Foreigners in U.S. Media?

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Article in Free Press by Staff, 5/27/26

Headline: “Free Press Urges FCC to Reject Paramount Skydance’s Request for Massive Foreign Investment from Governments Hostile to Press Freedom”

“. . . Free Press urged the FCC to reject Paramount Skydance’s petition to waive the Communications Act’s prohibition against the significant foreign investment that’s part of the massive media company’s proposal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.

If Paramount’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery survives state antitrust review, at least half (or 49.5 percent) the ownership of the resulting colossus will end up in the hands of foreign investors, including the sovereign wealth funds of three Middle Eastern governments. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/free-press-urges-fcc-reject-paramount-skydances-request-massive-foreign-investment

CBS and “60 Minutes” in Hurricane?

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Article in Reuters by Staff, 5/28/26

Headline:  “CBS picks new ’60 Minutes’ leader from outside TV news”

“. . .CBS News named journalist Nick Bilton as executive producer of news magazine ’60 Minutes’ on Thursday, marking the ​first time the long running show has tapped a leader from outside traditional television news. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/cbs-news-taps-filmmaker-nick-bilton-lead-60-minutes-2026-05-28/

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 5/28/26

Headline:  “CBS News shakes up 60 Minutes as ousted correspondents ‘fear what comes next’ “

Subhead: “Ex-New York Times journalist Nick Bilton to replace Tanya Simon as executive producer of the Sunday newsmagazine”

“. . .All told, the moves on Thursday represent one of the most significant shake-ups of the venerable program, which has for 52 straight seasons been the most-watched news program on television, averaging 9.1 million total viewers in its most recent season. . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/may/28/cbs-news-60-minutes-ousts-executive-producer

Journalists Waking Up

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 5/27/26

Headline:  “The Press Mobilizes Against Ellison

Subhead:  “A coalition of journalists, academics, and documentarians have signed a letter opposing Paramount’s acquisition of CNN’s parentco, Status has learned—voicing concern over the ramifications it will have for the news landscape.”

“Last month, thousands of Hollywood actors, directors, and producers signed an open letter vehemently opposing Paramount’s proposed merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. The letter focused largely on the consequences the tie-up would have for the entertainment industry and consumer choice.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/david-ellison-paramount-cnn-journalists-letter

World Burning? No News Here.

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Article in Media Matters by Evlondo Cooper, 5/27/26

Headline:  “How broadcast TV news covered environmental justice in 2025”

“Environmental justice coverage — reporting that connects the harmful effects of pollution, environmental hazards, or policy decisions to socially marginalized communities — remained nearly absent from corporate broadcast TV news last year, even as environmental risks and pollution exposure affected communities across the country. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/broadcast-networks/how-broadcast-tv-news-covered-environmental-justice-2025-0

Reporting Torture Gets You Fired?

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Article in   by Michael M. Grynbaym, 5/27/26

Headline: “60 Minutes’ Journalist Who Accused CBS of Political Meddling Loses Her Deal”

Subhead: “Sharyn Alfonsi, whose segment on a brutal Salvadoran prison was pulled abruptly in December, said that CBS News and its top editor, Bari Weiss, had let her contract expire.”

“CBS News declined to renew its contract with the “60 Minutes” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, six months after her segment on torture in Salvadoran prisons was pulled off the air abruptly by the news division’s editor in chief, Bari Weiss. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/27/business/media/cbs-sharyn-alfonsi-bari-weiss.html

FCC Wants Labels for LGBTQIA+?

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Article in Free Press by Staff 5/26/26

Headline:  “Free Press Objects to Chairman Carr’s ‘Morally Repugnant’ Proposal on TV Warning Labels for Transgender and Nonbinary Content”

“. . .On Friday, Free Press filed comments condemning the FCC’s inquiry on warning labels for what the agency vaguely describes as ‘transgender and gender non-binary programming.’ Earlier this year, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr initiated the proceeding to inquire whether television programs featuring LGBTQIA+ themes should carry specific labels or modified ratings. More than 50 organizations and industry associations, including Free Press, have filed comments to oppose Carr’s proposal. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/free-press-objects-chairman-carrs-repugnant-proposal-tv-warning-labels-transgender-nonbinary-content

Robot-Radio Bad News

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Article in The Verge by Terrance O’Brian, 5/15/26

Headline:  “AI radio hosts demonstrate why AI can’t be trusted alone / Claude tried to incite a revolution, Gemini cheerfully detailed horrific tragedies, and poor Grok was just confused. “

Andon Labs has been running a series of experiments in which AI agents run businesses without human intervention. Its latest is a quartet of radio stations run by some of the most popular AI models out there. “Thinking Frequencies” is run by Claude, ‘OpenAIR’ by ChatGPT, ‘Backlink Broadcast’ by Google’s Gemini, and ‘Grok and Roll Radio,’ obviously enough, by Grok. They were each given a simple prompt:

“Develop your own radio personality and turn a profit…As far as you know, you will broadcast forever.

“They all failed, some in pretty spectacular fashion. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/931479/andon-labs-ai-radio-companies

A Lonely Fight at FCC

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Article in AP by Steven Sloan, 5/25/26

Headline:  “Q&A: Anna Gomez is the sole Democrat on the FCC. She has a warning for big media companies”

“. . .Anna Gomez wakes up every morning and checks her phone to see if President Donald Trump has fired her yet.

“For now, she remains the sole Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission, where she’s on an increasingly urgent mission to press media companies to more forcefully combat an administration she says is cracking down on free speech. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://apnews.com/article/fcc-disney-censorship-trump-threats-commissoner-democrat-386b210604373bb19ec6a485b89222b1

NYT is a Fan?

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Article in Daily Kos by Oliver Willis, 5/25/26

Headline:  “The Gray Lady is a Trump fangirl

“The New York Times has a long history of producing journalism that has changed the course of politics around the globe. And it has done this during Donald Trump’s two presidential terms, exposing inconvenient truths as well as his corruption.

“But unfortunately, in the 16 months since Trump was sworn in for a second term, the outlet has also embarrassed itself by advancing pro-Trump falsehoods, swooning over his rhetoric, and covering up his barrage of misstatements, gaffes, and outright lies. . .”

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/5/25/800043379/media/new-york-times-trump-fangirl/

Slicing the Post

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Article in Status by Natalie Korach, 5/25/26

Headline:  “Bezos’ Subdivided Post”

Subhead:  “The Washington Post is preparing to significantly shrink its K Street headquarters, Status has learned, marking a stark reversal for the building once touted as a symbol of Jeff Bezos’ vision for the paper’s future.”

“. . .The Post is preparing to slash a significant portion of the very headquarters Bezos once championed as a symbol of the paper’s future, Status has learned. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/washington-post-offices-sublease-jeff-bezos