Network on the Edge?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Adan Piorem 9/11/25

Headline:  “A Tipping Point at CBS News”

Subhead:  “Who would have thought this is the piece that would get me fired?” Bill Owens, the former executive producer of 60 Minutes, said in the screening room. For the past year, CBS journalists have been up against extraordinary pressure.”

“. . .The second Trump administration would deliver an unprecedented level of deference from media leadership to a hostile president. Journalists at CBS News would come under increasing scrutiny. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/feature/cbs-news-redstone-ellison-60-minutes-trump-israel-gaza-tipping-point.php

 

How to Respond to Reporters?

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Article in the New Republic by Greg Sargent, 11/110/25

Headline: “Trump Press Sec Seethes as Epstein Spin Falls Apart in Briefing Fiasco”

Subhead:  “As Karoline Leavitt’s responses to the latest Jeffrey Epstein revelations go awry, a media observer explains why the MAGA disinformation machine’s treatment of this scandal is more unnerving than usual.”

“. . .The upshot: White House spin looked comically awful throughout. Leavitt flashed anger at other points, accusing reporters of ignoring serious crimes and of being dishonest about Trump’s militarization of Washington, D.C. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/article/200234/trump-press-sec-seethes-epstein-spin-falls-apart-briefing-fiasco

Checkmate, Media!

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Article in Poynter by Ren LaForme & Alex Mahadevan, 9/10/25

Headline: “Gamergate was a warning that the media failed to heed”

Subhead:  “Before QAnon and MAGA, Gamergate pioneered a decentralized playbook for undermining the press”

“In the mid-2010s, loosely organized online movements began spilling into the real world, catching popular culture off guard and leaving many journalists flat-footed in unfamiliar internet territory.

“You know their names. Pizzagate. QAnon. And the most consequential of all, MAGA: a mainstream political movement fueled in part by a fervent online contingent. But before all that came Gamergate, the proving ground where the tactics were tested. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2025/what-was-gamergate-controversy-ethics-games-journalism/

No More Media Gate

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Article in AP by David Bauder, 9/10/25

Headline:  “Graphic video of Kirk shooting was everywhere online, showing how media gatekeeper role has changed”

“. . .For more than 150 years, news organizations like newspapers and television networks have long been accustomed to ‘gatekeeping’ when it comes to explicit content — making editorial decisions around violent events to decide what images and words appear on their platforms for their readers or viewers. But in the fragmented era of social media, smartphones and instant video uploads, editorial decisions by legacy media are less impactful than ever. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-video-graphic-online-social-media-6cfd4dfde356b960aeea69c01ea3ec34

CBS “Anti-Woke” Leader?

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Article in The Guardian by David Klion, 9/10/25

Headline:  “Disgruntled NYT journalist to ‘anti-woke’ power grab: how far can Bari Weiss go?”

Subhead: “After leaving the New York Times, she turned her Substack into an unshakable pro-Israel voice. Now as Paramount eyes acquisition of her company, Weiss is poised to become Trump’s ally among media elites”

“. . .But one of the most buzzed-about aspects is Paramount’s possible acquisition of the Free Press, the digital media company founded by Bari Weiss as a Substack newsletter in 2021, and Weiss’s potential new role steering CBS’s editorial slant. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/ng-interactive/2025/sep/10/bari-weiss-cbs

Pants on Fire Not News?

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Article in The Nation by Chris Lehmann, 9/9/25

Headline:  “Why the Media Allows MAGA to Cover Up Their Lies With More Lies”

Subhead:  “The MAGA movement can “walk back” outrageous statements, and the press hardly asks a follow-up.”

“For all the justified focus on the second Trump administration’s authoritarian agenda, and the suite of debased governing protocols that go with it, the basic messaging apparatus behind it has received scant attention. As it happens, this past weekend supplied a pair of textbook illustrations showing how the MAGA power elite throttle the mediasphere to serve their purposes. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/walk-back-media-maga-trump-lies/

What Should Media Call Things

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jon Allsop, 9/9/25

Headline: “War Games”

Subhead:  “Should the press follow Trump in calling the Pentagon the ‘Department of War’?”

