FCC Commissioner Defends Press Freedom

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Article in Free Press by Staff, 4/28/25

Headline:  “At Lively Public Forum, FCC Commissioner Gomez Rallies Angelenos in Defense of First Amendment Rights and a Free Press”

“On Wednesday, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez took a forceful stand against government censorship and intimidation of U.S. media during a boisterous Los Angeles forum co-hosted by Free Press.

“ ‘I launched this First Amendment tour to bring attention to this administration’s campaign of censorship and control — and I want to be clear, this is an administration-wide campaign,’ Gomez said during the event. ‘Freedom of the press requires journalists that are able to do their job without interference from their corporate parents. We are not seeing that today because of the actions of this administration and it is so dangerous. We all need to understand what is happening and we need people to speak up and to push back. . .’

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/fcc-commissioner-gomez-rallies-angelenos-defense-first-amendment-rights

Newsletter Journalism

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Klaudia Jazwinska, 5/29/25

Headline:  “The Long Peak of Newsletters”

Subhead:  “A medium that connects journalists to their readers seems to have fresh momentum.”

“n October 2022, the New York Times asked, ‘Are we past peak newsletter?’ ‘After a rush of excitement around the potential for paid email newsletters to transform the media industry,’ the paper wrote, ‘there are indicators that the bubble may be popping’; Meta had just killed a newsletter product, while the newsletter publishing platform Substack was cutting back on the advances it was paying to writers. Recent trends, however, suggest that the format is experiencing renewed momentum. Press Gazette reported, for example, that Substack had, for the first time, entered its ranking of the top fifty news websites in the UK, reaching a larger share of the country’s population than CNN in March. . .”

Read the full article at:

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

Domino Effect on Journalism

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Article in Poynter by Angla Fu, 5/29/25

Headline:  “America’s top journalism schools may lose a generation of international talent”

Subhead:  “The Trump administration is pausing visa interviews for students and fellows while it drafts new vetting rules”

“Foreign media workers and students coming to the United States for journalism schools and fellowships could get caught up in the Trump administration’s pause on certain visa interviews.

“Secretary of State Marco Rubio instructed all American embassies and consulates Tuesday to stop scheduling student and exchange visitor visa interviews, Politico reported. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/educators-students/2025/foreign-journalism-students-visa-pause/

Nasty Taco Question?

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Article in Mediaite by Zachary Leeman, 5/28/25

Headline:  “Trump Rages at Reporter Asking ‘Nasty Question’ About Accusations He ‘Chicken Outs’ On Tariffs”

“President Donald Trump lashed out at a reporter on Wednesday over her ‘nasty question’ on critics accusing him of ‘always chickening out.’

“At the Wednesday swearing-in ceremony for Jeanine Pirro as Washington, D.C.’s top prosecutor, Trump took some questions and at one point was educated on the term TACO, meaning ‘Trump Always Chickens Out.’ The term was reportedly first coined by Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong, and it’s since picked up steam with Wall Streeters who believe Trump’s tariff negotiations first tank the markets, leading to him inevitably backing off.

“ ‘Mr. President, Wall Street analysts have coined a new term called the taco trade. They’re saying Trump always chickens out on your tariff threats. And that’s why markets are higher this week. What’s your response to that?’ CNBC White House correspondent Megan Casella asked Trump. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/trump-rages-at-reporter-asking-nasty-question-about-accusations-he-chicken-outs-on-tariffs/

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Article in Axios by Emily Peck, 5/28/25

Headline:  “How a columnist’s catchphrase caused an Oval Office stir”

“At a press conference Wednesday, President Trump had a very unhappy reaction to being asked about the ‘TACO trade’ — a shorthand for Trump Always Chickens Out.

“Why it matters: Traders have been using TACO to describe the belief that the president will back off on a big tariff threat if the markets sink in response. . .”

“State of play: Trump was asked about a spate of TACO-related headlines while taking questions in the Oval Office Wednesday.

” ‘I’ve never heard that, you mean because I reduced China from 145%,’ he said, then detailing how he stepped down that threat, as well as the higher rate on the EU.

” ‘But don’t ever say what you said. That’s a nasty question’. . ..”

Read the full article at:

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/29/trump-taco-trade-tariffs

Planted Media Falsehoods on Fire?

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Article in Media Matters by Jane Lee & Isabella Corrao, 5/28/25

Headline:  “An intelligence report debunked MAGA media claims about Tren de Aragua and Venezuela. A Trump official is now under fire for reportedly ordering the report be redone.”

“The New York Times reported that Trump intel official Joe Kent ordered the assessment to be edited to protect Donald Trump and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard”

“Intelligence community assessments rejected the Trump administration’s claim that the Venezuela-based gang Tren de Aragua is being directed by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s administration to infiltrate the United States.

“In response, the Trump administration dismissed the head of the National Intelligence Council and his deputy, making claims about the pair that an observer noted are ‘extremely difficult to believe’ given that they served the country ‘faithfully’ for decades. Administration official Joe Kent — a former fixture in far-right media and currently top aide to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — also ordered analysts to revise the intelligence assessment, reportedly in order to protect President Donald Trump and Gabbard. . .”

Read the full story here:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/intelligence-report-debunked-maga-media-claims-about-tren-de-aragua-and-venezuela-trump

Can Student Journalists do Their Jobs?

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Article in Poynter by Adelina Yankova, 5/27/25

Headline:  “Student reporters are under pressure to protect sources — and still tell the truth”

Subhead:  “As fear spreads on campuses, journalists face a new dilemma: How do you build trust when few are willing to be named?”

“Last December, Andrew Massie got a text from his roommate: He thought he had story for him. An hour later, Massie, who is a journalist at The Fordham Ram student newspaper, returned home to find several people waiting to talk. The ensuing three-month reporting journey led Massie to sift through documents and interview 26 people about alleged administrative negligence by a Fordham dean.

