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Ready to Lock Up the Media?

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Article in Raw Story by Sarah K. Burris, 3/14/25

Headline:  ” ‘He’s talking about criminalizing it!’ Trump’s DOJ attack on media stuns CNN’s Jake Tapper”

Subhead:  “CNN host Jake Tapper was aghast Friday after listening to President Donald Trump’s speech at the Department of Justice.”

Subhead:  “Tapper called Trump’s lengthy rant a ‘norm-shattering speech,’ noting that it was ‘one of the most political speeches given there by a U.S. president.’ “

In Trump’s new era, Tapper said, ‘he apparently wants to weaponize the Justice Department against the news media and perceived political opponents.’ ”

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-justice-department-2671332356/

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Article in Mediaite by Michael Luciano, 3/14/25

Headline:  “Trump Accuses Media of Doing ‘Totally Illegal’ Reporting”

“President Donald Trump ripped the media on Friday, as is typical, but he went a step further by calling the press’s coverage of the justice system ‘totally illegal.’. . .”

“He then turned his ire toward several news outlets, including the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal, which has been critical of his tariff policy. While doing so, he alleged their coverage has been ‘totally illegal. ‘And The New York Times will write whatever these people say. The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and MSDNC [sic], and fake news CNN, and ABC, CBS, and NBC. . . ‘ ”

” ‘. . . It’s totally illegal what they do. I just hope you can all watch for it, but it’s totally illegal. . . ‘ ”

https://www.mediaite.com/trump/trump-accuses-murdoch-owned-wall-street-journal-and-others-of-doing-totally-illegal-reporting/

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Article in Daily Beast by Josh Fiallo, 3/14/25

Headline:  “Trump Goes to DOJ for Bonkers Rant Berating his ‘Illegal’ Media Enemies”

Subhead:  “The president said he will launch a ‘far-reaching investigation’ into the ‘corruption of our system.’ “

“Donald Trump rambled and raged in an unusual visit to the Department of Justice on Friday, rattling off a laundry list of enemies and vowing to have some investigated. . . .”

“Media outlets took the brunt of Trump’s rage and threats in an hour-long speech. He called out some of the biggest players in journalism by name—ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post—and said they operate illegally at the behest of Democrats.

“ ‘I believe that CNN and MS-DNC, who literally write 97.6 percent bad about me, are political arms of the Democrat Party,’ he said. ‘And in my opinion, they’re really corrupt and they’re illegal. What they do is illegal.’ ”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-goes-to-doj-for-bonkers-rant-berating-his-illegal-media-enemies/

Awarding Good Journalism

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by John Darnton, 3/14/25

Headline:  “A Little Light amid the Gloom”

Subhead:  “At a time of flagging faith in journalism—and among journalists—the Polk Awards spotlight the vital role the press still plays.”

“. . .The George Polk Awards are deluged with entries for outstanding work across all media platforms, and as curator I go through all of them. This year there were four hundred and ninety-three. . .”

“Now, I know that many newsrooms are gloomy and anxious places these days.

“But not all is dark. I can vouch that the year’s publications and broadcasts, when seen in their entirety, are wide in scope and deep in substance. The rambunctious spirit of street reporting and savvy editing is still very much alive.

“Among our winners this year are a foreign correspondent who risked his life to cover Sudan’s civil war, a health reporter who uncovered hidden commercial factors for the government’s lagging response to the outbreak of bird flu, and a national TV team that exposed the practice of a Texas medical school selling the body parts of unclaimed corpses without bothering to beat the bushes to inform next of kin. . .”

https://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/little-light-amid-gloom-george-polk-awards.php

Leaks Are a Problem?

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Article in The Washington Post by Warren P. Strobel, 3/14/25

Headline:  “Gabbard says she is ‘aggressively pursuing’ national security leaks to media”

Subhead:  “The director of national intelligence said “politically motivated leaks” will stop, citing articles in The Washington Post and other news organizations.”

“Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Friday that the Trump administration will aggressively investigate people in U.S. spy agencies who leak information to the public, citing recent stories on national security topics in The Washington Post and other news outlets. . . ”

Gabbard, who coordinates the work of 18 U.S. intelligence agencies, said in a statement that what she termed “politically motivated leaks” undermine national security “and will not be tolerated. . .”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/03/14/gabbard-leaks-investigation-national-security-odni/

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 3/10/25

Headline:  “Opinion | Homeland Security is using lie detector tests to hunt for leaks to the press”

Subhead:  “It may be the first time a federal agency has used polygraphs to question employees specifically about leaks to the media”

“The Department of Homeland Security, led by Secretary Kristi Noem, has begun performing polygraph tests on employees to determine if they are leaking information about immigration operations to the media.

“During an interview with ‘Face the Nation’ and moderator Margaret Brennan on Sunday, Noem said plans to use the ‘broad and extensive’ authorities of her role, adding, ‘I plan to use every single one of them to make sure that we’re following the law, that we are following the procedures in place to keep people safe, and that we’re making sure we’re following through on what President Trump has promised — that he’s going to make America safe again.’

“The Associated Press’ Christine Fernando noted, ‘While these polygraph exams are typically not admissible in court proceedings, they are frequently used by federal law enforcement agencies and for national security clearances.’ ”

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/kristi-noem-polygraph-dhs-employees-media-leaks/

LA Times Masks Phony News?

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 3/13/25

Headline:  “Paper-Thin Ethics”

Subhead:  “The Los Angeles Times is facing ethical questions after one of its shows aired what looked like a news story—but was actually an undisclosed promotion for billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong’s drug company.”

“Earlier this week, Angelica Coronado, a host for the Los Angeles Times’ daily podcast and web show that highlights the day’s biggest headlines, was going through the program’s rundown when she landed on a story that caught the attention of some newsroom staffers. Unlike the other stories that Coronado was spotlighting on the show, this one was rather peculiar. It wasn’t a top story at the national or local level, or a viral feel-good piece you might see on ABC’s ‘World News Tonight.’ Instead, it was an advertisement for billionaire Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong’s drug company masquerading as a news story. . . ”

https://www.status.news/p/patrick-soon-shiong-la-times-companies-coverage

Nothing to See Here for Some Media

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Article in DNYUZ by Staff, 2/13/15

Headline:  “As Markets Whipsaw, Conservative Media Shrugs”

“Nervous investors seeking news about the plunging markets on Monday afternoon would have been out of luck if they turned to the websites of The New York Post, The Daily Caller, One America News or The Blaze. Not one of those right-leaning outlets featured articles about the sell-off as the closing bell rang, cementing Wall Street’s steepest decline of the year.

“And Fox Business Network, which pledges to “deliver content focused on investing, optimism and the American dream,” placed coverage of the drop on its site below a story about temporary outages on Elon Musk’s social media site, X.”

https://dnyuz.com/2025/03/13/as-markets-whipsaw-conservative-media-shrugs/

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Article in The Daily Beast by Leigh Kimmins, 3/13/25

Headline:  “Laura Ingraham Tells Her Viewers to Just ‘ignore’ Reports About Trump’s Market Mahem”

“Fox News host Laura Ingraham urged her viewers to “ignore” the potential recession and general market mayhem, saying President Donald Trump “is good for business.”

“Ever the optimist, or committed Trump loyalist, the host played a clip Wednesday on her show, The Ingraham Angle, showing the president talking about better days to come.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/ar-AA1APYKY

Journalists Changing Horses Midstream?

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Article in FAIR by Ari Paul, 3/13/25

Headline:  “Did Left Journalists Buy Into Right-Wing Ideology–or Were They Bought?”

“Matt Taibbi, once a populist writer who criticized big banks (Rolling Stone, 4/5/10; NPR, 11/6/10), has aligned himself with Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, the kind of slimy protector of the ruling economic order Taibbi once despised. Putting his Occupy Wall Street days behind him, Taibbi has fallen into the embrace of the reactionary Young America’s Foundation. . .”

“Meanwhile, Glenn Greenwald, who helped expose National Security Agency surveillance (Guardian, 6/11/13; New York Times, 10/23/14), has buddied up with extreme right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, notorious for falsely claiming that the parents of murdered children at Sandy Hook Elementary were crisis actors. That’s in addition to Greenwald’s closeness to Tucker Carlson . . .”

