Media Conspiracy Against Diversity?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Miranda Green, 7/30/26

Headline:  “How a Network of Pink-Slime News Sites and Conservative Activists Went After Campus DEI”

Subhead:  “Using FOIA requests and hidden-camera videos, the groups targeted universities, leading to the firing of faculty and staff.”

“In February of 2025, as college students across the country settled into their spring semesters, administrators at four major public universities in the Midwest received public records requests about their policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI. . .”

“The requests, from sites owned by a paid partisan network called Metric Media, were part of a strategic, ongoing effort to expose and castigate public universities for teaching with an eye on diversity. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/tow_center/how-a-network-of-pink-slime-news-sites-and-conservative-activists-went-after-campus-dei-hidden-camera-foia-flood-university-firings-heritage-foundation-project-2025.php

ABC Persecuted?

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Article in The New Republic by Sophie Jager, 7/30/26

Headline:  “ABC Accuses Trump’s FCC of Trying to Censor the Whole Media Industry”

Subhead:  “ABC fired back at the Federal Communications Commission, accusing the agency of “attempted censorship” and “retaliation.”

“ABC accused the Federal Communications Commission Thursday of “attempted censorship” and a clear “retaliation” effort meant to send a message to every other media company in the country.

“The Administration has openly and repeatedly called for the revocation of ABC’s licenses, because it dislikes the content and viewpoints expressed on ABC network programs,” ABC wrote in a fiery 119-page regulatory filing to the agency. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/post/213787/abc-trump-fcc-censorship-media-industry

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Article in Reuters by David Shepardson, 7/30/26

Headline: “ABC says FCC seeks to intimidate network over news coverage”

“. . .Walt Disney-owned, ​ABC said on Thursday that the Federal Communications Commission’s threat to revoke the network’s broadcast licenses is ‌part of an unprecedented campaign of intimidation over broadcast content the Trump administration dislikes.

“ABC said that the Trump administration agency’s nearly unprecedented decision to order an early license review of the eight Disney-owned ABC stations is a warning from the government to other media companies. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.reuters.com/world/abc-says-fcc-seeks-intimidate-network-over-coverage-2026-07-30/

Unhinged Journalist-Harassment?

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Article in Ars Technica by Jon Brodkin, 7/28/26

Headline:  “eBay pays $46M to journalists it targeted in bizarre harassment campaign”

Subhead:  “eBay sent bloody pig mask and other macabre deliveries to journalists’ home.”

“eBay and three former executives agreed to pay nearly $56 million in a settlement over a macabre campaign of cyberstalking and harassment that targeted two journalists in 2019.

“As we’ve previously written, the case involved deliveries of live cockroaches, a funeral wreath, a book about surviving the loss of a spouse, and a bloody pig mask to the home of a couple who run a news website. There were also harassing messages sent via email and Twitter, and an attempt to install a GPS tracking device on the victims’ car. Criminal charges resulted in guilty pleas and prison terms for former eBay employees. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/07/ebay-former-execs-pay-56m-to-settle-bloody-pig-mask-harassment-case/

Rt. Media Rebrand War?

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Article in Media Matters by John Knefel, 7/29/26

Headline:  “The growing MAGA media despondency over the Iran war quagmire”

Subhead:  “Benny Johnson once called to rebrand the Strait of Hormuz in the US’s image, but now he has acquiesced to Iranian control over the crucial waterway”

“As President Donald Trump’s war on Iran extends into its sixth month, some figures on the right are recalibrating their messaging from an original demand for maximalist victory to something much more modest.

“Although the war has created some fractures in right-wing media, at the outset of the conflict it had no shortage of boosters — either Iran hawks or MAGA hacks. Now, as the Iranian government has survived months of bombing and operationalized its previously unrealized control of the Strait of Hormuz, some of those pundits are scaling back their ambitions. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/us-iran-relations/growing-maga-media-despondency-over-iran-war-quagmire

Media White Flag?

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Article in The Bulwark by Jonathan V. Last 7/27/26

Headline:  “Trump Was Right About the Corporate Media”

Subhead:  “The White House Correspondents’ Association surrenders.”

