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First Amendment and Media?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Sarah Grecy Gotfredsen, 4/10/25

Headline:  “Entry: Denied”

Subhead:  “The “intolerable risk to press freedom” posed by device searches at the border.”

“. . .In 2019, The Intercept documented how journalists covering the so-called migrant caravan faced ‘coordinated harassment’ from US and Mexican authorities. Through a series of interviews, the journalist Ryan Devereaux tells how members of the press were forced to turn over their notes, cameras, and phones while border officers interrogated them for information about activists working with members of the caravan. . .”

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/entry-denied-us-border-customs-device-unlock-search-journalists-detain.php

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Article in Fair by Janine Jackson, 4/10/25

Headline:  ” ‘This Is an All-Out War on the First Amendment’ “

Subhead:  “CounterSpin interview with Jessica González on Trump’s FCC”

“Janine Jackson:  ‘There are reasons that the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, is an opaque entity for many people. The fact that there is a federal agency setting the terms for media companies’ operations conflicts with many Americans’ understanding of the press corps as a group of brave, independent individuals looking to tell the truth, and let the chips fall where they may.’

“There are, in fact, many community-supported, differently structured news outlets doing just that. . .”

https://fair.org/home/this-is-an-all-out-war-on-the-first-amendment/

Media Ecosystems

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Article in The Contrarian by Jeff Nesbit, 4/9/25

Headline:  “Here’s why Trump ignores traditional media: He has his own media ecosystem now.”

Subhead:  “And Democrats not only don’t have the same network, but they don’t seem interested in building one.”

“A recent report from Media Matters, a non-profit advocacy group that studies and reports on the state of media in America today, makes a stark reality crystal clear: The principal reason Donald Trump no longer pays any attention to traditional media outlets is that his presidential administration has the right-wing media ecosystem marketing content and messages daily to a mass audience reaching 100 million Americans every single day. . .”

https://contrarian.substack.com/p/heres-why-trump-ignores-traditional

Lost Money in the Market? Media’s Fault!

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Article in Daily Mail by Karelyn Caralle, 4/9/25

Headline:  “Karoline Leavitt tears into media for missing Trump’s ‘art of the deal’ after stunning tariffs U-turn: Live updates”

“White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the media was responsible for tanking global markets and leaving tens of millions of everyday Americans fearing for their jobs – not Donald Trump’s tariffs. . .”

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14587733/donald-trump-china-tariff-trade-war-104-stock-market-live-updates.html

 

Protest Coverage and Lack-of

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Sacha Biazzo, 4/9/25

Headline:  “Why Protests Against Trump Got More Play Overseas Than Here”

Subhead:  “European editors on how the news out of America drives coverage at home”

“If you were flipping through an American newspaper earlier this week, looking for news about the “Hands Off!” anti-Trump street protests that consumed much of the country over the weekend, you might have had a hard time finding it. Despite more than a thousand rallies at sites across all fifty states—including substantial turnout in Washington, New York, and Los Angeles—a number of major newspapers deemed the actions not quite front-page news, as several keen-eyed observers have noted recently, burying it on page eleven (the Boston Globe) or eighteen (the New York Times) or in a second section entirely (the LA Times). . .”

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/trump-hand-off-protests-coverage-europe.php

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Article in Fair by Julie Hollar and Jim Naureckas, 4/8/25

Headline:  “Corporate Media Minimize Massive Hands Off! Protests”

“After the biggest anti-Trump protests since the 2017 Women’s March, many major media outlets seemed intent on downplaying the size and significance of the massive demonstration of opposition. . . ”

“The Hands Off! protests took place on April 5 in 1,400 locations across the country, with solidarity rallies in Europe and Canada.  Burying the news . . .”

“The Washington Post (4/6/25) relegated protesters “across the US” to the Metro section.

“Despite the scale and significance of the protests, neither the New York Times nor the Washington Post had stories about them on their front pages the next day.

“The Washington Post (4/6/25) had a thumbnail at the bottom of the front page with the blurb “Metro: Thousands gather in DC as protesters rally across the US against Trump. . .”

