Cloud Over New York Media Strategy?

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Article in Poynter by Taylor Jung, 1/13/26

Headline:  ‘I’m a community journalist in New York City. Here’s why Mamdani’s “influencer presser” stung.’

Subhead:  “Mayor Mamdani’s ‘new media’ strategy prioritizes content creators while locking out the community outlets that serve New York’s neighborhoods”

“On the evening of Jan. 6, members of the press received Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s public schedule for the following day. Mamdani was slated to host his first ‘new media press conference.’ It stated that the event would be ‘invited press only.’

We journalists who work for community news outlets weren’t part of that list. We’ve had difficulty getting in touch with Mamdani’s team since before he took office.”

read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/zohran-mamdani-influencers-journalists/

Network News Down the Drain?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Amos Barshad, 1/13/26

Headline: “Unaffiliated”

Subhead: “Some TV news stations are breaking their national network affiliations, and leaning into local programming.”

“. . .Amid mass media-job losses over the past year and increases in network television licensing fees that have been mounting for a while longer, WPLG has, since last spring, made sixty new hires.

“The growth has come as a direct result of WPLG’s decision, in August, to cut ties with ABC, with which it’s been affiliated since going on the air, sixty-nine years ago. . .”

Read the full story at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/unaffiliated-local-tv-stations-leaving-national-affiliates.php

Broadcasting into Iran Stopped?

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Article in Mediaite by Sarah Rumpfm 1/13/26

Headline: “Kari Lake Blocks Radio Free Europe from Using U.S. Transmitter in Kuwait to Broadcast into Iran: Report”

“US Agency for Global Media senior advisor Kari Lake has blocked Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from broadcasting into Iran using a USAGM transmitter located in Kuwait, reported Oliver Darcy in his Status newsletter.

“Lake narrowly lost the 2022 Arizona governor’s race to Democrat Katie Hobbs, and since then has paired her support for former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election with her own unfounded accusations that her election was stolen from her as well. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/kari-lake-blocks-radio-free-europe-from-using-u-s-transmitter-in-kuwait-to-broadcast-into-iran-report/

See No Evil?

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Article in FAIR by Drew Favakeh, 1/13/26

Headline:  “ACTION ALERT: Why Didn’t NYT, WaPo Report What They Knew About Venezuelan Invasion?”

“When the Trump administration invaded Venezuela and kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, the New York Times and Washington Post framed it as a surprise. . .”

“But word quickly got out that it was not a surprise to either paper. Semafor (1/3/26), an outlet co-founded by former Times media columnist Ben Smith, reported that both the Times and Post ‘learned of a secret US raid on Venezuela soon before it was scheduled to begin,’ but chose not to report on it, to ‘avoid endangering US troops.’ . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/action-alert-why-didnt-nyt-wapo-report-what-they-knew-about-venezuelan-invasion/

US Media Bias on Venezuela?

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Article in Poynter by Amaris Castillo, 1/12/26

Headline:  “Venezuelan journalists see gaps — and risks — in coverage of Nicolás Maduro’s capture”

Subhead:  “Journalists say U.S. outlets often lack Venezuelan voices and the long-term context needed to explain what comes next”

“. . . For U.S. newsrooms, Maduro’s capture is a dramatic foreign policy story. For Venezuelan journalists, it’s far more complicated. As American outlets work to explain what comes next, many of the journalists with the deepest knowledge of Venezuela are hesitant to speak publicly, fearful of reprisal, skeptical or superficial coverage and unsure whether U.S. media can fully capture the country’s legal and political complexity. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2026/venezuelan-coverage-nicolas-maduro-capture/

CBS Wreck?

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Article in The Guardian by Anna Betts, 1/12/26

Headline:  “David Letterman calls CBS News a ‘wreck’ under newly installed leadership”

Subhead: “Former late-night host makes comments amid merger of CBS’s parent company Paramount with Skydance Media”

“The former CBS late-night host David Letterman has criticized his old network, calling its news division a ‘wreck’ under its newly installed leadership. . .”

