Check-to-Check Financial News


Article in The Guardian by Zach Vasquez, 4/12/25

Check-to-Check Business News Channel offers ‘financial news to regular folk living paycheck to paycheck’. Whereas the S&P means nothing to the hosts or their audience, other signs – such as ‘candy bars are up from ‘sure, baby, to “put that back” ‘, are dire signs. Meanwhile, healthcare spending remains at zero, while millions of Americans are investing in healthcare alternatives such as ‘just lay down, take an Advil, or just pray it goes away’.”

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/apr/13/saturday-night-live-jon-hamm-host

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAKznUoQa-I&t=9s

 

Rt. Wing Media Split?


Article in Poynter by Tom Jones. 4/11/25

Headline:  “Opinion | Trump’s tariff chaos rattles markets — and conservative media is split”

Subhead:  “Uncertainty abounds after a week of stock market volatility, and many wonder about the president’s motives.”

“The big news this week, of course, was the stock market bouncing up and down like a yo-yo as Trump imposed, then paused tariffs on other countries. Oh, except for China — where the tariffs jumped up even more. Anxiety over that caused the markets to take a dive again on Thursday.

“So what are Americans making out of all of this?  Well, it depends on where they get their news and information. Conservative media, mostly, is  portraying Trump as a brilliant negotiator and genius businessman. They see him as the master of the art of the deal.

“Everyone else, and, yes, even a few in conservative media outlets, continue to watch an unstable stock market and rickety world economy and ask: ‘What is Trump doing? Does Trump even know what he is doing?’

“Once again, The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board continues to be among Trump’s biggest critics when it comes to the shifting tariff policies. . .”

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/trumps-tariff-chaos-rattles-markets-conservative-media-split/

Money-Truth on the Radio


Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Josh Hersch 4/11/25

Headline:  “Kai Ryssdal Was America’s Economic Voice of Reason This Week”

Subhead:  The Marketplace host on Trump’s economic policies, and telling it like it is.”

“Kai Ryssdal has been the host of Marketplace, a leading daily radio show and podcast about the economy, produced by American Public Media, since 2005.

“He delivers the news—from the bitter latest on our 401(k)s to unexpected interviews about the modern-day resurgence of train robberies—with an affable, direct tone. . .”

“This week on The Kicker, Ryssdal explains what, exactly, just happened with the economy, and why he feels it’s so important for Marketplace to call it like they see it. . .”

https://www.cjr.org/kicker/kai-ryssdal-marketplace-trump-economy.php

Windfall for Some Media Giants?


Article in Free Press by Staff, 4/10/25

Headline:  “Kill the Bill: Press Group Fights Oregon Measure on Payment by Tech Firms”

Free Press Action noted that the bill would divert millions into the pocket of corporate media giants and incentivize tech platforms to block local news content entirely.”

https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/404954/kill-the-bill-press-group-fights-oregon-measure-o.html

First Amendment and Media?

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Sarah Grecy Gotfredsen, 4/10/25

Headline:  “Entry: Denied”

Subhead:  “The “intolerable risk to press freedom” posed by device searches at the border.”

“. . .In 2019, The Intercept documented how journalists covering the so-called migrant caravan faced ‘coordinated harassment’ from US and Mexican authorities. Through a series of interviews, the journalist Ryan Devereaux tells how members of the press were forced to turn over their notes, cameras, and phones while border officers interrogated them for information about activists working with members of the caravan. . .”

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/entry-denied-us-border-customs-device-unlock-search-journalists-detain.php

– – – – –
Article in Fair by Janine Jackson, 4/10/25

Headline:  ” ‘This Is an All-Out War on the First Amendment’ “

Subhead:  CounterSpin interview with Jessica González on Trump’s FCC”

“Janine Jackson:  ‘There are reasons that the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, is an opaque entity for many people. The fact that there is a federal agency setting the terms for media companies’ operations conflicts with many Americans’ understanding of the press corps as a group of brave, independent individuals looking to tell the truth, and let the chips fall where they may.’

“There are, in fact, many community-supported, differently structured news outlets doing just that. . .”

https://fair.org/home/this-is-an-all-out-war-on-the-first-amendment/

Media Ecosystems


Article in The Contrarian by Jeff Nesbit, 4/9/25

Headline:  “Here’s why Trump ignores traditional media: He has his own media ecosystem now.”

Subhead:  “And Democrats not only don’t have the same network, but they don’t seem interested in building one.”

“A recent report from Media Matters, a non-profit advocacy group that studies and reports on the state of media in America today, makes a stark reality crystal clear: The principal reason Donald Trump no longer pays any attention to traditional media outlets is that his presidential administration has the right-wing media ecosystem marketing content and messages daily to a mass audience reaching 100 million Americans every single day. . .”

https://contrarian.substack.com/p/heres-why-trump-ignores-traditional

Lost Money in the Market? Media’s Fault!


