Truth or not Truth?


Article in AlterNet by Staff, 6/8/25

Headline: ” ‘No concern that they weren’t true’: BBC hits back at Karoline Leavitt’s ‘fake news’ “

“The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, recently gave a press briefing about Palestinians killed close to an aid distribution centre in Gaza on June 1.. .”

” ‘Unlike some in the media, we don’t take the word of Hamas as total truth, she said. “We like to look into it when they speak, unlike the BBC.‘ . . .”

“Meanwhile, the corporation’s analysis editor, Ros Atkins, put out a brief but carefully worded video, via BBC Verify, that concluded Leavitt’s accusations were ‘repeatedly false’. It affirmed that BBC reporters had quoted figures ‘with clear attribution’ from the ‘the Hamas-run health ministry’. It also used sources such as the independent Red Cross and quoted the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in stories that day. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/karoline-leavitt-bbc/

War on Media Continues


Article in The Hill by Ellen Mitchell, 6/8/25

Headline:“Hegseth brings warfighter men  tality to media relations “

“The Defense Department’s relationship with reporters has gone from bad to worse following a string of missives from Secretary Pete Hegseth and his office aimed at controlling the Pentagon press corps.

“Hegseth’s war on the media includes taking desks away from legacy outlets, locking the doors to one of the few places reporters have access to the internet in the Pentagon, and restricting their movement within the building. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5338740-hegseth-brings-warfighter-mentality-to-media-relations/

Journalists Can’t Say Opinions?


Article in The Guardian by Edward Helmore, 6/8/25

Headline:  ABC News suspends journalist after calling Trump and adviser ‘world-class haters’ “

Subhead:  “Terry Moran to be evaluated after now deleted post said Stephen Miller is ‘richly endowed with capacity for hatred’ “

ABC News has suspended its senior national correspondent after he described top White House aide Stephen Miller as “richly endowed with the capacity for hatred” on social media.

“In a now deleted post, Terry Moran, who recently conducted an interview with Donald Trump, said that the president and his deputy chief of staff, Miller, were both ‘world-class’ haters. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/08/abc-news-suspends-journalist-stephen-miller-trump

This Time – Could Need New Journalists


Article in The Washington Post by Larry Tye, 6/2/25

Headline:  “This journalist was the real hero behind Joe McCarthy’s takedown”

Subhead:  “Drew Pearson rebuked Sen. Joseph McCarthy early and often. History gives him little credit for it.”

“The mythology of Sen. Joseph McCarthy — in fresh focus as the Broadway version of George Clooney’s “Good Night, and Good Luck” smashes box-office records — gets it right that a legendary American journalist played a vital role in toppling the red-baiting Republican in the 1950s. But it casts the wrong journalist.

“It wasn’t, as most accounts suggest, crusading radio and TV personality Edward R. Murrow, although Murrow did broadcast two bare-knuckle takedowns of McCarthy. Rather, it was radio and newspaper commentator Drew Pearson, who went after “Low-Blow Joe” six years before Murrow, stayed on the story longer and uniquely ignited the senator’s wrath. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/06/02/mccarthy-murrow-pearson-clooney-broadway/

Newspapers and Polls

Article in Raw Story by Travis Gettys, 6/6/25

Headline:  ” ‘Corrupt as hell’: Trump wakes up seething about his polling in two newspapers “

Subhead:  “President Donald Trump lobbed another attack against the nation’s two leading newspapers over their polling.”

“The president started off Friday morning with a fresh complaint about his approval rating measured by the New York Times and the Washington Post, suggesting that ‘real polls’ showed he was actually more popular than ever.

” ‘The Failing New York Times and the Washington ComPost, two ‘papers’ that have ruthlessly fought me for years, have each done Polls where a vast majority of those sampled are Democrats,’ Trump posted on Truth Social at 7:20 a.m. EST . . .”

Read the full story at:

https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-approval-rating-2672321734/

 

Cutting Rural America’s . . .


Article in The Guardian by Margaret Sullivan,6/6/25

Headline:  “If Trump cuts funding to NPR and PBS, rural America will pay a devastating price”

Subhead:  “Much of the country has little access to local news, with public media filling the void – and serving as a lifeline”

“When Hurricane Helene walloped North Carolina last fall, residents were hit by a second threat at the same time: the dire need for accurate information.

“The loss of electric power amid the widespread flooding meant that people – especially those in isolated areas – were deprived of basic news. They needed to know about everything from road closures to the whereabouts of their family and friends to sources of drinkable water.

Blue Ridge Public Radio stepped into the breach. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/06/trump-funding-cuts-npr-pbs-rural-america

Preparing Journalism for the Future


Article in Poynter by Nicole Slaughter Graham, 6/5/25

Headline:  “ASU is launching a $14.5 million center to speed up journalism’s transformation”

Subhead:  “The Knight Center for the Future of News aims to help strengthen local and regional journalism by bringing educators, research and newsrooms together”

“Journalism’s many issues are longstanding and well-known, and with its new center, Arizona State University is ready to take sweeping action to implement solutions.

“On July 1, ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication will open the Knight Center for the Future of News thanks to a $10.5 million grant from the Knight Foundation and a $4 million investment from the university. . .

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2025/asu-knight-center-future-of-news/

Local Newspapers Important


Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Sarah Stonbely, 6/5/25

Headline:  “Analyzing news and information landscapes from the ground up”

“Lately when traveling anywhere new I find myself looking at the houses and buildings I pass, wondering what news is being produced at that moment, in that town, that might be missed if it doesn’t have a local news outlet. If it’s a less affluent or rural area, chances are good that there isn’t a journalist attending its school board or municipal meetings . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/tow_center/analyzing-news-and-information-landscapes-from-the-ground-up.php

Make Media do the Job?


Article in The Contrarian by Josh Levs, 6/4/25

Headline:  “Veterans’ D-Day rally is a chance to set the media straight”

Subhead:  “Americans need to know how Trump is hurting those who served.”

“Over the next two weeks, a new battle will take place over the U.S. military. The chief theater in which it’s fought will be the media. . .”

“Having spent two decades inside big legacy media, and now tracking its epic failures through my podcast and newsletter They Stand Corrected, I know some things we can expect. Unfortunately, Trump and his supporters are likely to get the exact kinds of storylines they want — unless the rest of us push the media to do its job. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://contrarian.substack.com/p/veterans-d-day-rally-is-a-chance

Too Scared to Report?

Article in The Atlantic by David Frum, 6/4/25

Headline:  “Why Are the Media So Afraid of Trump?”

Subhead:  “How Trump is bullying the media and why it’s working”

“On this episode of The David Frum Show, The Atlantic’s David Frum opens with a warning about how Donald Trump’s second term has brought a more systematic and punishing assault on American media, through regulatory pressure, retaliatory lawsuits, and corporate intimidation. . .”

“David closes the episode by reflecting on the recent media overhyping of President Joe Biden’s age issues. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2025/06/david-frum-showwhy-are-the-media-so-afraid-of-trump/683029/