“He said: ‘CBS News is a wreck – it’s just gone. CBS News, for decades, going back to [the second world war], before [it], Ed Murrow would be broadcasting the blitz of London from the rooftop of buildings in London for CBS Radio, and it was that mentality that drove the integrity of CBS News, that has been trampled on, pissed on, and eviscerated by these idiots that have taken it over.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jan/12/david-letterman-cbs-news-bari-weiss

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jem Bartholomew, 1/12/26

Headline:   “And That’s the Way It Is”

Subhead:  “At CBS News, the suppression of critical reporting and the promotion of appeasement reveal Bari Weiss’s true colors.”

Read the article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/cbs-news-suppression-critical-reporting-appeasement-bari-weiss-tony-dokoupil.php

Press Asks About Nobel

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Article in AlterNet by Adam Lynch, 1/9/26

Headline:   “Internet erupts after Trump’s ‘delusional’ press conference” 

Subhead:  “Critics across the internet tore into President Donald Trump’s impromptu meeting with reporters on Friday.”

“Trump took time out from a meeting to pressure oil executives to invest in the freshly decapitated nation of Venezuela. . .”

“When asked by a reporter If he would change his view on Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado running the country if she would give him her Nobel Peace Prize Trump answered: ‘Well, I’m going to have to speak to her. She might be involved in some aspect of it. I can’t think of anybody in history that should get the Nobel prize more than me’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/trump-delusional-presser/

Media Covering-Up Venezuela?

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Article in The Nation by Jack Mirkinson, 1/9/26

Headline:  “The Media’s Coverage of the Venezuelan Coup Has Been Dreadful”

Subhead:  “War may be the health of state, but it’s death to honest journalism.”

“We live in a turbulent, unpredictable world. Few things feel certain. But there are some truths we can hold fast to. The sun will rise. We’ll grow older each day. And the media will bend over backward to celebrate US imperialism.

“For evidence of this, just review the past week’s coverage of President Donald Trump’s illegal abduction and overthrow of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Once the kidnapping operation swung into gear, our most prominent newsrooms obediently adopted their time-honored patterns: indulging war lust, sidestepping or downplaying the rule of law, and uncritically cheerleading yet another violent foreign intervention by the US military. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/media-venezuela-tony-dokoupil/

Reporting Public Information Illegal?

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Article in FAIR by Jim Naureckas, 1/9/26

Headline:  “The First Amendment Allows You to Report Things the Government Doesn’t Want Reported”

“The House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed journalist Seth Harp (Washington Post, 1/8/26) over his posting on X a photo and publicly available biographical information about the US colonel who apparently leads the Army’s Delta Force unit, which played a key role in the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Committee member Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R–Fla.) called for Harp’s criminal prosecution, accusing him of ‘leaking classified information’  and ‘doxing’ the colonel.

“. . .Actually, the First Amendment does give you a license to do all of those things. None of them are covered by the extremely limited exceptions to the freedom of the press recognized by the US Constitution. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/the-first-amendment-allows-you-to-report-things-the-government-doesnt-want-reported/

Did “60 Minutes” Lose Something?

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 1/8/26

Headline: “The Shadow Over ‘60’ “

Subhead:  “As Sharyn Alfonsi’s ’60 Minutes’ report remains shelved, Status has learned that an Anderson Cooper piece is also caught in a prolonged editorial review process, frustrating the veteran producer attached to the story.”

“Earlier this week, on Tuesday, members of the ’60 Minutes’ team gathered for a meeting to discuss the future of Sharyn Alfonsi’s delayed piece on migrants deported by Donald Trump’s administration to a notorious El Salvadorian prison. The segment, which had been slated for broadcast on December 21, was pulled from air at the eleventh hour by the network’s new MAGA friendly editor in chief, Bari Weiss. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/60-minutes-bari-weiss-cbs-news-cecot