Conspiracy Theories in Media?


Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 10/7/25

Headline:  “Why the right-wing media apparatus is suddenly yelling about Jack Smith supposedly spying on GOP senators”

“Republicans and their right-wing media allies yesterday spun out frothy allegations about former special counsel Jack Smith purportedly ‘spying on Republican senators’ in order to forestall tough questions about the state of the Justice Department. But their dark conspiracy theory immediately collapses under scrutiny. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/why-right-wing-media-apparatus-suddenly-yelling-about-jack-smith-supposedly-spying-gop

 

New CBS News Head Faces Right

Article in The Guardian by J. Oliver Conroy, 10/6/25

Headline:  “Bari Weiss’s ascension to top of CBS News highlights the political winds”

Subhead:  “US media giants have bowed before Maga after Trump’s many lawsuits and the Jimmy Kimmel firestorm”

Paramount Skydance, the newly merged conglomerate which owns CBS News, has hired the journalist Bari Weiss as the network’s editor-in-chief – and acquired the Free Press, the publication Weiss co-founded in 2021 as a challenger to the establishment media, for a reported $150m.

“Weiss has made her career as a center-right critic of progressivism, and the Free Press is a contrarian, loosely conservative and ardently Zionist publication that views itself as a speaker of hard truths and protector of free discourse. . .”

(More articles below) – Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/oct/06/bari-weisss-cbs-news-analysis

Foxy Healthcare


Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 10/3/25

Headline:  “The masks slip as Fox propagandists reveal they want health care premiums to skyrocket”

Fox News propagandists are overwhelmingly backing the GOP’s bogus shutdown message that congressional Democrats are refusing to fund the government because they want to give health care to illegal immigrants. But every once in a while their masks slip, and they reveal that they oppose extending the crucial Obamacare subsidies at the heart of Democrats’ actual position, which would trigger drastic premium price hikes for millions of Americans”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/masks-slip-fox-propagandists-reveal-they-want-health-care-premiums-skyrocket

Some Media Skeptical

Article in Media Matters by Staff, 9/28/25

Headline: “The Comey indictment is so weak even some in right-wing media aren’t buying it”

Subhead: Fox contributor Andrew McCarthy: “It seems to be premised on something that is not true”

“Prominent right-wing media figures reacted to the Department of Justice’s indictment of former FBI Director James Comey by calling it weak, underwhelming, and unlikely to survive in court. . . ”

“It also comes after Trump forced out the U.S. attorney overseeing the Comey investigations for ‘raising concerns that there was insufficient evidence to indict’; his replacement signed the indictment. But for all of MAGA world’s fantasies about punishing their enemies, Trump’s broadside against Comey has landed with a thud. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/james-comey/comey-indictment-so-weak-even-some-right-wing-media-arent-buying-it

Holding an Empty Bag

Article in Ars Technica by Staff, 9.26.25

Headline: Sinclair gets nothing it asked for, puts Jimmy Kimmel back on anyway”

Subhead: “Sorry, Brendan Carr: Sinclair and Nexstar stop preempting Kimmel on ABC affiliates.”

“Conservative broadcaster Sinclair is putting Jimmy Kimmel Live! back on the air. In a statement today, Sinclair said it will end its preemption of the show on its ABC affiliates starting tonight, even though ABC and owner Disney haven’t accepted its request for an ombudsman and other changes.

Facing the threat of lost advertising dollars, Sinclair said it ‘received thoughtful feedback from viewers, advertisers, and community leaders representing a wide range of perspectives.’ . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/09/sinclair-gets-nothing-it-asked-for-puts-jimmy-kimmel-back-on-anyway/

Passed Time?

