Selective Coverage

Pay to Play Journalism

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Article in The Bulwark by Will Somer, 3/23/26

Headline:  “Folks, We’ve Got Yet Another Right-Wing Media Payola Scandal”

Subhead:  “This one involves Jack Abramoff’s crypto venture!”

“HOW MUCH WOULD IT COST to bribe a Daily Caller writer for positive coverage? It could be cheaper than you think.

“According to a newly unearthed ledger kept by a Washington lobbyist who tracked his payments to conservative bloggers, it took only $500 to buy a story in the publication, which was one of a handful caught in the latest payola scandal. And though the story appeared under the byline of the Caller’s managing editor, prosecutors who unearthed the ledger say it was actually ghostwritten by the company that effectively bought the coverage. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/another-right-wing-media-payola-scandal-cryptocurrency-abramoff-darling-andrade

Control of the Screens

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Article in Washington Post by Scott Nover, 3/19/26

Headline:  “U.S. approves $6.2 billion merger set to reshape local TV”

Subhead:  “The Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission gave a thumbs-up to the Nexstar-Tegna merger.”

“Nexstar, the largest owner of TV stations in the United States, won regulatory approval to buy rival Tegna on Thursday, in a $6.2 billion deal that promises to reshape the landscape for local television and news coverage.”

“. . .FCC Chairman Brendan Carr allowed the deal to proceed by waiving a cap that has historically barred station owners from expanding to reach more than 39 percent of American households. Nexstar previously said the deal would give it 265 stations across the country, reaching 80 percent of households. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/03/19/nexstar-tegna-tv-merger-approved/0

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Article in Daily Kos by Oliver Willis, 3/19/26

Headline:  “8 states are suing to stop another MAGA media monopoly”

“A coalition of eight states, led by their Democratic attorneys general, is suing to stop Nexstar Media Group from acquiring Tegna.

“Nexstar owns more than 200 TV stations while Tegna owns 64, so a merging of the companies would reach more than 54% of households, exceeding current Federal Communications Commission limits on station ownership. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/19/2373898/-8-states-are-suing-to-stop-another-MAGA-media-monopoly?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_7&pm_medium=web

Objectivity or Bias?

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Article in popular Resistance by Chris Hedges and Ahmed Eldin, 3/6/26

Headline:  “Chris Hedges Report: The Media’s Capitulation to Power”

Subhead:  “The propagandistic purpose the corporate media serves in the age of the American-Israeli project of genocidal colonialism.”

Ahmed Eldin: “They think they can justify their biased coverage under the guise of objectivity in 2025 when people are getting information right from the source. And whether that information is framed in a conventionally journalistic way, which some people would say is like, this view from nowhere where you don’t put your own identity into the story. I mean, look, let’s be real. Journalism is changing for better or worse. Storytelling is changing. . .”

Chris Hedges: “I want to talk about objectivity because that is, that’s a trope. Objective truth is not what they print. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://popularresistance.org/the-medias-capitulation-to-power-w-ahmed-eldin/

Did Media Forget Epstein?

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Article in Mediaite by Sean JAmes, 3/3/26

Headline: ” ‘Propaganda Slop’: Lightning Rod Journalist Calls Epstein Saga the ‘Worst Covered Story’ in Decades”

“Prominent Substack writer Michael Tracey argued that the Jeffrey Epstein saga stands out as the ‘worst covered story’ in decades in a new feature story published by The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday.

THR dubbed Tracey the ‘Face of Epstein Skepticism’ in its headline, and with good reason. Tracey has fought the widespread belief that Epstein was running a massive pedophile network for rich politicians and celebrities on both his Substack blog and on X, where users frequently rip him for questioning how sordid Epstein really was. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/propaganda-slop-lightning-rod-journalist-calls-epstein-saga-the-worst-covered-story-in-decades/

Cheerleading or Reporting?

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Article in FAIR by Ricardo Vaz, 2/27/26

Headline:  “Western Gangster Journalism Runs Cover for Trump’s ‘Donroe Doctrine’ in Venezuela”

“US forces launched a military attack against Venezuela on January 3, reportedly killing over 100 people and kidnapping Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores, who also serves as a National Assembly deputy. . .”

