Refuge for Congo Journalists

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RWB Photo

Article in Reporters Without Borders by Staff, 12/16/24

Headline: “DRC: RSF and UNPC open a residence for displaced journalists in North Kivu province”

“Since last September, two journalists have been killed and multiple media workers have been attacked. Around twenty community radio stations have been closed, censored or subjected to control by the M23 rebel group this summer, while others have been threatened with prosecution by the government. Due to the many dangers journalists face in North Kivu, a north-eastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), they are forced to flee their homes. Around fifty journalists from North Kivu had been displaced by the end of June 2024.”

https://rsf.org/en/drc-rsf-and-unpc-open-residence-displaced-journalists-north-kivu-province

Selective Coverage – Vital Issues

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Article in Media Matters by Harrison Ray, 12/10/24

Headline:  “Cable news is barely covering Trump and GOP plans to slash Medicaid’

Subhead:  “CNN and Fox News almost completely ignored the Republicans’ plans”

“Cable news networks largely ignored changes the incoming Trump administration and congressional Republicans are reportedly considering to limit access to Medicaid.

The proposals have raised alarms among health care advocates, who warn of potentially devastating impacts to vulnerable populations including children, seniors, and people with disabilities.

Since November 14, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC have given the Republicans’ potential plans only 40 minutes of coverage. MSNBC led networks with over 33 minutes coverage. However, both CNN and Fox News largely failed to cover the story

https://www.mediamatters.org/health-care/cable-news-is-barely-covering-Trump-and-GOP-plans-to-slash-medicaid

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Article in Media Matters by Gideon Taffe, 12/11/24

Headline:  “Fox News is downplaying Donald Trump’s extreme agenda as moderate”

“As Donald Trump prepares to begin his second term in office, Fox News is downplaying his agenda that threatens to deport millions of people, implement destructive economic policy, roll back reproductive rights, enact “retribution” against his rivals, promote anti-vaccine figures to be in charge of public health, and radically gut federal entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare.

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-downplaying-donald-trumps-extreme-agenda-moderate

 

 

Government Control and Public Media

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Sacha Biazzo, 12/11/24

Headline:  “Lucia Annunziata on the Transformation of Italy’s Public Broadcaster Under Giorgia Meloni”

Subhead:  “An anchor turned politician on her exit from RAI.”

“Historically, RAI, Italy’s public broadcaster, has always been subject to government control. During the political era dominated by Silvio Berlusconi, the late media mogul turned three-time prime minister, for example, the infamous “Bulgarian Diktat” caused an uproar: following a declaration by Berlusconi, management effectively removed the journalist Enzo Biagi, anchor Michele Santoro, and satirist Daniele Luttazzi . . . from public TV altogether.

“Today, under the right-wing prime minister Giorgia Meloni, efforts to align RAI with the government’s agenda have been seen as even more pervasive—the broadcaster has undergone a series of radical transformations, often referred to using the shorthand TeleMeloni.”

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/qa_lucia_annunziata_telemeloni_italy_rai.php

Hope for Syrian Journalists

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Article in Committee to Protect Jounalists by Staff, 12/11/24

Headline: CPJ calls on new Syrian leaders to protect journalist safety, hold Assad’s media persecutors to account

“As Syria transitions to a new government following the December 8 toppling of Bashar al-Assad, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities to take decisive action to ensure the safety of all journalists and hold accountable those responsible for the killing, imprisonment, and silencing of members of the media during the country’s 13-year civil war.

“ ‘Scenes of journalists rushing to cover Syria’s post-Assad regime raise hope for the start of a new chapter for the country’s media workers,’ said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna. ‘While we wait for the missing to return and the imprisoned to be released, we call on the new authorities to hold the perpetrators to account for the crimes of killing, abducting, or jailing reporters.’ ”

https://cpj.org/2024/12/cpj-calls-on-new-syrian-leaders-to-protect-journalist-safety-hold-assads-media-persecutors-to-account/

Media Fringe Now

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Article in Mediaite by Zachary Leeman, 12/12/24

Headline:  “CNN’s Van Jones Frets ‘Fringe’ Has Replaced ‘Mainstream’ Media: ‘We’re on Cable News Getting 1-2 Million’ While They’re ‘Getting 14 Million Streams’ ”

“CNN’s Van Jones warned on Wednesday that the entire ‘political class’ in the country is ‘way off’ when it comes to connecting to voters, as ‘fringe’ platforms and voices have replaced ‘mainstream’ outlets like his own network.

“. . .Jones fretted that streamers and podcasters are bringing in views that cable news cannot come close to touching.

“ The mainstream has become fringe and the fringe has become mainstream,’ he said. ‘There are platforms, there are people out there that are getting 14 million streams and we’re on cable news getting one to two million.’ ”

https://www.mediaite.com/media/cnns-van-jones-frets-fringe-has-replaced-mainstream-media-were-on-cable-news-getting-1-2-million-while-theyre-getting-14-million-streams/

Billionaire Media Owners Know Best

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Article in The Guardian by Emily Bell, 12/13/24

Headline:  “Can billionaire media moguls be trusted in Trump’s America?”

