"On the other hand, US media organizations are also facing tremendous pressure from the Trump administration and from Donald Trump personally, who has used a combination of frivolous defamation suits and weaponized regulatory agencies to extract vast sums from outlets that publish coverage he does not like and threaten the licenses of broadcasters who host voices critical of his movement."
"He extracted a vast settlement from CBS over a shockingly banal concision edit to a Kamala Harris interview on 60 Minutes; he sued the New York Times over unflattering coverage; his FCC chair threatened to withdraw ABC's broadcast license over comments made on air by a comedian. Swayed both by the preferences of their ownership and by the threat of retaliation from Trump, some major outlets have seemed to soften their coverage."
Billionaires have consolidated ownership of major U.S. news outlets and platforms, with figures like the Murdochs, Jeff Bezos, Patrick Soon-Shiong, and the Ellison family reshaping newsrooms, editorial boards, and opinion pages toward ownership priorities. The Trump administration and Donald Trump personally have used frivolous defamation suits and regulatory threats to punish unfavorable coverage, extracting settlements and threatening broadcaster licenses. Specific incidents include a large CBS settlement over a 60 Minutes edit, a lawsuit against the New York Times, and an FCC chair's threat to revoke ABC's license over a comedian's remarks. Faced with ownership preferences and potential retaliation, outlets have softened coverage and hedged reporting, though many journalists remain committed and capable.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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