Near Monopoly Threat to Press?

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Article in Free Press by Staff, 10/1/26

Headline:  “Free Press: Judge’s Approval of the Paramount Mega-Merger Is a Call to Action Against Billionaire Control of the Media”

“On Wednesday, Federal Court Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín approved the proposed consent decree that Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery struck with 12 state attorneys general to settle their case against the companies’ $111 billion mega-merger.

“Last week, Free Press and other core partners in the coalition had filed an amicus brief calling for the federal court to reject the consent decree and prevent the merger from going forward, citing its failure to remedy harms to competition and to the very people that state attorneys general are supposed to represent. . .

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/free-press-judges-approval-paramount-mega-merger-call-action-against-billionaire-control-media

Independent News Needs Support

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Article in Poynter by Kristen Hare, 10/1/26

Headline:  “What does it take to make an independent local newsroom work? More than good journalism.”

Subhead:  “A new study of 112 independent publishers shows just how much local news entrepreneurs have to juggle”

“. . .A new study from Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship digs into the hard realities facing the local news entrepreneurs working to fill the huge and growing gaps left by shrinking local newspapers.

“A Hard Reality: Independent Local Journalism in the United States,” by Merrill Brown and Jacob Spudich, looks at survey responses from 112 publishers in 37 states and Washington, D.C . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2026/independent-local-newsrooms-sustainability-business-models/

Fox News & Explosive Rage

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Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 10/1/36

Headline: “Donald Trump’s insatiable demand for Fox propaganda”

“President Donald Trump lashed out at Fox News on Wednesday with a lengthy online harangue that made little sense but demonstrates the network’s impossible task in satisfying the president’s demand for pure propaganda. . .”

“. . .The president’s commentary about Fox typically blends praise for the hosts he loves and segments he appreciates with critiques of personalities who don’t meet his standard for sycophancy and attacks on the network’s accurate pollsters. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/donald-trumps-insatiable-demand-fox-propaganda

No Access for CNN Again

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 10/1/26

Headline:  “White House removes CNN from press pool for second time in a week”

Subhead:  “Network was listed as primary TV pool covering Thursday’s presidential activities but then was abruptly removed”

“For a second time in a week, the White House has unilaterally removed CNN from its assignment as the primary television pool representative covering Donald Trump.

“CNN was excluded on Saturday from pool duty onboard Air Force One, despite a district judge’s ruling – two days earlier – overturning the White House’s ban on the network and two other media organization. . .”

“Then, on Wednesday night, the White House abruptly removed CNN from pool duty for the following day, leaving Real America’s Voice as the only pooler as the president travels to Texas and Oklahoma. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/oct/01/nn-white-house-second-removal-media-ban

After Merger, Comes the Cutting

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Article in Reuters by Deborah Mary Sophia and Neil J Kanatt, 10/1/26

Headline:  “David Ellison’s appointment of Kreiz brings cost-cutter to Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery”

“. . .David Ellison’s choice of Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz as his co-captain at the new Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery signals what the media behemoth will care about most: running a lean, cost-efficient ​business that can pump more money out of its storied franchises. . .”

“That skillset positions Kreiz well to take on the task of knitting together two legacy media giants saddled with roughly $80 billion in debt while delivering the $6 billion in cost-savings promised from the industry-shaping merger. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/david-ellisons-appointment-of-kreiz-brings-cost-cutter-paramount-warner-bros-2026-10-01/

Reporters Experience “Show Me State”

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 9/30/26

Headline: “Opinion | Sen. Eric Schmitt confused the Hawks and Hawkeyes and the political press had a field day”

Subhead:  “The Missouri senator accused Jack Smith of perjury over an Atlanta Hawks game. Smith had actually watched Caitlin Clark play … in Maryland.”

“The Republican senator thought he was going to dunk on his opponent. Instead, he ended up flat on his back in a wild moment on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. Get ready for a bizarre story that somehow includes basketball star Caitlin Clark.

“And it’s what the Washington media was buzzing about Tuesday. . . ”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/eric-schmitt-hawks-hawkeyes-hawks-jack-smith/

Citizens Worried About Press Freedom

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Article in UPI by By Jill Keppeler, 9/29/26

Headline: “Percentage who say U.S. media have ‘a lot’ of freedom hits new low”

“. . .Slightly more than two in three Americans now say that U.S. news media have “a lot” of freedom, a new low, a Gallup poll released Tuesday said.

“The percentage shows a marked political divide. . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/09/29/perception-of-press-freedom-hits-new-low/5151790716634/

 

Carr Accident

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Article in Status, by Oliver Darcy, 9/29/26

Headline: “Comcast’s Carr Calculation”

Subhead: “While the company announced plans to spin off NBCUniversal, Status has learned executives are weighing whether to hang on to their local television stations rather than risk a fight with Trump’s FCC.”

“Earlier this summer, when Comcast announced that it would spin off its NBCUniversal assets into a separate company, most of the industry assumed that the conglomerate’s owned-and-operated television stations would be divested with the rest of the media portfolio. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/comcast-nbc-stations-spinoff-fcc-brendan-carr

Will Court Stop Media Ban?

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Article in The Washington Post by Victoria Craw, 9/29/26

Headline: “CNN, MS NOW and Politico ask judge to extend block on Trump’s media ban”

Subhead:  “The current 14-day order is due to expire Oct. 8, and the media outlets say the White House is preventing CNN from fulfilling its television pool duties.”

“CNN, MS NOW and Politico have asked a federal court to block President Donald Trump’s media ban beyond the current 14-day order while legal proceedings play out.

The outlets called for the ‘same access’ to the White House and president they had before Trump announced the ban on Sept. 18, accusing them of ‘FAKE NEWS.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/09/30/cnn-ms-now-politico-ask-judge-extend-block-trumps-media-ban/

Who Paid for Trump Ads?

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Article in AP by Ali Swenson, 9/28/26

Headline:  “Taxpayers have funded nearly $1.5M in pro-Trump ads. Criticism is mounting, including from the GOP”

“The White House has spent days fiercely defending three taxpayer-funded advertisements that glorify President Donald Trump and are nearing at least $1.5 million in public spending, calling them public service announcements like those used in past administrations. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://apnews.com/article/trump-government-ads-taxpayer-funded-psa-propaganda-26ae03010d78221d1d93b06c0818d06d