Article in Daiy Kos by Alex Samuels, 9/26/25

Headline: “Broadcasters throw in the towel on censoring Jimmy Kimmel”

“Well, well, well … looks like Sinclair and Nexstar are bringing back ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ beginning Friday. The broadcasters had yanked the late-night show last week over Jimmy Kimmel’s comments about the alleged murderer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the MAGA movement. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/26/2345643/-Broadcasters-throw-in-the-towel-on-censoring-Jimmy-Kimmel?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_4&pm_medium=web

 

 

2 Broadcast Monopolies?


Article in Daily Dot by Lindsey Weedston, 9/25/25

Headline: “Who is Sinclair? Behind the TV conglomerate refusing to air Jimmy Kimmel”

Subhead: “They were caught scripting what local news anchors said in 2017. “

Sinclair Broadcast Group catapulted back into the spotlight following the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel over his Charlie Kirk comments. The U.S. telecommunications conglomerate has steadily bought up a huge share of local news stations and is accused of forcing journalists to cite scripts that promote right-wing talking points.

“Along with Nexstar, Sinclair is now the focus of concerns around broadcast monopolies and the fate of free speech in America. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailydot.com/news/who-is-sinclair-tv-conglomerate-jimmy-kimmel/

Clock is Ticking

Article in Poynter by Tom Jones and Nicole Slaughter Graham, 9/26/25

headline: “Opinion | A TikTok deal ticks closer to done

Subhead: “The deal would keep TikTok alive in the U.S. — but raises questions about who will shape what millions of young users see.”

“After months of delays and extended deadlines, it appears a deal that would allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States on a permanent basis is in its final stages.

That’s good. And, well, maybe not so good. . .”

“Aside from being able to say he ‘saved’ TikTok, he has other reasons to see that this deal goes through. Among the potential investors are tech and media giants Larry Ellison, Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, and Michael Dell. Ellison is founder of Oracle. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/tiktok-deal-trump-executive-order-china/

– – – – –

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Tory Lysik, 9/25/25

Headline: “Where the White House Is Leading Us with TikTok

Subhead: “The Trump administration is pioneering a new form of political communication. The imminent prospect of a deal to reshape TikTok’s future in the United States could give the White House even more power.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/tiktok-white-house-press-ellison-trump-yass-murdoch.php

– – – – –

Article in The Guardian by Blake Montgomery, 9/24/25

Headline:  “Murdoch’s TikTok? Trump offers allies another lever of media control”

Subhead:  “Under the known terms of the deal with China, TikTok would get a new board, including Murdochs and Ellisons”

“Donald Trump revealed last week the US and China are close to inking a deal to let TikTok continue operating in the US. Details are not final, but should the agreement go through as has been reported, the owners of the US’s most powerful cable TV channels may soon also steer the nation’s most influential social network. The arrangement would gift Trump’s billionaire allies a degree of control over US media that would be vast and unprecedented. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/24/tiktok-trump-murdoch-ellison

Flag Flying Over All Media?


Article in The Atlantic by David Karpf, 9/24/25

Headline:  “The MAGA Media Takeover”

Subhead:  “Trump and his powerful friends are creating a dangerous moment for free speech.”

“American mass media has been transformed in these early months of President Donald Trump’s second administration. We’re about 35 weeks into a term that will last for 173 more, and in that time, we have seen a tech titan gut a once-great newspaper in an apparent act of capitulation to the commander in chief, government accounts gleefully spreading hateful memes on X (the far-right platform owned by a billionaire tech oligarch), a defamation lawsuit filed by Trump against The New York Times (and quickly dismissed by the judge as ‘superfluous’), and, of course, the assault on free speech carried out by Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chairman. Big things can happen very quickly. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2025/09/maga-media-takeover-tiktok/684351/

 

Hiding Under Fox

Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 9/23/25

Headline:  “How Fox covers for Trump administration malfeasance”

Subhead:  “Monday night was a perfect case study”

“The job of a Fox News evening host isn’t to cover President Donald Trump and his administration, it’s to give them cover. The network’s stars are shameless propagandists who employ a variety of tactics to hide the president’s misdeeds from their viewers.

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/how-fox-covers-trump-administration-malfeasance-0