“A Times blurb promoting the story in a roundup of stories about “The Trump Administration’s First Hundred Days” minimized the scale and seriousness of the event . . .”

https://fair.org/home/corporate-media-minimize-massive-hands-off-protests/

 

Protect Your Sources

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Article in Poynter by Angela Fu, 4/8/25

Headline:  “Legal experts advise journalists to strengthen reporting security in the face of rising press restrictions”

Subhead:  “Journalists can protect their sources by maintaining good digital hygiene and being aware of security vulnerabilities, experts say”

“At a time when President Donald Trump’s administration has accelerated attacks on the press, accessing information and protecting sources might become more difficult for journalists, experts say.

” ‘Concerns about libel law and the protections from landmark Supreme Court case New York Times Co. v Sullivan have been exaggerated’, said New York Times deputy general counsel David McCraw and Center for Investigative Reporting general counsel Victoria Baranetsky. Instead, they advised journalists to take measures to secure their reporting material and be cognizant of the pressures they face in the current political climate. Their remarks came Monday during a Poynter webinar called ‘Safeguarding your journalism against legal threats. . .’

“Trump has already taken measures to curtail press access. His administration has laid off communications staff, reallocated dedicated office space in the Pentagon to conservative outlets, taken over the White House press pool and defunded global radio stations. Most notably, his administration has banned The Associated Press from accessing key White House spaces like the Oval Office. Members of his administration have also threatened to investigate leaks.

“Newsrooms may see more subpoenas seeking their communications and reporting material, McCraw warned. To that end, journalists should be cognizant of the documentation that they generate and keep. An unflattering private message to a colleague, for example, could be unearthed in court — as was the case earlier this year when a jury found CNN guilty of defaming a security contractor. . .”

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2025/trump-legal-threats-journalists-source-protection/

 

Can’t Ban the Free Press

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Article in The Guardian by Leonie Chao-Feng, 4/8/24

Headline:  “Judge orders Trump White House to lift access restrictions on Associated Press”

Subhead:  “Order restores journalists access to White House spaces while the news agency’s lawsuit moves forward”

“A US judge on Tuesday ordered the White House to restore full access to the Associated Press to presidential events, after the news agency was punished for its decision to continue to refer to the Gulf of Mexico in its coverage.

“The order from the US district judge Trevor McFadden, an appointee of Donald Trump, requires the White House to allow the AP’s journalists to access the Oval Office, Air Force One and events held at the White House.

“The White House “sharply curtailed” the AP’s access to media events with the US president after he renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” and the news agency did not follow suit, McFadden wrote in a 41-page decision. . .”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/08/judge-orders-white-house-restore-associated-press-access

Foreign Journalists in Danger

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Article in AP by Didi Tang, 4/5/25

Headline: “Foreign journalists at US-backed media fear being sent to repressive homelands after Trump’s cuts”

“After hiding in Thailand for seven years, two Cambodian journalists arrived in the United States last year on work visas, aiming to keep providing people in their Southeast Asian homeland with objective, factual news through Radio Free Asia.

But Vuthy Tha and Hour Hum now say their jobs and legal status in the U.S. are at risk after President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order gutting the government-run U.S. Agency for Global Media. The agency funds Radio Free Asia and other outlets tasked with delivering uncensored information to parts of the world under authoritarian rule and often without a free press of their own. . .”

“ ‘It fell out of sky,’ Vuthy, a single father of two small children, said through a translator about the Trump administration’s decision, which he says threatens to upend his life. I am very regretful that our listeners cannot receive the accurate news,’ Hour said, also through a translator.

“Both men said they’re worried about providing for their families and being allowed to stay in the U.S. They say it’s impossible to return to Cambodia, a single-party state hostile to independent media where they fear being persecuted for their journalistic work.”

https://apnews.com/article/radio-free-asia-voice-of-america-trump-084045acb927d5cc2ddc46b61d59a692

Media? So-What?

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Article in Mediaite by Zachary Leeman,, 4/4/25

Headline:  ” ‘He Doesn’t Give a F**k’: White House Official Tells Washington Post Trump Has Reached Peak ‘Not Giving a F**k’ “

“President Donald Trump has reached the “peak of not giving a fuck,” one White House official told The Washington Post for a lengthy report on what went on behind the scenes leading up to the president’s massive tariff announcement this week.

