Journalists vs. AI


Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Riddhi Setty

Headline:  “Fighting the Machine”

Subhead:  “Journalists across the United States are fighting for contracts that address AI use: ‘We don’t want it to be done in our name, literally.’ “

“On a chilly day in early April, outside the ProPublica offices in Lower Manhattan, dozens of union members staged a daylong strike—the first of its kind authorized at a major news organization to address, among other concerns, how AI would be used with its work. . .”

” ‘Now is the time to fight this fight,’ Hilke Schellmann, an AI expert and journalism professor at New York University, told me. ‘Because once it becomes standard in a union bargaining agreement across the journalism industry that journalists or employees have no say over AI tools, that quickly becomes a standard.’ ”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/fighting-the-machine-contracts-artificial-intelligence-ai-use-bylines.php

MAGA Media & DOJ


Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 4/30/26

Headline:  “DOJ indictments are converging with MAGA media narratives”

“Recent Justice Department indictments whose validity have been questioned by legal experts demonstrate an increasing alignment of the Trump DOJ’s activities with the narratives of the MAGA media echo chamber.

“President Donald Trump has long sought to use federal law enforcement to punish his enemies. . .”

“But since Trump’s former personal lawyer Todd Blanche became acting attorney general last month, the president’s federal retaliation machine has seemed to sync up more closely with long-running talking points of his propaganda arm rather than simply focusing on the same targets. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/doj-indictments-are-converging-maga-media-narratives

“60 Minutes” Censorship?

Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 4/30/26

“The veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi expressed concern about “the spread of corporate meddling and editorial fear” at CBS News and her uncertainty about whether she will keep her job after she pushed back on a directive to change her December segment on Venezuelans who were sent to the Cecot prison in El Salvador.

Alfonsi spoke about the incident for the first time on Thursday evening after receiving the Ridenhour prize for courage at the National Press Club in Washington. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/apr/30/60-minutes-sharyn-alfonsi-cbs-news

No Access, No News

Article in AP by Deepti Hajela, 4/30/26|

Headline:  “Media organizations call on Israel to allow foreign reporters independent access to Gaza”

The leaders of major media companies around the world, including The Associated Press, are calling on Israel’s government to lift a ban keeping foreign journalists from being able to independently enter and report from Gaza, a barrier that’s been in place since the war’s start in 2023 and continues even as a ceasefire has been in place for more than six months. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://apnews.com/article/gaza-israel-journalists-coverage-access-war-zone-0b3e72a7d73e211944fb5ff1c9d5d645

News Gamble


Article in The New Republic by Grace Segers, 4/29/26

Headline:  “The Media’s Embrace of Prediction Markets Could Be a Devil’s Bargain”

Subhead:  “New relationships between media organizations and Kalshi and Polymarket could raise serious questions about institutional trustworthiness.”

“As prediction markets rise in popularity and notoriety, several news outlets have recently engaged in partnerships with the most prominent of these companies, raising questions about how and why media organizations would want to become entangled with an industry essentially predicated on gambling. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/article/209602/media-ethics-prediction-markets-kalshi-polymarket

Media Company on the Skids?


Article in Daily Kos by Staff, 4/29/26

Headline:  Trump Media joins the president’s long list of failures”

“Last week, Devin Nunes was fired from his role as CEO of Trump Media. The former congressman and dairy farmer lasted nearly three years at President Donald Trump’s media company, which is honestly impressive given how catastrophically it has performed.

“Under Nunes, the company’s stock collapsed 84% from its 2024 debut, falling from $58 to under $10. . .”

Reads the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/29/800030163/media-and-culture/trump-media-presidents-failures/

Threatening TV Stations?

Article in Free Press by Staff, 4/28/26

Headline:  “FCC Chairman Carr’s Threat to Pull ABC Broadcast Licenses Is an Unconstitutional Attack on Free Speech”

WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr issued an order to initiate early license reviews of all of ABC’s broadcast station licenses. This extraordinary move follows calls by President Donald Trump and his wife Melania for the broadcaster to fire Jimmy Kimmel.

Since becoming chairman, Carr has threatened multiple actions against the network and has opened at least three dubious investigations into the broadcaster, following instances in which ABC news and entertainment programming upset Trump. . .

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/fcc-chairman-carrs-threat-pull-abc-broadcast-licenses-unconstitutional-attack-free-speech

– – – – –

Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo, 4/28/26

Headline: “FCC ordering review of Disney broadcast station licenses ”

“. . .In a filing made on Tuesday, the department confirmed it had been conducting an investigation into Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices and was kicking off the process to start an early review of the company’s broadcast licenses for a handful of stations it owns and operates in major markets across the country.

“The stations in question are ABC affiliates in major markets like New York, Los Angeles and Houston. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5854049-fcc-ordering-review-of-disney-broadcast-station-licenses/

Reporters Puzzled?

Article in The Babylon Bee by Staff, 4/28/26

Headline:  “Media Still Stumped As To Motive Of Gunman With Manifesto Titled ‘Why I’m Going To Kill Donald J. Trump’ “

“U.S. — Members of the national media remained completely baffled as to the target or motive of a gunman carrying a detailed, 47-page manifesto entitled ‘Why I’m Going To Kill Donald J. Trump.’

“The document reportedly provided a handy bullet-pointed list of grievances along with a helpful table of contents detailing primary and secondary motivations for wanting to kill the president, but after hours of reviewing the manifesto, journalists came up empty as to who the gunman may have been targeting and why. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://babylonbee.com/news/media-still-stumped-as-to-motive-of-gunman-with-manifesto-titled-why-im-going-to-kill-donald-j-trump

Many ABC TV Stations Have Licenses


Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 4/28/26

Headline:  “FCC orders review of ABC licenses after Jimmy Kimmel’s Melania Trump joke”

Subhead:  “Eight local broadcasting licenses under review after White House launched attack on late-night host over comment”

“The US’s top media watchdog announced on Tuesday that it is accelerating the review of eight local broadcasting licenses used by ABC, in a move critics see as a clear example of political and regulatory retribution against a disfavored broadcaster.

The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) announcement comes after the White House launched a full-on attack against the ABC’s late-night host, Jimmy Kimmel, over a joke he made last week about Melania Trump. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/28/fcc-abc-jimmy-kimmel

Complained About CBS Edits Once?


Article in The New Republic by Malcolm Ferguson, 4/28/26

Headline:  “Deranged Trump Rants Edited Out of 60 Minutes Interview After Shooting”

Subhead:  CBS news didn’t air some particularly troubling rants from President Trump in its interview following the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting.”

CBS News’s 60 Minutes cut out large portions of its interview with President Trump in which he rambled about his ballroom, how hot his Secret Service agents are, and how the No Kings protests are just like the Ku Klux Klan. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/post/209590/trump-rants-edited-out-60-minutes-interview-cbs-shooting