Some wonder if their political conversion is related to their departure from traditional journalism to new, high-tech platforms for self-publishing and self-production. In Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices of the Left (2025), Eoin Higgins focuses on the machinations of the reactionary tech industry barons, who live by a Randian philosophy where they are the hard-working doers of society, while the nattering nabobs of negativism speak only for the ungrateful and undeserving masses. . .”

https://fair.org/slider/did-left-journalists-buy-into-right-wing-ideology-or-were-they-bought/

Hate in the Media

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Article in Mediaite by Alex Griffing, 3/12/25

Headline:  “Joe Rogan, Candace Owens, and the Mainstreaming of Anti-Semitism Exposes a Rot in American Media”

“In recent days, some of the most popular podcasts in the United States have hosted known anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists, leading many in the media to sound the alarm over the world’s oldest hate reaching new, younger audiences on the right.

“Joe Rogan, Theo Von, Stephen A. Smith, and Patrick Bet-David have all raised eyebrows for bringing on guests who regularly dabble in anti-Semitic tropes and accuse Jews — or Israel — of global manipulation and influence.

“Last week, avowed neo-Nazi and one-time Trump dinner guest Nick Fuentes praised the ongoing trend.

“Many of the podcasts Fuentes listed make up what has been dubbed the new right’s “manosphere.” President Donald Trump’s 2024 win was fueled by these personalities, which helped him reach younger, male voters across the country.”

https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/joe-rogan-candace-owens-and-the-mainstreaming-of-anti-semitism-exposes-a-rot-in-american-media/

Control the Media Control the People

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Article in Status News by Oliver Darcy, 3/10/25

Headline:  “Press Pool Pandemonium”

Subhead:  “Frustration with the WHCA erupted during an off-the-record meeting Monday, as some members pushed the organization to respond more forcefully to Donald Trump’s assault on the press corps.”

” On Monday morning, dozens of White House Correspondents’ Association members gathered for a virtual meeting to address an urgent issue. Eugene Daniels, the WHCA president, opened with an acknowledgment of the uncomfortable truth: the White House has seized control of the press pool, sidelining the association and leaving it in a precarious position. Daniels assured members that the board was doing everything possible to navigate the crisis. But the underlying frustration was impossible to ignore.”

“. . . Since Donald Trump blocked the Associated Press from official events and took control of the press pool—banning both AP and HuffPost from their rotations—some members have criticized the WHCA for its tepid response. While Daniels has released forceful statements, many members want the organization—which is to a large degree hamstrung by a collective action problem—to respond more aggressively. That frustration boiled over in the meeting.

. . . The tone grew more combative from there. . .”

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

Right Wing Eating the Media

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Article in Mother Jones by David Corn, 3/11/25

Headline:  “Why the Right Is to Blame for Distrust in the Media”

Subhead:  “For decades, conservatives have crusaded to discredit the press.”

“Recently, I attended a conference in Washington, DC, on the all-important topic of ‘Innovating to Restore Trust in News.’ The Semafor-sponsored event featured one-on-one interviews with such media bigshots as Joe Kahn, the executive editor of the New York Times; Emma Tucker, the editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal; Mark Thompson, the CEO of CNN; Katherine Maher . . . ”

“The prompt for the conversation was a Gallup poll that shows that only 31 percent of Americans have some degree of trust in newsies, a drop from about 70 percent in 1972. Yet there was not much talk of specific innovations that could restore this trust. And it wasn’t until the reception afterward. . . that I realized what had been absent from the hours-long discussion: any consideration of why polls record a decline in trust of the media. . .”

“. . . What also went unmentioned was that Trump, the GOP, and right-wing media (most notably Fox) have done much through the decades to degrade the national discourse with lies and disinformation, while simultaneously and purposefully encouraging profound distrust and hatred of media outlets that don’t buy their bunk.”

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/03/media-distrust-trump-republicans-fox-news-maga-megyn-kelly/

CNN Coverage of Cuts Not News?

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Article in The Hill by Sara Fortinsky, 3/11/25

Headline:  “GOP’s Burchett berates CNN anchor over spending cuts coverage”

“Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) on Tuesday attacked CNN’s coverage of the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) spending cuts and accused the network of trying to rally its viewers against President Trump.

“In an interview on “CNN News Central,” anchor Brianna Keilar asked the Republican lawmaker about nonpartisan estimates suggesting the GOP’s targeted spending cuts would necessitate cuts to entitlement programs, including Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5189313-tim-burchett-cnn-doge-cuts/