilkens, 2/3/25

Headline: “The Media Industry Is in Crisis. Axios CEO Jim VandeHei Sees a Massive Opportunity”

“Jim VandeHei, co-founder of Politico and later Axios, has spent decades at the forefront of political journalism. In all that time, he’s witnessed seismic changes to the industry but no one, he says, has been a catalyst for disruption and change more than President Donald Trump.

“For the first time in our lifetimes, I would argue that the media ecosystem favors the right more than the left,” VandeHei told Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin on this week’s episode of Press Club.”

https://www.mediaite.com/podcasts/the-media-industry-is-in-crisis-axios-ceo-jim-vandehei-sees-a-massive-opportunity/