“On Friday night the White House Correspondents’ Association hosted the re-do of its annual dinner. It was a stunning display of weakness. A sham in which serious journalists chose to pretend that Donald Trump is a normal political figure. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-was-right-about-the-corporate

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Article in The Nation by Jeet Heer, 7/27/26

Headline:  “Submissive Mainstream Media at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner”

Subhead:  “His speech was racist, homophobic, vindictive, and soul-crushingly unfunny—and the journalists in the crowd didn’t seem to care. “

“Fittingly, the disgraceful second edition of the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner (WHCD) was celebrated in a venue that embodies Donald Trump’s corruption and impunity. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/trump-whcd-speech-media-humiliation/

McCarthy Ghost Pursues Media

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Article in Democracy Now! by Staff, 7/28/26

Headline: “A New McCarthyism? House GOP Subpoenas BreakThrough News in Escalating War on Progressive Groups”

“The Republican-led House Ways and Means Committee subpoenaed BreakThrough News last week, demanding the independent online news outlet hand over internal communications and financial records. BreakThrough News says it’s being targeted over its coverage of U.S. mass deportations, ICE abuses, Cuba and Palestine solidarity and U.S. foreign policy. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/28/rania_khalek_breakthrough_news_subpoena

60 Minutes Continues its Slide?

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Article in The New Republic by Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, 7/28/26

Headline:  “NYT’s Most Obnoxious Columnist Joins 60 Minutes in Pro-Trump Overhaul”

Subhead: “Bari Weiss is bringing a friendly face to the prestigious news show.”

“Conservative columnist Ross Douthat is leaving The New York Times to join the storied broadcast magazine in a new role, 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton announced Tuesday. . .”

“Despite being an early skeptic of Donald Trump’s politics and popularity, Douthat has since downplayed the president’s authoritarian and fascist tendencies while attempting to rationalize Trump’s behavior.”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/post/213657/new-york-times-columnist-60-minutes-ross-douthat-pro-trump-overhaul

Media, Drinking it all in?

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Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo. 7/27/26

Headline:  “The Atlantic calls Patel lawsuit an ‘assault’ on Constitution in dismissal bid”

“The Atlantic is asking a judge to toss a lawsuit brought by FBI Director Kash Patel against the outlet over its reporting alleging excessive drinking and questioning his performance in the job. . .”

“The Atlantic, in a statement on Monday, called Patel’s suit ‘meritless’ and said it was asking the court to permit it to begin seeking factual discovery from the FBI and the Department of Justice — including documents and depositions of key individuals, which it called ‘appropriate given the allegations in this matter’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5993569-atlantic-patel-defamation-suit/

Media Dinner Indigestion

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 7/27/26

Headline:  “Opinion | The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was an embarrassment”

Subhead:  “President Donald Trump’s hour of rambling, insults and ridicule left the association with little to celebrate”

“No president in the history of this country has devoted more energy and resources to trying to weaken the free press than President Donald Trump. He has sued, threatened, insulted and tried to intimidate the press, and has been successful in undermining the trust Americans have in one of the cornerstones of our democracy.

“And yet, there was Trump last Friday, being handed a microphone by the WHCA to say whatever he wanted. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/white-house-correspondents-association-dinner-trump-speech/

In Crisis, Collaborating Important

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Irene Romulo and Nina Weingrill, 7/28/26

Headline:  “In a Fast-Moving Crisis, What Is the Role of Journalism?”

Subhead:  “Community news organizations, enmeshed in an information ecosystem on social media and messaging apps, can verify, clarify, and connect.”

“. . .A Media Impact Funders report argues that journalism needs to build infrastructure that is ‘shared, long-term, coordinated, and system-oriented,’ rather than episodic or project-bound. That includes adding coordination roles, offering community training, building trusted networks, and maintaining relationships with community organizations between crises. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/in-a-fast-moving-crisis-what-is-the-role-of-journalism-brazil-flood-venezuela-earthquake-whatsapp-signal-rapid-response-immigration-customs-enforcement-ice-information-sharing-ecosystems.php