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Polygraphing Stops Media Leaks?

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Article in Medite by Akex Griffing, 2/21/25

Headline:  “Kristi Noem Reportedly Warned DHS Employees She’s Going to Start Polygraphing Them Over Leaking to the Media”

“Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told employees under her leadership they will be soon subject to polygraph tests asking about whether or not they have leaked to the media, reported Bloomberg News on Tuesday.

“Bloomberg’s Homeland Security reporter Ellen Gilmer scooped the news and reported that “Noem last week issued an internal directive that all polygraphs the Department of Homeland Security administers must include a question about unauthorized communications with media and nonprofit organizations, according to a memo described to Bloomberg Government by two people without authorization to speak publicly.”

https://www.mediaite.com/news/kristi-noem-reportedly-warned-dhs-employees-shes-going-to-start-polygraphing-them-over-leaking-to-the-media/

Some Media Spread Lies

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Article in Mediaite by Isaac Schorr, 2/20/24

Headline:  “Conservative Media Should Tell the Unvarnished Truth About Donald Trump’s Ghastly Attacks on Ukraine”

Subhead:  “Nefarious forces are at work in the shadows.”

According to Mark Levin, there are ‘a handful of pseudo-intellectuals funded by the likes of George Soros and Charles Koch’ who are ‘adopting policies that in many ways are un-American’ and would have once made others wonder if they were working for a foreign government. . .

“On Wednesday’s edition of his radio show, Levin ably debunked a series of misleading and outright false claims about the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. . .

“Stating the obvious, Levin observed that ‘Ukraine did not invade Russia. Russia invaded Ukraine. What were they supposed to do? Roll over and play dead?’ he asked incredulously.

“Who are these Soros-funded pseudo-intellectuals? Who are these un-American, pro-Putin knaves?

Over the last few days, Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Elon Musk have taken turns assassinating the character of Ukrainian leadership and parroting the propaganda of Russian leadership..”

https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/conservative-media-should-tell-the-unvarnished-truth-about-donald-trumps-ghastly-attacks-on-ukraine/

 

Trump – Golf or Gulf?

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Article in the Columbia Journalism Review by Yona TR Golding, 2/21/24

Headline: “The Gulf Between Trump and the Press”

Subhead: “Trying to make the ‘Gulf of America’ happen.”

When President Trump signed an order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” back in January, I couldn’t stop thinking about a scene from the 2004 teen classic Mean Girls, in which queen bee Regina George snaps at Gretchen Weiner, her underling, for trying to make the word fetch a synonym for cool. (“Stop trying to make ‘fetch’ happen!” Regina says. “It’s not going to happen!”) . . . The Associated Press, it seems, was on the same page as me: two days after the order was signed, the agency issued an update to its stylebook—which is widely followed throughout the news business—recommending the continued use of the original name, though it would acknowledge the new name as well. “Trump’s order only carries authority within the United States. Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognize the name change,” the AP reasoned in an announcement about the decision. ‘As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.’

“But Trump, it turned out, was determined to make “Gulf of America” happen. Last week, an AP reporter was blocked from attending the signing of an executive order in the Oval Office; later in the day, Julie Pace, its executive editor, wrote in a statement that she had been informed that the decision was the White House’s response to the new stylebook guidance. “It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,” she wrote. “Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment.”

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

 

Avoiding Media Kowtow

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Stephen J. Adler, 2/20/25

Headline:  “Fostering a Culture of Newsroom Independence”

Subhead:  “How to fight anticipatory compliance.”

“Media self-censorship, anticipatory compliance, capitulation, bending the knee. Whatever you call it, it represents one of the most insidious means by which people with power can squelch news reporting that doesn’t serve their interests. You don’t have to arrest or fire reporters—you just have to make them increasingly afraid that you will.

“Donald Trump’s second term—and the ascendancy of billionaire press antagonists—has already created an environment in which journalists feel more pressure than ever to self-censor or soften their coverage to ensure that they stay on legally and politically safe ground. How does a reporter, or a newsroom full of them, guard against sheltering in such truth-killing safe harbors? . . .”

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/fostering-culture-newsroom-independence-fight-anticipatory-compliance-self-censorship-bend-knee.php

No Ranting by Miller on CNN?

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Article in Raw Story bu Jennifer Bowers Bahney, 2/20/25

Headline:  “CNN cuts off Stephen Miller as he uses ‘softball’ question to launch into anti-media rant”

“CNN’s Boris Sanchez cut away from a White House press briefing Thursday after a reporter lobbed a “softball question” to Trump aide Stephen Miller that set him up perfectly to begin bashing the ‘liberal’ media and former President Joe Biden.

“The reporter began, ‘So, you spoke about DOGE; you said roughly $50 billion is set to be cut in a year of waste, fraud and abuse by unelected bureaucrats. We’re hearing this ironic narrative from the president’s critics and the left-wing media that Elon Musk is an unelected bureaucrat, and he’s doing all this terrible stuff. Isn’t one of DOGE’s objectives to get rid of the federal bureaucracy, the deep state?’ . . .”

 

Rt. Wing Media Attack/Defend AP?

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Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 2/20/25

Headline:  “After Fox stars defend Trump’s restrictions on the AP, the network signs a letter calling them a 1st Amendment violation”

Subhead:  “Newmax also signed onto the letter, even as its on-air programming attacked the “Fake News AP” as ‘Associated Propaganda’ “

“The stars of Fox News have used their shows to defend President Donald Trump’s banning of Associated Press reporters from the Oval Office and Air Force One because the wire service refuses to adopt the administration’s renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the ‘Gulf of America.’ They’ve characterized the AP’s actions as ‘deadnaming’ the Gulf and said that ‘the White House is right’ to restrict its access in response.