“On Wednesday — or ‘Liberation Day,’ as Trump calls it — the president announced massive tariffs on imports from a number of countries. He’s maintained that the massive shift in economic strategy will result in better trade deals and a boost in manufacturing for the United States.

“The stock market has meanwhile taken major hits since Trump’s announcement as the tariffs have led to uncertainty among companies and investors. . .”

“The Post story — by Natalie Allison, Jeff Stein, Cat Zakrzewski, and Michael Birnbaum — cites other White House officials and paints an administration that is very different from the one Trump oversaw in his first term. Despite strategizing on tariff policy up to just three hours before the president’s official announcement in the Rose Garden, there was reportedly very little disagreement with Trump making the final decisions himself. . .”

https://www.mediaite.com/news/he-doesnt-give-a-fk-white-house-official-tells-washington-post-trump-has-reached-peak-not-giving-a-fk/

Not in the News? – it Didn’t Happen

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Article in The New Republic by Parker Molloy 4/7/25

Headline:  “Print Media to Mass Protests: ‘Please Turn to Page 18’ ”

Subhead:  “Here’s how newspapers across America minimized one of the largest demonstrations since Trump’s return to power.”

“On Saturday, April 5, hundreds of thousands of Americans took to the streets across the nation to protest the harmful policies of Donald Trump’s second term. The ‘Hands Off!’ demonstrations represented what organizers called ‘the largest single day of protest since Trump entered office’ with more than 1,100 rallies scheduled in all 50 states. From Chicago to Washington, D.C.; Asheville to Boston; Milwaukee to Louisville—people showed up in droves.

“CNN reported that organizers estimated “millions” turned out coast to coast for these protests that united civil rights organizations, veterans, women’s rights groups, labor unions, and LGBTQ advocates. Even with conservative estimates, we’re talking about one of the largest mobilizations in recent American history.

“But if you picked up a major print newspaper the next day? You’d barely know it happened.

“The New York Times relegated the protests to an image below the fold with a caption instructing readers to turn to page 18 for more information.”

https://newrepublic.com/article/193683/print-media-downplay-mass-protests

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Article in Fair by Miranda C. Spencer, 4/4/25

Headline: “The Resistance Will Not Be Televised ”

“. . . Their common thread is opposition to Trump’s fascistic ideology and rapid rash of likely unconstitutional executive orders, such as freezing federal budget outlays approved by Congress, the mass firing of government workers and the dismantling of institutions by the ‘Department’ of Government Efficiency by unelected ‘adviser’ Elon Musk.

But if you relied on articles and broadcasts from the legacy national news media during early 2025, you wouldn’t know the extent of grassroots action prompted by this discontent. A FAIR examination of five major outlets found that coverage of anti-Trump/pro-democracy protests . . . (January 22 to February 26) was minimal, and downplayed the significance of this opposition, especially around the inauguration. . . Mostly tepid coverage

“Broadcast coverage was abysmal. None of the four network shows in our study ran any reports focused on any of the three protest events. ABC World News Tonight mentioned none of the events, and GMA referred to only one of them in passing. In their coverage of the January 18 protests, CBS Evening News and Mornings gave more coverage to speculation about violent protest than they did to actual (nonviolent) protest. . .”

https://fair.org/home/the-resistance-will-not-be-televised/

 

Bezos Loses Another Post Star

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Wikipedia photo, Grace Skidmore

Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo, 4/4/25

Headline:  “Pulitzer-winning columnist leaving Washington Post“

“Longtime Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson is leaving the newspaper, he announced this week.

Robinson informed his Post colleagues of his decision Thursday, he wrote on the social platform X.  “I’m retiring from my longtime journalistic home but not from journalism, and I’ll keep you posted as I decide what my next chapter will be,” he said.

Robinson has been writing for the Post’s opinion section since 2005 and in recent years has been a regular on MSNBC and other cable news shows.

He won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for his columns on the 2008 presidential race.

Robinson is the latest in a slew of Post opinion writers to leave the news organization as it goes through major changes to its editorial strategy and business under billionaire owner Jeff Bezos.

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5232097-eugene-robinson-washington-post/