Stomping the Networks

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Article in Common Dreams by Brad Reed, 8/25/25

Headline:  “As Trump Threatens News Outlets, Experts More Concerned About Capitulation of Corporate Owners”

Subhead:  “The commercial news media, which helped elevate Trump to power, have proven repeatedly that they are ill-equipped to withstand such pressures,” warned one scholar.”

“As US President Donald Trump late on Sunday lashed out against the American media and threatened to pull broadcasting licenses from networks for their alleged “biased” coverage of him, media experts said the danger to the news media lies partially in corporate outlets’ potential capitulation to the Trump administration. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-nbc-abc-licenses

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Article in Reuters by David Shepardson, 8/25/25

Headline: “Trump again pushes US agency to revoke NBC, ABC station licenses”

“. . .President Donald Trump reiterated a long-running push for the Federal Communications Commission to revoke station licenses of two major U.S. broadcasters and charge them for using the public airwaves, as he criticized their news programming. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.reuters.com/business/trump-again-pushes-us-agency-revoke-nbc-abc-station-licenses-2025-08-25/

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Article in Newsweek by Robert Birsel, 8/25/25

Headline:  “Trump Calls For ‘Fake News’ Networks To Have Licenses Revoked by FCC”

“U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday called the ABC and NBC networks two of the “most biased” broadcasters ever and said the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should revoke their licenses. . .”

“Media outlets promote a healthy democracy by providing the public with fact-checked information, particularly on those in power, and offering essential context. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-media-nbc-abc-fcc-license-revoked-fees-2118632

 

Media Comedy and Truth

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Article in Vox by Sean Remeswaram & Gabrielle Berbey, 8/23/25

Headline:  “South Park is doing what the rest of the media won’t”

Subhead:  “The White House says South Park is irrelevant. Its record-breaking ratings tell a different story.”

“. . .By speaking truth to the ultimate power right now. You know, the creators of South Park have always hated bullies, and they seem to believe Trump is the biggest bully of them all. The very premise of the first episode of this new season is about Trump targeting the media. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.vox.com/today-explained-podcast/458775/south-park-trump-media-criticism

Loss of VOA

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Article in On the Media by NPR. 8/22/25

Headline: “The Power of Shortwave Radio. And, What Gets Lost with Voice of America?“

“This month, the director of Voice of America is being forced out in the latest of many moves to dismantle the state broadcasting service. On this week’s On the Media, a history of the Voice of America, and how it’s been politicized. Plus, hear why propagandists in Russia, China, and Iran are celebrating cuts to U.S.-funded foreign reporting. . .”

Listen to the podcast at:

https://www.npr.org/podcasts/452538775/on-the-media

Acceptable Media Bias?

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Article in The New Republic by Perry Bacon, 8/22/25

Headline:  “The Media Should Be Biased—Against Authoritarianism”

Subhead:  “UMass Amherst journalism historian Kathy Roberts Forde says the news media has helped both entrench and erode authoritarianism in the U.S. in the past and should lean into its pro-democracy history now.”

“The news media has a powerful role in democracy, even if it often doesn’t acknowledge that, says Kathy Roberts Forde, a journalism historian who teaches at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. . .”

“Forde argues that today’s Republican Party is using some of the authoritarian tactics that were employed in the American South in the twentieth century and by autocratic leaders abroad today. So she argues journalists can and should make those connections, even if that leads to Republicans attacking them as biased. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/article/199471/media-biased-against-authoritarianism

 

Watching the Press

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Article in Poynter by Ren LaForme, 8/21/25

Headline: “Join Poynter in keeping a close eye on press freedom”

Subhead: “Our new Press Freedom Watch project tracks federal actions that undermine America’s free press”

“A free press is a cornerstone of American democracy. It informs citizens, holds leaders to account and upholds democratic principles. But after decades of relative freedom, the U.S. press now faces a coordinated series of federal actions that is unmatched in recent decades.

“President Donald Trump and his administration have taken concrete steps since January to limit press freedom. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2025/press-freedom-watch-trump-federal-actions/

Ethics for Reporters?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Julie Gerstein & Margaret Sullivan, 8/21/25

Headline:  “Thirteen Journalists on How They Are Rethinking Ethics”

Subhead: “We asked newsroom leaders and ethicists what they’re keeping or changing in an era of Trump, “fake news,” AI, and industry decline.”

“. . .This summer, the two of us—Margaret Sullivan and Julie Gerstein, of the Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security at Columbia University—have been exploring, in a series of pieces with CJR, whether those ethics are sufficient for journalists in the modern moment. Whether, in the face of artificial intelligence, “fake news,” eroding protections for sources, and the weakening of their business model, journalists should adjust their core tenets. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/feature/thirteen-journalists-on-how-they-are-rethinking-ethics-newsroom-leaders-ethicists-trump-fake-news-ai.php

Some Support for Indigenous Media

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Article in Indian Country Today by Loris Taylor, 8/19/25

Headline:  “Gratitude in crisis: a spark for sustainable Indigenous media resilience”

“On August 4, 2025, Native Public Media and the Public Media Company made an appeal to foundations in support of vulnerable public media stations following the defunding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting by Congress. On August 19, 2025, the Knight Foundation, Pivotal, MacArthur, Ford, Schmidt Family, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundations stepped forward in a powerful display of solidarity, announcing an infusion of $36.5 million in emergency funding to safeguard public media stations, especially those serving rural, Indigenous, and underserved communities, from imminent closure after steep federal cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.. .”

Read the full article at:

https://ictnews.org/opinion/gratitude-in-crisis-a-spark-for-sustainable-indigenous-media-resilience/

Media Plan: Better Vote Right

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Article in Media Matters by John Knefel, 8/21/25

Headline:  “Steve Bannon just laid out the MAGA media playbook to subvert the midterms”

Subhead:  “The right-wing media plan for undermining the 2026 elections includes pushing for ICE to stalk polling sites and sending a band of election deniers on tour”

“War Room host and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon this week spelled out a vision of how MAGA media could attempt to subvert the 2026 midterm elections, including by advocating for the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at polling places, extreme Congressional redistricting, and a mail-in voting ban. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon/steve-bannon-just-laid-out-maga-media-playbook-subvert-midterms

Fake AI Authors Taken Down

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Article in The Guardian by Maya Yang, 8/21/25

Headline: “Wired and Business Insider remove articles by AI-generated ‘freelancer’ “

Subhead:  “At least six publications have taken down articles under the name Margaux Blanchard that were AI-generated”

“Multiple news organisations have taken down articles written by an alleged freelance journalist that now appear to have been generated by AI.

“On Thursday, Press Gazette reported that at least six publications, including Wired and Business Insider, have removed articles from their websites in recent months after it was discovered that the stories – written under the name of Margaux Blanchard – were AI-generate . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/21/ai-author-articles-wired-business-insider

No Speaking to the Media!

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Article in AlterNet by Carl Gibson, 8/20/25

Headline:  ” ‘They say it’s a felony’; Police yank Dem lawmeker out of bathroom for speaking to media”

“One Democratic state representative in Texas speaking out against the Republican effort to redraw congressional district boundaries was just threatened with a felony charge for speaking to journalists. . .”

“That’s according to a Wednesday article in the Houston Chronicle, which reported that Rep. Nicole Collier (D) had to abruptly end a press conference she joined from a bathroom at the Texas State Capitol. A video of the moment posted to X shows Collier being interrupted mid-speech while on a Democratic National Committee video stream with California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) while speaking to police.

” ‘Sorry, I have to leave. They said it’s a felony for me to do this,’ Collier said. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/police-democratic-lawmaker-bathroom/