“But Fox has also reportedly signed on to a letter calling on the Trump White House to restore the AP’s access and characterizing the ban as ‘serious breach’ of the First Amendment’s protections for the press. So has Newsmax, whose on-air talent praised the White House response while attacking the “Fake News AP” as “Associated Propaganda.”

https://www.mediamatters.org/newsmax/after-fox-stars-defend-trumps-restrictions-ap-network-signs-letter-calling-them-1st

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Article in Status News by Oliver Darcy, 2/18/25

Headline:  “AP’s Back-Channel Press”

Subhead:  “News outlets across the political spectrum have united behind the AP, signing a WHCA-backed letter urging the White House to reverse its press ban, a copy of which Status has obtained.”

“On Wednesday, Julie Pace boarded a plane to Florida for a high-stakes meeting. The executive editor of the Associated Press had secured an audience with Susie Wiles, Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff, to discuss the administration’s unprecedented decision to bar AP journalists from official events. . .

“One week prior, the White House blocked the AP over its refusal to call the Gulf of Mexico the ‘Gulf of America,’ a manufactured controversy that Trump has used to test his ability to control the media. Since then, all efforts to reverse the White House’s decision have been to no avail, leaving the global wire service in a precarious position. . .”

https://www.status.news/p/associated-press-donald-trump-white-house

 

Some Media Got it Right on Ukraine

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 2/20/25

Headline:  “Opinion | Good on the media for calling out President Trump’s falsehoods on Ukraine”

“Just when you thought our politics couldn’t get any more bizarre and divisive and distressing, something else transpired.

“As happens far too often these days, it was something said by President Donald Trump.

“In a truly stunning post on Truth Social, Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ‘A Dictator without Elections.’ He also called Zelenskyy a ‘modestly successful comedian’ and, just as he did a day earlier, seemingly blamed Zelenskyy for starting the war with Russia even though it was Russia that invaded Ukraine. Trump wrote that Zelenskyy ‘talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and “TRUMP,” will never be able to settle.’ ”

“In a positive sign, the media appropriately and responsibly covered Trump’s comments. . .”

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/trump-truth-social-statements-ukraine-zelenskyy-elected-media/

Scared Media

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Article in FAIR by Gregory Shupak, 2/20/25

Headline:  “Media Afraid to Call Ethnic Cleansing by Its Name”

“Earlier this month, President Donald Trump said that the US will ‘take over the Gaza Strip’ and ‘own’ it for the ‘long-term’ (AP, 2/5/25), and that its Palestinian inhabitants will be ‘permanently’ exiled (AP, 2/4/25). Subsequently, when reporters asked Trump whether Palestinians would have the right to return to Gaza under his plan, he said ‘no’ (BBC, 2/10/25).

“After Trump’s remarks, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Reuters, 2/5/25) said ‘it is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing.’ ”

https://fair.org/home/media-afraid-to-call-ethnic-cleansing-by-its-name/

Former Chairs of FCC Speak

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Article in Status News by Oliver Darcy, 2/19/25

Headline:  “Carr Jacked”

Subhead:  “Former FCC chairs, Republican and Democrat alike, are sounding the alarm over Brendan Carr’s crusade against media companies. In a statement to Status, Carr responded with a GIF—and a tirade.”

“Over the weekend, Tom Wheeler, the former Federal Communications Commission chair under Barack Obama, traveled to his local theater to finally see ‘Wicked.’ The Academy Award-nominated film, a Comcast production, features Marissa Bode, an actor who uses a wheelchair, as Nessarose—a casting choice that underscores the company’s commitment to authentic representation.

Afterward, Wheeler praised NBCUniversal’s decision, telling me, ‘Someone is making an inclusive effort, and that is important.’ But then, his tone shifted. He was reluctant to criticize a successor, he admitted, but he felt compelled to speak out after Brendan Carr, the current Donald Trump-appointed FCC commissioner, announced an investigation into Comcast over its D.E.I. initiatives—the very framework that may have helped bring Bode’s casting to life.

” ‘The fact that they’re saying that because you have a corporate philosophy of inclusion, I will launch an investigation that attacks the fact that your website states this is a “core value of our business”—maybe that was my breaking point,’ Wheeler told me.

Wheeler is part of a growing group of former FCC chairs who have decided that they have a responsibility to speak out…

https://www.status.news/p/brendan-carr-fcc-chairs-criticism

 

 

Using Media Company to Coerce

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Article in The New York Times by Jack Nicas, 2/19/25

Headline:  “Trump Media Group Sues Brazilian Judge Weighing Arrest of Jair Bolsonaro”

SubHead:  “The lawsuit came hours after the justice received an indictment of Brazil’s former president, who is an ally of President Trump.”

“President Trump’s media company sued a Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Wednesday, accusing him of illegally censoring right-wing voices on social media. . .”

“The Trump Media & Technology Group — which is majority owned by Mr. Trump and runs his Truth Social site — sued the Brazilian justice, Alexandre de Moraes, in U.S. federal court in Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday morning. Joining as a plaintiff was Rumble, a Florida-based video platform that, like Truth Social, pitches itself as a home for free speech.

“The lawsuit appeared to represent an astonishing effort by Mr. Trump to pressure a foreign judge as he weighed the fate of a fellow right-wing leader who, like him, was indicted on charges that he tried to overturn his election loss.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/19/world/americas/trump-brazil-bolsonaro-judge.html

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Article in Axios by Avery Lotz, 2/19/25

Headline:  “Trump’s media group sues Brazilian judge after Bolsonaro indictment”

“President Trump’s media group on Wednesday sued a Brazilian Supreme Court justice, alleging that he censored right-wing voices on social media platforms. . .”

https://www.axios.com/