More Grabbing ALL the media

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Article in the New York Times, by By Lauren HirschMichael M. Grynbaum and Benjamin Mullin, 2/26/26

Headline:  “Netflix Backs Out of Bid for Warner Bros., Paving Way for an Ellison Takeover”

Subhead:  “The move was a stunning development in the long-running corporate battle for the storied media giant.”

“Netflix said on Thursday that it would not counter Paramount’s higher bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, a stunning development that essentially assures the media giant will end up under the control of a rival bidder, the technology heir David Ellison.

“Netflix had beat out Paramount in December to sign an $83 billion deal to acquire a large portion of Warner Bros. Discovery’s business, including HBO and the storied Warner Bros. movie studio. The acquisition was poised to cement Netflix, once a striving outsider to the film and entertainment business, as the pre-eminent juggernaut of Hollywood. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/business/warner-bros-discovery-paramount-deal-netflix.html

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Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo, 2/26/26

Headline: “Paramount wins bid to acquire Warner Brothers Discovery after Netflix bows out”

“Netflix on Thursday said it would not match a bid from Paramount seeking to acquire Warner Brothers Discovery, the sprawling media empire that includes legacy brands in news and entertainment like CNN and HBO.

“News of the streamer bowing out of its deal with Warner Bros. Discovery came just minutes after the David Zaslav-led company said it considered the hostile bid mounted by Paramount to be a ‘superior’ offer to the one it struck with the streamer late last year. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5757985-netflix-declines-warner-discovery/

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Article in Free Press by Staff, 2/26/26

Headline: “Paramount Skydance’s Takeover of Warner Bros. Is Bad News for Workers, Consumers and Free Expression”

“On Thursday, the Warner Bros. Discovery board decided to abandon its plans to sell the company to Netflix in favor of a Paramount Skydance bid. . .”

Free Press Co-CEO Craig Aaron said:  “The Netflix deal was disastrous but this new one is even worse. The idea that Paramount should be allowed to control CBS and CNN should be unthinkable, especially given their record of turning the Tiffany Network into a trash heap. The Ellisons have already promised the Trump administration that they’ll make sweeping changes to CNN given the chance, and we know what that means: firing journalists, spiking important stories, and replacing the news with empty propaganda. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/paramount-skydances-takeover-warner-bros-bad-news-workers-consumers-and-free-expression

WaPo and Gaza

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Megan Greenwell, 2/26/26

Headline:  “A Look Back at Covering Gaza for the Post“

Subhead: “Since October 7, 2023, Miriam Berger has been on assignment in Jerusalem, covering Israel, Palestine, and war. A few weeks ago, she learned she and hundreds of colleagues were being laid off.”

“. . She was one of three hundred–plus journalists who learned early this month that they would be laid off by the Washington Post, a dismantling that all but eliminated the publication’s international desk. Berger was on leave when the cuts were announced, working on a book about Israel’s starvation of Gaza. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/kicker/miriam-berger-look-back-covering-gaza-washington-post-layoffs.php

CNN Now Discovering Evidence?

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Article in Mediaite by Tommy Christopher, 2/26/26

Headline: “CNN Anchors Make Major Change To Trump-Epstein Sex Crimes Disclaimer Amid Bombshell Revelations”

“. . .For months, CNN anchors and reporters have frequently followed their discussions of Trump and Epstein by saying, for example: “We should point out there is no evidence of wrongdoing against President Trump related to Epstein.’ That verbiage has been used as recently as this past week. . . .’

