MAGA Media and Women

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Article in Media Matters by John Knefel, 12/10/25

Headline:  “Right-wing media are poised to escalate attacks on women as MAGA cracks emerge”

Subhead:  “As MAGA begins to fracture, elements of the coalition may seek to rally behind anti-feminism”

“The right-wing media and policy ecosystem appears poised to escalate its attacks on the basic rights of women as a weakened President Donald Trump lurches toward the end of the first year of his second term. The campaign to roll back decades of material gains for women is coming from both the gutter sexists and the would-be high-brow elements of the conservative media world, and it could serve as a rallying point for an increasingly fractured MAGA movement. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/diversity-discrimination/right-wing-media-are-poised-escalate-attacks-women-maga-cracks-emerge

Mega-Media Monsters Good?

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Article in Democracy Now! by Staff, 12/9/25

Headline:  ” ‘Merger Madness’: Trump at Center of Rival Netflix-Paramount Bids for Warner Bros.”

“President Donald Trump says he will be personally involved in the potential sale of Warner Bros. Discovery, with two enormous buyout offers on the table that risk further exacerbating U.S. media concentration. Netflix announced an $83 billion deal last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, which would give the tech giant control of the Warner Bros. movie studio and rival streaming service HBO Max. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/9/warner_bros_discovery_sale

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Article in Business Insider by Paige Bruton, Sarah Jackson, and Henry Chandonnet; 12/9/25

Headline: “Meet David Ellison, the 42-year-old Paramount Skydance CEO trying to throw a monkey wrench in Netflix’s plan”

“David Ellison is officially the CEO of Paramount Skydance. After a successful Paramount merger, next on his wish list is Warner Bros. Discovery — and he’s launched a hostile takeover bid in an effort to scoop it out from Netflix’s hands. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-david-ellison-paramount-skydance-ceo-2025-12?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=BusinessInsider-post-rentertainment

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 12/8/25

Headline: “Ellison’s Endgame”

“What began as quiet courtship by David Ellison has morphed into a hostile takeover attempt of Warner Bros. Discover – with the battle only likely to get messier in the days ahead. . .”

Read the article at:

https://www.status.news/p/david-ellison-david-zaslav-warner-bros-paramount-bids

Media Suggesting “What You May Like”?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Lucy Schiller, 12/9/25

Headline:  “Locally Sourced Chum”

Subhead:  “The AI widgets taking over news sites and extracting our data.”

“Recently, on the website of USA Today, I asked a generative AI chatbot called DeeperDive a question: ‘Is AI good?’ DeeperDive, which was unveiled in June, is a product of a company called Taboola, one of the largest native advertising platforms on the internet, with some nine thousand publishing partners. USA Today’s corporate parent—formerly known as Gannett, which recently rebranded as USA Today Co.—runs America’s biggest newspaper chain, and has been in business with Taboola since 2013, amassing user data, selling ads, and suggesting ‘content you may like’ . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/locally-sourced-chum-ai-widgets-extracting-data-news-sites.php

Media Silence for Public

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Article in Poynter by Kelly McBride, 12/9/25

Headline:  “When powerful people bully the press, they’re really trying to silence the public”

Subhead:  “What looks like a personal attack is often an intimidation tactic aimed at the entire press and the people it serves”

“. . .In addition to recently calling a reporter “piggy,” President Donald Trump has mocked a journalist’s physical disabilities and belittled one of his interviewers at the 2024 NABJ conference for her tough opening question. But he’s not the only one. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told a reporter to go back to her country. . .”

Read the full article at:
https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2025/what-to-do-when-powerful-people-bully-journalists/

Free Speech Disappearing?

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Article in Free Press by Staff 12/8/25

Headline:  “Comprehensive New Report Uncovers a Pervasive Pattern Driving the Trump Administration’s Year of Attacks Against Free Speech”

Subhead:  “In an analysis of hundreds of assaults on the First Amendment, Free Press reveals a systemic speech-chilling campaign.”

“WASHINGTON — On Monday, Free Press published an authoritative report analyzing the hundreds of incidents involving possible First Amendment violations over the first year of the Trump White House. The report — CHOKEHOLD: Donald Trump’s War on Free Speech & the Need for Systemic Resistance — sheds new light on a pattern driving an administration-wide campaign to silence dissent. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/report-uncovers-pervasive-pattern-driving-trump-administrations-year-attacks-free-speech

We Still Need Local News

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Photo from Lithub

Article in Poynter by Eric Rynston-Lobel, 12-8-25

Headline:  “As local news disappears, new networks are stepping in to fill the void”

Subhead:  “TAPinto, The Salt Lake Tribune and The Texas Tribune are expanding into underserved areas — testing new models for restoring local journalism”

“TAPinto provides its franchisees with the backend systems and training necessary to run a successful operation. It’s an efficient way to address the loss of local news, and it’s a variation of a model that other organizations have turned to recently as well. . .”

“There are now 853 local news sites across 52 networks providing original reporting, according to the report. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2025/tapinto-texas-tribune-salt-lake-tribune-local-news-expansion/

Predicting Future of the Media

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Articles in Columbia Journalism Review by various staff 12/8/25

Headline:  “Forecasting”

Subhead:  “Introducing the Journalism 2050 Issue.”

“We don’t know what exactly the future holds, much as we may want to believe we do. Looking at the transformations of the media industry, and at shifting habits of news consumption, maybe we can do something like meteorology, and put together a forecast. In this issue and an accompanying podcast series, we are watching where the wind blows . . .”

Read the articles at:

https://www.cjr.org/the-journalism-2050-issue

No Room in the Basket?

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Article in New York Times by John Koblin, 12/25/25

Headline:  “CNN, Unwanted by Netflix, Is Excluded From a Sale, for Now”

Subhead:  “The prospect of Paramount buying Warner Bros. Discovery had led CNN journalists to wonder if the channel might be combined with CBS News. Instead, CNN will remain in a separate corporate entity.”

“Netflix’s mega $83 billion deal for Warner Bros. Discovery has major implications for the entertainment industry, as well as the Warner Bros. film and TV studios and HBO.

“The fallout, at least for now, will be far less significant for CNN.

“The 24-hour news channel is conspicuously absent from the media entities that Netflix said on Friday it planned to acquire in its proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. . . ”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/business/media/cnn-netflix-warner-bros-discovery-deal.html?unlocked_article_code=1.6U8.DPP4.1A8q34iR9fB9&smid=url-share

Newspaper Breaking Out of the Cage?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 12/5/25

Headline:  “The New York Times draws a line on Pentagon press limits”

Headline:  “The Times sues the Pentagon, highlighting a pivotal moment for press freedom”

“The New York Times did something Thursday we haven’t seen enough of as President Donald Trump and his administration continue to strip away press freedoms.

“They took the fight to the administration.

“In a sign that they are sick and tired and aren’t going to take it anymore, the Times filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon, claiming that their First Amendment rights are being violated by the Pentagon’s new press restrictions. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/new-york-times-sues-pentagon-npr-underage-women/