Article in Daily Mail by Karelyn Caralle, 4/9/25

Headline:  “Karoline Leavitt tears into media for missing Trump’s ‘art of the deal’ after stunning tariffs U-turn: Live updates”

“White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the media was responsible for tanking global markets and leaving tens of millions of everyday Americans fearing for their jobs – not Donald Trump’s tariffs. . .”

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14587733/donald-trump-china-tariff-trade-war-104-stock-market-live-updates.html

 

Protest Coverage and Lack-of


Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Sacha Biazzo, 4/9/25

Headline:  “Why Protests Against Trump Got More Play Overseas Than Here”

Subhead:  “European editors on how the news out of America drives coverage at home”

“If you were flipping through an American newspaper earlier this week, looking for news about the “Hands Off!” anti-Trump street protests that consumed much of the country over the weekend, you might have had a hard time finding it. Despite more than a thousand rallies at sites across all fifty states—including substantial turnout in Washington, New York, and Los Angeles—a number of major newspapers deemed the actions not quite front-page news, as several keen-eyed observers have noted recently, burying it on page eleven (the Boston Globe) or eighteen (the New York Times) or in a second section entirely (the LA Times). . .”

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/trump-hand-off-protests-coverage-europe.php

– – – – –
Article in Fair by Julie Hollar and Jim Naureckas, 4/8/25

Headline:  “Corporate Media Minimize Massive Hands Off! Protests”

“After the biggest anti-Trump protests since the 2017 Women’s March, many major media outlets seemed intent on downplaying the size and significance of the massive demonstration of opposition. . . ”

“The Hands Off! protests took place on April 5 in 1,400 locations across the country, with solidarity rallies in Europe and Canada.  Burying the news . . .”

“The Washington Post (4/6/25) relegated protesters “across the US” to the Metro section.

“Despite the scale and significance of the protests, neither the New York Times nor the Washington Post had stories about them on their front pages the next day.

“The Washington Post (4/6/25) had a thumbnail at the bottom of the front page with the blurb “Metro: Thousands gather in DC as protesters rally across the US against Trump. . .”

“A Times blurb promoting the story in a roundup of stories about “The Trump Administration’s First Hundred Days” minimized the scale and seriousness of the event . . .”

https://fair.org/home/corporate-media-minimize-massive-hands-off-protests/

 

Protect Your Sources


Article in Poynter by Angela Fu, 4/8/25

Headline:  “Legal experts advise journalists to strengthen reporting security in the face of rising press restrictions”

Subhead:  “Journalists can protect their sources by maintaining good digital hygiene and being aware of security vulnerabilities, experts say”

“At a time when President Donald Trump’s administration has accelerated attacks on the press, accessing information and protecting sources might become more difficult for journalists, experts say.

” ‘Concerns about libel law and the protections from landmark Supreme Court case New York Times Co. v Sullivan have been exaggerated’, said New York Times deputy general counsel David McCraw and Center for Investigative Reporting general counsel Victoria Baranetsky. Instead, they advised journalists to take measures to secure their reporting material and be cognizant of the pressures they face in the current political climate. Their remarks came Monday during a Poynter webinar called ‘Safeguarding your journalism against legal threats. . .’

“Trump has already taken measures to curtail press access. His administration has laid off communications staff, reallocated dedicated office space in the Pentagon to conservative outlets, taken over the White House press pool and defunded global radio stations. Most notably, his administration has banned The Associated Press from accessing key White House spaces like the Oval Office. Members of his administration have also threatened to investigate leaks.

“Newsrooms may see more subpoenas seeking their communications and reporting material, McCraw warned. To that end, journalists should be cognizant of the documentation that they generate and keep. An unflattering private message to a colleague, for example, could be unearthed in court — as was the case earlier this year when a jury found CNN guilty of defaming a security contractor. . .”

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2025/trump-legal-threats-journalists-source-protection/

 

Can’t Ban the Free Press


Article in The Guardian by Leonie Chao-Feng, 4/8/24

Headline:  “Judge orders Trump White House to lift access restrictions on Associated Press”

Subhead:  “Order restores journalists access to White House spaces while the news agency’s lawsuit moves forward”

“A US judge on Tuesday ordered the White House to restore full access to the Associated Press to presidential events, after the news agency was punished for its decision to continue to refer to the Gulf of Mexico in its coverage.

“The order from the US district judge Trevor McFadden, an appointee of Donald Trump, requires the White House to allow the AP’s journalists to access the Oval Office, Air Force One and events held at the White House.

“The White House “sharply curtailed” the AP’s access to media events with the US president after he renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” and the news agency did not follow suit, McFadden wrote in a 41-page decision. . .”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/08/judge-orders-white-house-restore-associated-press-access