“On Wednesday night’s edition of CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, host Anderson Cooper reported on the new development with a new disclaimer, telling viewers “we should point out here the President has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with Jeffrey Epstein” . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/cnn-anchors-make-major-change-to-trump-epstein-sex-crimes-disclaimer-amid-bombshell-revelations/

Corporate Media & Labor

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Photo by Brontë Wittpenn via Getty Images

Article in FAIR by Silas Gaughran Bedell, 2/26/26

Headline:  “Corporate Media Mock Chicago Teachers for Trying to Help Their Community”

“The Washington Post editorial ‘The Chicago Teachers Union’s New Year’s Resolution: More Mediocrity (1/10/26)’  is the latest in a string of opinion pieces from both the Post and Wall Street Journal attacking the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), amid historic victories for teachers and school staff. The opinion pages of these billionaire-owned media outlets have consistently relied on cherry-picked test scores to obscure union successes. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/corporate-media-mock-chicago-teachers-for-trying-to-help-their-community/

Untrustworthy Media Search?

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Article in ArsTechnica by Jon Brodkin, 2/25/26

Headline:  “Judge doesn’t trust DOJ with search of devices seized from Wash. Post reporter”

Subhead:  “Court to search devices itself instead of letting government have full access.”

“A federal court will conduct a search of devices seized from a Washington Post reporter after a magistrate judge decided yesterday that the Department of Justice cannot be trusted to perform the search on its own.

“US Magistrate Judge William Porter criticized government prosecutors for not including key information in a search warrant application. The court wasn’t aware of a 1980 law that limits searches and seizures of journalists’ work materials when it approved the warrant, Porter acknowledged. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/02/judge-doesnt-trust-doj-with-search-of-devices-seized-from-wash-post-reporter/

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/

Court Intervenes on Illegal Search

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Article in The Hill by Tara Suter, 2/24/26

Headline:  “Judge says Justice Department may not search Washington Post reporter’s seized devices “

“A judge told the Justice Department in a Tuesday filing that it cannot search a Washington Post reporter’s seized devices.

“In the filing, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Porter said the U.S. government could not “open, access, review, or otherwise examine any of” Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s “seized data.”

“The government seized all of Ms. Natanson’s work product, documentary material, and devices, terminating her access to the confidential sources she developed and to all the tools she needs as a working journalist,” Porter said in the filing. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5753794-justice-dept-reporter-devices/

CNN Anchor Points Out . . .

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Article in Comic Sands by Alan Herrera, 2/23/26

Headline: “CNN Anchor Calls Out The Brutal Truth About The Countries That Joined Trump’s ‘Board Of Peace’ “

“CNN anchor Abby Phillip pointed out the brutal truth about the countries that joined President Donald Trump’s ‘Board of Peace,’ noting that citizens of half the countries that have joined the initiative . . . can’t even get a visa to the U.S. . .”

Phillip said, “The point is we have found those countries to be so unreliable and so risky and perhaps even nexuses of danger and terrorism that we won’t even let their citizens get a visa, but they’re on a ‘board of Peace’?. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.comicsands.com/phillip-board-peace-visas

MAGA Defector Bridge-Burning?

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Article in Raw Story by Robert Davis, 2/23/26

Headline:  “This MAGA media figure is about to cause ‘a whole lot more drama’ for Trump: analyst:”

“A MAGA media figure is about to cause ‘a whole lot more drama’ for President Donald Trump, according to one analyst.

“Last week, Tucker Carlson released an interview with Trump’s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, where he accused a former Israeli Prime Minister of visiting the infamous Epstein Island and other remarks that left pro-Israel Republicans steamed, Will Sommer at The Bulwark reported on Monday. For instance, pro-Israel voices like Laura Loomer and Dave Rubin spoke out against Carlson’s interview. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-2675303066/

Who Will be Future Journalists?

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Article in Poynter by Barbara Allen, 2/23/26

Headline:   “Cash-starved and censored, America’s student newspapers are fighting to survive”

Subhead:  “Shrinking budgets and university pressure are squeezing the next generation of journalists”

“Andrew Frazier expected to spend his senior year as the sports editor of The Vista, the student newspaper at the University of Central Oklahoma.

“Instead, he became editor-in-chief of a new student-run publication, The Independent View, after his university said printing The Vista wasn’t worth the $12,000 annual cost. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/educators-students/2026/student-newspaper-challenges-business-censorship/