“Still, when the story was published in the Ram on March 5, it featured only two named sources.

“Most of the interviewees, who feared for their current jobs and future employment prospects, would only speak to Massie, the features editor of the Ram, under the condition of anonymity. In some cases, the interviews were fully off the record, meaning Massie had to confirm their testimony with others.

“Massie’s experience is increasingly common for student journalists across the country as they reckon with people’s hesitance to be named in stories. . .”

Read the full story here:

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2025/student-journalism-challenges-anonymous-sources-off-record/

Reporting a Hidden War

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Nalova Akua, 5/27/25

Headline:  “The Hidden Toll of Reporting on the Sudanese Civil War”

Subhead:  “Local journalists say it often feels like belligerents are waging an undeclared war against the press.”

“In June 2023, Nader Shilkawi, a thirty-four-year-old journalist working with the Sudan Radio and Television Corporation, was returning home from a reporting trip when he was seized by members of a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces. The group—a party in a brutal civil war that has torn the country apart since April 2023—accused the reporter of working with the Sudanese army to monitor its movements. ‘I was subjected to torture in detention,’ Shilkawi said recently via a WhatsApp message. ‘I was beaten. I received threats.’

“He was eventually released, after three days of detention. But Shilkawi’s story is not so uncommon. The Sudanese civil war, now in its third year, has left more than 150,000 people dead and an estimated fourteen million more displaced. It has also quietly become one of the most dangerous conflicts in the world for journalists. . .”

Read the full story at:

https://www.cjr.org/news/journalism-reporters-sudan-civil-war.php

NPR Tuning Out Trump?

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Article in Status News by Oliver Darcy, 5/27/25

Headline: “NPR Flips the Dial on Trump”

Subhead: “When Trump signed an order to defund NPR, the network faced a choice over how it would respond—but CEO Katherine Maher made one thing clear from the start: there would be no backroom negotiations.

“In the days following Donald Trump’s May 1 executive order to strip NPR of all federal funding, leaders at the public broadcaster began deliberating their options. But even before the network’s legal team got to work on the litigation, one decision had already been made. NPR chief executive Katherine Maher made clear that the outlet would not quietly negotiate with the White House—an approach other media companies have recently taken under immense political pressure.

“As an independent media organization,” Maher told me by phone Tuesday, “we wouldn’t go ahead and have that conversation because that would be negotiating on editorial principle.” . . .”

Read the full story here:

https://www.status.news/p/npr-sues-trump-funding-katherine-maher-interview

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Article in AP by David Bauder, 5/27/25

Headline:  “NPR sues Trump administration over executive order to cut federal funding to public media”

“National Public Radio and three of its local stations sued President Donald Trump on Tuesday, arguing that his executive order cutting funding to the 246-station network violates their free speech and relies on an authority that he does not have.

Earlier this month, Trump instructed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and federal agencies to cease funding for NPR and PBS, either directly or indirectly. The president and his supporters argue their news reporting promotes liberal bias and shouldn’t be supported by taxpayers.

Retaliation is Trump’s plain purpose, the lawsuit argues. It was filed in federal court in Washington by NPR and three Colorado entities — Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio and KUTE, Inc., chosen to show the system’s diversity in urban and rural areas.

“By basing its directives on the substance of NPR’s programming, the executive order seeks to force NPR to adapt its journalistic standards and editorial choices to the preferences of the government if it is to continue to receive federal funding,” Katherine Maher, NPR’s CEO, said Tuesday.

Read the full story here:

https://apnews.com/article/npr-trump-lawsuit-public-radio-f320314b30df6934238a5b6af47c5067

Broadcaster Over the Volcano

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Article in MSN by Meg James, 5/27/25

Headline:  “Trump, ’60 Minutes’ and corruption allegations put Paramount on edge with sale less certain”

“One fateful October decision to trim two convoluted sentences from a ’60 Minutes‘ interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris has snowballed into a full-blown corporate crisis for CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global, and its controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone.

“President Trump’s $20-billion lawsuit — claiming ’60 Minutes’ producers deceptively manipulated the Harris interview to make her look smarter — has festered, clouding the future of Paramount and the company’s hoped-for $8-billion sale to David Ellison’s Skydance Media.

“The dispute over the edits has sparked massive unrest within the company, prompted high-level departures and triggered a Federal Communications Commission examination of alleged news bias. The FCC’s review of the Skydance deal has become bogged down, according to people familiar with the matter who weren’t authorized to comment.. .”

Read the full article here:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/ar-AA1FyJMu

Journalists Cover Real History

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Article in Huffpost by Jazmin Tolliver, 5/26/25

Headline:  ” ‘60 Minutes’ Reporter Rips Into Trump In Viral Commencement Speech”

Subhead:  “The veteran CBS News reporter also accused Trump of working to ‘rewrite history with grotesque false narratives.’ “

“Journalist Scott Pelley accused President Donald Trump of ‘attacking’ free speech and spreading ‘insidious fear’ among the public during a commencement address at Wake Forest University.

“The speech came as concerns grow over the country’s free speech rights amid Trump’s targeted attacks aimed at universities over a range of topics, including diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices and foreign students’ enrollment. Trump and Harvard University are currently embroiled in a heated legal battle over its enrollment of foreign students.

“Our sacred rule of law is under attack,” Pelley began his message. ‘Journalism is under attack. Universities are under attack. Freedom of speech is under attack, and insidious fear is reaching through our schools, our businesses and into our private thoughts.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/journalist-scott-pelley-trump-attack-free-speech_n_6834bbbce4b0b885650cba0a?swk