“The brazen act of war has elicited zero dissent from the Western media establishment, no urge to challenge Trump’s return to early 20th century ‘gunboat diplomacy.’ Worse, with the White House pushing to impose a semi-colonial protectorate and plunder Venezuela’s wealth, corporate outlets continue working overtime to normalize US imperialist predations. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/western-gangster-journalism-runs-cover-for-trumps-donroe-doctrine-in-venezuela/

Media Ignore Victims?

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Article in FAIR by Raina Lipsitz, 2/24/26

Headline:  “Media Focus on Epstein’s Powerful Friends Erases Their Victims”

“Much has been written about sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, whose numerous social and business ties to members of the global elite are still being untangled. . .”

“Yet most elite media coverage has focused not on Epstein’s victims, the criminal justice system’s failure to protect them, or the ways in which powerful government officials have colluded to shield Epstein and his high-powered associates from accountability. Rather, the spotlight has been on the lifestyles of Epstein and his rich and famous friends—and the supposed lack of evidence that anyone other than the late Epstein and the incarcerated Maxwell sexually abused or facilitated the abuse of minors. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/media-focus-on-epsteins-powerful-friends-erases-their-victims/

A Threat to Some Media?

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Article in FAIR by Jim Naurekas, 2/19/26

Headline:   “Why Corporate Media Needed to Misrepresent Jesse Jackson”

“If there’s one person onto whom establishment media have projected their anxieties about race, class and democracy, it’s the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died this week at the age of 84.

“The civil rights icon, a protege of Martin Luther King and a brilliant community organizer, made history with his groundbreaking runs for the presidency in 1984 and 1988 (Extra!, 3–4/88). He put together what he aptly called a Rainbow Coalition. . .”

“Advocating for these constituencies with an unabashedly left agenda—a brave move in Reaganite America—Jackson did well in both of his races for the Democratic nomination. . .”

“And that kind of politics terrified an elite that thrives on keeping the 99 Percent divided and conquered. ‘Jesse Jackson scares the bejesus out of me,’ then–New York Times publisher Arthur ‘Punch’ Sulzberger Sr. confided to FAIR’s Jeff Cohen in a private meeting in 1990 (Extra!, 3–4/90).

“And this fear was palpable in corporate media coverage, from the right to what passed as the centrist ‘left,’ from 1984 well into the 21st century. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/why-corporate-media-needed-to-misrepresent-jesse-jackson/

Media Ignore Catastrophe

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Susie Banikarim, 2/20/26

Headline: “What We Need to Know”

Subhead:  “Ann Curry reports from Sudan. Plus: Second-person scenarios, and AI mayhem.”

“Sudan is in the grip of the world’s largest and most catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Since a brutal civil war erupted in 2023, almost fourteen million people have been forced to flee their homes, and famine is so widespread that more than 40 percent of the population is not getting enough food. The healthcare system has completely collapsed, and there are reports of another genocide in Darfur. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/laurels-and-darts/what-we-need-to-know-ann-curry-south-sudan-pbs-newshour-second-person-measles-atlantic.php

Covering War Buildup or Not?

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Article in Common Dreams by Stephen Prager, 2/18/26

Headline:  “As Trump Marches US Toward Iran War, Critics Ask: Where’s the ‘Pushback’ From Dems and Media?”

Subhead:  “It’s astonishing that we’re building up for a significant military clash, and Congress isn’t involved, no real case is being made to the public, and the average American has no clue.”

“Amid reports that President Donald Trump is pushing the US toward a “massive” war in Iran, critics have found themselves shocked by the lack of ‘pushback’ from top Democrats and mainstream media institutions.

“Barak Ravid reported for Axios on Wednesday that, with a deal between the US and Iran appearing increasingly out of sight, “the Trump administration is closer to a major war in the Middle East than most Americans realize’ and ‘It could begin very soon.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-iran-war-pushback

Media Unmasking ICE?

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Article in Media Matters by Reed McMaster & Isabella Sherk, 2/12/26

Headline:  “Right-wing media’s claims that ICE agents need to be masked for safety fall apart”

Subhead:  “Right-wing media have argued for months that immigration officers and their families are in danger of being doxed, assaulted, and even murdered if agents don’t wear mask”

“Right-wing media have claimed Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agents are in danger of being “doxed” and even murdered if they are unable to conceal their identity. New reporting shows that working in immigration enforcement is actually safer than being a civilian, and there are no recorded incidents of agents being doxed. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/right-wing-medias-claims-ice-agents-need-be-masked-safety-fall-apart