Battle for Free Press?

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 8/18/26

Headline:  “Disney Goes To War”

Subhead:  “In an extraordinary lawsuit, the Josh D’Amaro-led company accused the federal government of serious First Amendment violations and warned that if it loses, “the press could in no way be described as free.”

“. . .It was evident to Disney executives all along that Carr’s probe into the company was about much more than its D.E.I. policies. A person familiar with the Josh D’Amaro-led company’s thinking told Status. . .

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/disney-abc-fcc-lawsuit-brendan-carr-stations

AI Fake News Sites Close

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Article in Poynter by Alex Mahadevan, Angela Fu, Amaris Castillo and Nicole Slaughter Grahamcle, 8/18/26

Headline:  “Opinion | More than 200 AI-generated ‘local news’ sites just went dark”

Subhead:  “Prism News promised ‘zero humans’ and ‘infinite AI scale.’ Local journalists found plagiarism and falsehoods.”

“Prism News has suspended its network of more than 200 AI-generated “local news” sites following investigations from multiple outlets that exposed plagiarism and falsehoods. . .”

“Articles on the sites — which bore the tagline ‘(t)he stuff mainstream media skips, finally getting the coverage it deserves’ — were published under fake, AI-generated bylines and regularly included information and quotes lifted from local reporting. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/prism-news-local-news-ai-fake-shuts-down/

Stop Broadcast License Burning?

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 8/18/26

Headline:  “ABC sues Trump’s media regulator over demand for TV license renewals”

Subhead:  “Network alleges FCC is trying to send ‘chilling message’ in retaliation for content the administration disapproves of”

“ABC has sued the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), arguing that it is being retaliated against for content-based reasons in a move it warns threatens the independence of the press.

“The network filed the lawsuit on Tuesday after being forced to apply early to renew its license to broadcast on the eight local television stations it owns. It is waiting to hear whether the Brendan Carr-led FCC approves its renewal requests, or, more likely, holds a hearing on their merits. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/18/abc-sues-trump-federal-communications-commission

 

Mainstream Media Distortion?

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Article in Common Dreams by Roger Bybee, 8/7/26

Headline:  “Establishment Media: Narrow Wisconsin Loss for Hong I​s Massive Defeat for the Left”

Subhead:  “Her defeat was welcomed by conventional media and pundits impatiently awaiting some sign that a wave of progressive victories was finally being halted by sensibly moderate Midwestern voters. But is this accurate?”

“Mainstream media voices reflexively advising ‘moderate’ politics for the Democrats have unveiled a comfortably reassuring explanation of the razor-thin 3,796-vote defeat of democratic socialist Francesca Hong. . .”

Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary provided the opportunity to serve up a pre-baked narrative favored by many journalists. Following democratic socialist Francesca Hong’s narrow defeat. . . ‘The socialists met their match,’ The New York Times concluded smugly. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/media-wrong-hong-s-defeat

Trumps Dodge Subpoenas From Broadcaster

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Article in The New Republic by Hafiz Rashid, 8/17/26

Headline:  “Trump Kids Hide From Subpoenas as BBC Defamation Lawsuit Backfires”

Subhead: “President Trump is losing control over his own lawsuit against the BBC.”

“President Trump’s family members are dodging subpoenas in his defamation lawsuit against the BBC.

“The British network asked a U.S. federal judge for help in getting documents and testimony from Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and her husband Jared Kushner, the Associated Press reports, citing court documents. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/post/214418/trump-kids-hide-subpoenas-bbc-defamation-lawsuit-backfires

Legacy Media Put Head in Sand?

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Article in Daily Kos by Oliver Willis, 8/15/26

Headline:  “Why the media ignores the growing Republican schism”

“Republicans are having a bad time ahead of this year’s midterm elections, where the momentum has consistently been with the Democrats. . .”

“Republicans are the ones having the real midterm problem, both internally and in contrast to the Democratic Party. Why? Trump. . .”

“Republican disarray is the new “Democratic disarray,” and someone should tell the mainstream media.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/8/15/800084437/series/why-the-media-ignores-the-growing-republican-schism/

Media Damage Control?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jem Bartholomew, 8/17/26

Headline:  “What Karoline Leavitt Leaves Behind”

Subhead:  “The outgoing press secretary further damaged the relationship between the federal government and the journalists who cover it.”

“. . .What Leavitt seemed to understand better than many of her predecessors was that, inside the MAGA court, the goal of press relations is to put on a good show. . .”

“. . .The Guardian’s Arwa Mahdawi wrote on Friday. ‘Leavitt’s legacy in government was attacking Trump’s enemies and spouting lie after lie after lie.’

“What I find most troubling about Leavitt’s tenure is how she and the wider Trump administration seemed to conceptualize the role of their press relations team. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/what-karoline-leavitt-leaves-behind-trump-press-secretary-outgoing-damaged-relationship-white-house-press-corps-federal-government-journalists-combative-style-showmanship.php

Media Didn’t Smile for Trump

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Article in Daily Beast by Erkki Forster, 8/16/26

Headline: “Trump, 80, Declares Fox News Host an Enemy of MAGA”

Subhead:  “The president worked himself into a fury after watching the Fox News host.”

“President Donald Trump melted down at Fox News host Shannon Bream after her Sunday broadcast failed to flatter him.

“The TV-obsessed president appeared to have tuned into Bream’s program on Sunday morning, where the Fox News host grilled Trump’s handpicked attorney general Todd Blanche over the $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization” fund and pressed him on why the president is building the White House ballroom without congressional authorization. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-80-declares-fox-news-host-shannon-bream-an-enemy-of-maga/?via=mobile&source=Reddit

– – – – –

. . .  wait, wait there’s more! . . .

Article in The Guardian by Sam Levin, 8/17/26

Headline: “White House launches personal attack on CNN reporter over question to Trump”

Subhead:  “CNN says attack ‘beneath the office’ after Kristen Holmes asked president about Jon Ossoff’s comments on key aide”

“The White House launched a personal attack against a CNN reporter on Monday with a social media post that mentioned her children and accused her of asking a ‘disgusting and inhumane question’. . .:”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/17/white-house-personal-attack-cnn-reporter-trump

Avoiding Shot in the Dark

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Article in Status by Brett LoGiurato, 8/14/26

Headline:  “The Media’s Vaccine Hesitancy”

Subhead:  “Donald Trump’s executive order attempting to gut the childhood vaccine schedule was built on debunked science. Too much of the news media’s coverage treated it as a political dispute.”

“. . .the position pediatric medicine has been forcibly pushed into over the past decade, or even longer—having to defend established science to the public because of the rampant mis-and-disinformation poisoning the public discourse.

“That is also the kind of posture the press should have taken this week when Donald Trump signed an executive order that aims to drastically reshape the childhood vaccine schedule. Unfortunately, much of the news media. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/trump-vaccine-order-media-coverage-mmr

Take Political Media With a Grain of. . .

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Article in Daily Kos by Weinsch, 8/14/26

Headline:  “Listen to Political Media — But Listen Carefully”

“Folks who are new or sporadic voters should avoid a mistake that many make: Don’t put too much faith in political media. . .”

” it’s fair to say that the political media craves drama. It makes things more interesting for them. Whether it’s the primaries or the general election, the job is much easier for these folks if a theme or narrative develops into which daily or weekly news fits. The campaign becomes a novel with a beginning, middle and conclusion (or “denouement,” as we learned in high school) instead of an endless series of repetitive and disconnected short stories. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/8/14/800084505/community/listen-to-political-media-but-listen-carefully/