Subhead:  “The new gatekeepers use ‘trust’ to discredit the press and talk about removing bias with AI – distracting us from their own shift to the right”

“If we want to know what news organisations will look like under the second Trump administration in America, well, we are beginning to get an idea. At the Dealbook conference in New York last week, Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post and multi-billionaire founder of Amazon, gave a very favourable assessment of Donald Trump’s upcoming second term. “I am very hopeful … he seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation,” beamed Bezos. It was surprising, then, that the Washington Post did not endorse Trump in its pre-election editorial. Instead the writers crafted an endorsement of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris which Bezos killed, in his first act of blatant editorial interference since he bought the title in 2013.”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/13/can-billionaire-media-moguls-be-trusted-in-trumps-america

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Article in Daily Kos by Alex Samuela, 12/13/24

Headline:  “America’s largest media and tech moguls line up to kiss Trump’s ass”

“Jeff Bezos’ Amazon is reportedly planning to donate $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration—mirroring a similarly large donation from Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman.

“The billionaires’ respective decisions to open their pocketbooks to the incoming president come as other tech leads and media moguls have similarly begun to soften their approach toward Trump—despite his promise to exact vengeance on news outlets that anger him. On Thursday, Rolling Stone reported that Trump’s lieutenants are planning more personal lawsuits and legal threats against news outlets during his second White House stint.”

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/12/13/2291744/-America-s-largest-media-and-tech-moguls-line-up-to-kiss-Trump-s-ass?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_1&pm_medium=web

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Article in Mediaite by David Gilmour, 12/13/24

Headline:  ” ‘He’s Right!’ Colby Hall Says Media Has Been Tamed – And Trunp’s Person Of The Year Was A Veiled Threat”

“Mediaite’s Colby Hall agreed with President-elect Donald Trump’s take that the media had somewhat “tamed” in its coverage of him since the election but flagged Trump’s Person Of The Year speech at the New York Stock Exchange as a veiled threat.

The analysis came after Trump appeared on Wall Street Thursday to ring the bell in celebration of being named Time’s Person of the Year. Delivering a speech at the event, the president-elect mused about the more benevolent coverage he’d been receiving.

After thanking Time for the honor, he said, “The media is tamed down a little bit. They like us much better now I think. If they don’t, then we’ll just have to take them on again, and we don’t want to do that.”

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/hes-right-colby-hall-says-media-has-been-tamed-and-trumps-person-of-the-year-speech-was-a-veiled-threat/

 

No News Without Tax?

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Article in Al Jezeera by Staff, 12/12/24

Headline:  “Australia plans to tax tech giants if they fail to pay news outlets”

Subhead: “Firms like Meta face tax if they don’t pay for news driving traffic to their sites, depriving media firms of revenue.”

“The Australian government has announced plans to tax Big Tech firms if they fail to share revenue with local news media organisations.

“The measure, applicable from January 1, will force firms like Meta and Google with an Australian-based revenue in excess of 250 million Australian dollars ($160m) to pay for content or face a hefty tax bill that could amount to millions.”

“. . . Announcing the move, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said on Thursday that the rapid growth of digital platforms had ‘disrupted’ the media landscape and was ‘threatening the viability of public interest journalism’ ”.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/12/australia-to-force-tech-giants-to-pay-for-news

Sudan Journalists at Risk

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Photo: AFP/Amaury Falt-Brown

Article by Staff in Citizens to Protect Journalists, 12/12/24

Headline:  “Rapid Support Forces kill Sudanese journalist Hanan Adam and brother”

“On Monday, December 8, soldiers with the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed journalist Hanan Adam, a correspondent for local Sudan Communist Party-affiliated newspaper al-Midan, and her brother, Youssef Adam, at their home in the village of Wad Al-Asha in the east-central al-Gezira state, according to statements by the Sudanese Journalists’ Union and the Sudan Communist Party.

“We are deeply shocked and outraged by Rapid Support Forces’ brutal killing of journalist Hanan Adam and her brother in al-Gezira state, which further illustrates the extreme conditions journalists and their families currently face in Sudan,” said CPJ Interim MENA Program Coordinator Yeganeh Rezaian, from Washington, D.C

https://cpj.org/2024/12/rapid-support-forces-kill-sudanese-journalist-hanan-adam-and-brother/

New Voice for VOA

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Article in Common Dreams by Jake Johonson, 12/12/24

Headline:  ” ‘Stuff of Parody’: Trump Taps Election-Denying Ally Kari Lake to Run Voice of America”

Subhead:  ” ‘Authoritarians love to control and instrumentalize media organizations, especially state-funded ones,’ journalist Mehdi Hasan wrote in response to the news.”

“President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has chosen Kari Lake, a far-right election denier and failed U.S. Senate candidate, to lead the federally funded international broadcast network Voice of America, a move that critics said underscores Trump’s effort to transform government entities into vehicles to advance his own interests.

In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote that as director of VOA, Lake would “ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/kari-lake-voice-of-america

Will the Regulators be Truthful?

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Article in ProPublica by Justin Elliot, Robert Faturechi, and Alex Mierjeski, 12/10/24

Headline:  “Donald Trump Controls a Publicly Traded Company. Now He Will Pick Its Regulator.”

Subhead:  ” There have been internal concerns that Trump Media could be misleading investors, a source said. But with its largest shareholder about to be president, experts doubt the SEC is up to the job of investigating Truth Social’s parent company.”

“. . .When Trump takes office in January, a president will for the first time be the majority owner of a publicly traded company, Trump Media, which runs Truth Social. Former SEC officials are concerned about how Trump could try to use the agency to go after the foes of his company, which accounts for more than half his fortune. They also worry that the agency isn’t up for the job of taking on Trump Media should it run afoul of securities laws. . .”

https://www.propublica.org/article/donald-trump-media-truth-social-sec-securities-exchange-commission