“. . .Pete Hegseth, the Fox & Friends host turned defense (sorry, war) secretary, returned to his old stomping ground to roll the pitch. (‘We think words and names and titles matter,’ he said, before attempting to tease an upcoming change to the signage behind him by pointing over the wrong shoulder.) . . .”

“. . .The rebrand may sound—and, on some level, absolutely is—very silly: a predictable move for a military apparatus that is ultimately led by a pair of TV stars obsessed with looking and sounding cool. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/war-games-defense-department-hegseth-trump-name-change.php

Disappearing Media Freedom

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Article in Al Jazeera by Mohamad Elmasry, 9/8/25

Headline:  “The capitulation of the US media is not an aberration”

Subhead:  “The Trump administration is bringing to the fore weaknesses that have long plagued US democracy.”

“American democracy is arguably in more peril than at any moment in recent history. Not only are United States President Donald Trump and his Republican allies seeking to guarantee that Americans never again participate in a truly free and fair election, but public officials and Trump-aligned figures in the media industry are also manipulating the information environment at an unprecedented scale. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/9/8/the-capitulation-of-the-us-media-is-not-an-aberration

CBS Watchdog Has Master?

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Article in FAIR by Saurav Sarkar, 9/9/25

Headline: “CBS Drifts Further Toward Right-Wing State Television”

“After Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (X, 8/31/25) complained that several minutes of her August 31 Face the Nation interview had been ‘shamefully edited…to whitewash the truth,‘ CBS News announced that its flagship Sunday morning program will no longer edit its interviews, except for ‘legal or national security’ reasons (AP, 9/5/25). . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/cbs-drifts-further-toward-right-wing-state-television/

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 9/9/25

Headline:  “CBS’ Conservative Cop”

Subhead:  “David Ellison’s new CBS News ombudsman tried to erase parts of his digital trail – but a Status review of what remains reveals him to be a Trump-supporting advocate”

“Donald Trump ‘is the ultimate outsider.’ He’s a “bold businessman who asks uncomfortable questions that typical policymakers are too squeamish to ask. People may dislike Trump’s methods, but they should appreciate his clarity about power dynamics.’ . . .”

“Those words aren’t from Fox News host Sean Hannity’s nightly sycophantic monologue. They come from Kenneth Weinstein, who lavished Trump with praise in a column published this summer. On Monday, David Ellison’s Paramount named Weinstein the new ombudsman of CBS News. . .”

Read the article at:

https://www.status.news/p/cbs-news-ombudsman-kenneth-weinstein

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 9/9/25

Headline:  Opinion | Paramount named an ombudsman to oversee CBS News. Who is he?

Subhead:  “The new ombudsman, Kenneth Weinstein, steps into a role created to safeguard fairness, though political questions linger”

“. . . On the surface, an ombudsman should be a welcome addition to any network newsroom, which should be practicing fair and honest journalism free of bias.

“But this particular announcement came off as a bit suspicious. It has been seen as a way to placate President Donald Trump, whose FCC had to sign off on the sale. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/cbs-ombudsman-kenneth-weinstein-who/

Conservative Media-Empire Battle is Over

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Article in The New York Times byJim Rutenberg & Jonathan Mahler, 9/8/25

Headline:  “Inside the Deal Ending the Murdoch Succession Fight”

Subhead: “Lachlan Murdoch will take control of a new family trust in a deal worth $3.3 billion, ensuring that his father’s media empire will retain its conservative slant.”

Read the article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/business/media/murdoch-family-trust-succession-deal.html

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Article in The Guardian by Lauren Aratini, 9/8/25

Headline:  “Murdoch family reaches deal to resolve succession fight over media empire”

Subhead: “Family announces Rupert Murdoch’s eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, will secure control of business”

“The succession battle at Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has ended.

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/08/rupert-murdoch-lachlan-family-succession-deal