Armed Forces Newspaper in Danger?

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Article in NPR On the Media by Staff, 1/28/26

Headline:  “Stars and Stripes in Peril”

Stars and Stripes, the venerated, independent award-winning newspaper that has served the armed services for roughly a century, may be getting an uninvited makeover, courtesy of Pete Hegseth’s Defense Department. In a statement posted on X earlier this month, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said that Stars and Stripes would no longer be carrying wire reports from the Associated Press, and that it would steer away from all that is woke or might sap morale. Parnell said the defense department would be bringing the newspaper “into the 21st century.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.npr.org/podcasts/452538775/on-the-media

Journalist Exposes Secret Lists

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Article in Common Dreams by Brett Wilkins, 1/28/26

Headline: ” ‘She’s Lying’: Journalist Exposes Secret Watch Lists That Trump Official Says Don’t Exist”

Subhead:  ” ‘If we don’t explore more why all of these secret lists exist,’ one US intelligence officer said, there could be ‘even more of an environment of paranoia on the ground and more tragic killings.’ “

“Despite denials from a senior Trump administration official, secret watchlists of Americans are being used by federal agencies to track and categorize US citizens—especially protesters, activists, and critics of law enforcement—as ‘domestic terrorists,’ investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein reported Wednesday.

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/secret-watchlists-of-americans

Media – Gaza Short Attention Span?

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Chart from FAIR

Article in FAIR by Julie Hollar, 1/28/28

Headline:  “After Trump Declared Gaza War ‘Over,’ Media Lost Interest”

“Since President Donald Trump declared that ‘the war in Gaza is over’ on October 3, 2025, US news outlets’ interest in the occupied territory has plummeted. In a FAIR search of US-related news sites using Media Cloud, a news media database, coverage of Gaza post-ceasefire agreement averaged just 1.5% of the news hole—significantly less than the level of coverage before the agreement. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/after-trump-declared-gaza-war-over-media-lost-interest/

MAGA Media and Violence?

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Article in Raw Story by Robert Davis, 1/27/26

Headline:  ” ‘Bloodthirsty’: MAGA media calls for violence after nurse’s killing leaves analysts aghast”

“Two analysts were stunned on Tuesday after a flood of “bloodthirsty” MAGA media personalities called for President Donald Trump to inflict more violence against protesters in Minneapolis following the killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti.

“Sam Stein, managing editor of The Bulwark, and Will Sommer, the publication’s senior reporter, discussed how the MAGA media sphere reacted to Pretti’s death during a new episode of ‘Bulwark Takes’ on Tuesday. They highlighted examples from commentators like Megyn Kelly, who claimed she felt no sympathy for Pretti after he was killed, and Greg Kelly, who said immigration officers were right to mistake Pretti’s phone for a gun. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.rawstory.com/maga-2675052416/

Fighting Media Consolidation

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Article in Free Press by Staff, 1/27/26

Headline: “Dozens of Groups Send FCC a Letter of Support for Petition to Deny Illegal Nexstar-Tegna Merger”

Subhead: “This massive broadcast-industry merger would be a blatant violation of the law prohibiting one company from too much control over local airwaves”

“On Tuesday, 28 public-interest groups, labor unions and civil-rights organizations sent the Federal Communications Commission a letter of support for a public-interest petition to deny the proposed merger of Nexstar and Tegna.

The petition — filed at the end of 2025 by Free Press, the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians—Communications Workers of America (NABET-CWA), The NewsGuild—Communications Workers of America (TNG-CWA), the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry and Public Knowledge — calls on the agency to reject a merger that would create an illegal broadcast conglomerate. The deal would exceed the 39-percent audience-reach “National Cap” Congress set. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/dozens-groups-send-fcc-letter-support-petition-deny-illegal-nexstar-tegna-merger

Getting the Propaganda Right?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones 1/27/26

Headline:  “Opinion | How bystander video and newsroom analysis undercut the White House narrative on Alex Pretti”

Subhead:  “The administration tried to shape the story, but evidence and detailed analysis appear to have forced a rare recalibration”

“. . .In the minutes and hours and days after ICU nurse Alex Pretti was shot 10 times and killed by Border Patrol agents on Saturday, many inside the Trump administration immediately pointed fingers at Pretti. They said he was ‘brandishing’ a gun. They called him a ‘domestic terrorist.’ They said he meant to ‘massacre law enforcement.’

“Some conservative media outlets ran with that storyline.

“None of these statements were rooted in truth. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/video-evidence-alex-pretti-white-house-messaging/

CBS, Does She Get It?

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 1/27/26

Headline:  “Bari Weiss tries to win CBS staffers’ trust amid ‘noise’ over 60 Minutes segment”

Subhead:  “In her first town hall, Weiss expressed some regret over her decision to pull 60 Minutes segment at the last minute”

“During her first address to CBS News employees as editor in chief, Bari Weiss acknowledged that there had been “a lot of noise” about her tumultuous tenure and said that some staffers might decide they don’t support her or want to continue working at the company.

“ ‘I just want to start by saying: I get it. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jan/27/bari-weiss-cbs
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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 1/27/26

Headline:  “Weiss and the Wary”

Subhead:   “The new CBS News chief finally addressed her skeptical newsroom, presenting her vision of the network’s future and fielding tough questions about her editorial views—though some staffers told Status they left unconvinced.”

Read the article at:

https://www.status.news/p/bari-weiss-cbs-news-town-hall

Local Minneapolis Journalists

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Article in Poynter by Kristen Hare, 1/26/26

Headline:  “What’s happening in Minneapolis? Hear it from the journalists who live there.”

Subhead: “In a moment of national attention, local reporters are offering clarity, context and accountability from the ground”

“Even after more than a decade of covering the local news industry, it still takes me time to remember to get off social media, my phone, national news and wherever else I’m getting information and go directly to the source — the people who live there, who pay taxes there, who worship and shop and vote and raise their families there.

“In the last few weeks, that source has been journalists and newsrooms in Minnesota after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers shot and killed Renee Good and Border Patrol officers shot and killed Alex Pretti. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/local-news/2026/minneapolis-ice-shootings-local-journalists-news/

Re. Wing Media & ICE

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Article in Media Matters by Staff, 1/26/26

Headline:  “On The Weeknight, Angelo Carusone discusses conservative media reaction to ICE and how it drives Trump’s decision making”

“…It’s Trump and other decision makers that actually have the ability to control the levers of what ICE is doing here. And a big thing that they’re reacting to is how the media, the part that the media that they care about, the right-wing media is reacting to it. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/ms-now-msnbc/weeknight-angelo-carusone-discusses-conservative-media-reaction-ice-and-how-it-drives

Media Tiptoeing Around Murder?

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Article in Common Dreams by Brad Reed, 1/26/26

Headline: “Critics Warn Corporate Media Is Failing in Face of White House Lies About Alex Pretti”

Subhead:  “ ‘There were lies,’ former CNN anchor Jim Acosta said of the Trump administration’s response to Pretti’s death. ‘Lie after lie after lie.’ “

“Two prominent critics warned on Monday that the US corporate media is not being aggressive enough in calling out the Trump administration’s lies about Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis resident who was slain by federal immigration agents over the weekend.

“Writing on her Substack page, former New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan expressed concern that many mainstream media publications were taking a wait-and-see approach in the wake of Pretti’s shooting, even as the Trump administration, Fox News, and other right-wing media websites were pumping out false claims about Pretti brandishing a weapon at federal officials and being a “domestic terrorist.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/alex-pretti-corporate-media