In his second inaugural address, President Trump said he would "stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America.” Since then, Trump and his administration have used the full power of the federal government to curtail the free speech of one of the nation's most prominent media institutions: CBS News.
I so agree. I have asked people I follow (Bulwark, Lincoln Project, Molly Jong-Fast, Etc) why they don’t address the 24/7 Fox propaganda. I don’t understand how people can wonder how we got Trump2.0 and ignore the Fox effect. Until we do, we will remain ultra-partisan.
Trump is clearly--to non-FOX News viewers at least--trying to destroy every form of media that is not far Right. Like any other autocratic wannabe king would do. But FOX News is the holy grail, the cornerstone of RW media, where 85% of GOP voters get some/most/all of their news. Yes, they got gut punched in the Dominion Voting case. But because of how loose libel law is in the US, they endlessly lie about anything and everything else. The scope and breadth of their dishonesty...is simply breathtaking.
And until or unless they and their lesser imitators are forced to adhere to actual journalistic practices...and be at least somewhat more truthful, our democracy will not survive.
Ferverently hope that Lachlin Murdock loses control of the Murdock Empire. Ruppert is afraid of Lachlin not maintaining control. The other children are decidedly NOT right wing mafia. That will effect change from within at the ownership level.
Lachlin dethroned *might* help. At least short term. But any change in editorial policy would have to be done slowly/artfully, or else FOX's share would just be bled off by Sinclair. OANN, etc.
A "Truth in Media" law is needed to save the 4th Estate. That would require news media to use actual journalistic standards (2+ sources, citations to actual studies, immediate retractions/corrections when wrong, etc), or face severe penalties.
A Dem legal brain trust would need to craft something 1st Amendment compliant. And maybe that's not possible...but FOX News and its' lesser ilk are getting ever more brazen with lying, not less. Gotta do something.
This just leaves me speechless. Thank you, Judd, for reporting on this very important topic. This is why it's vital to have independent media such as Popular Information. Proud to support you.
How short-sighted of Shari Redstone to allow corporate greed to corrupt the integrity of CBS! How immediate the power and courage of Bill Owens to quit if she and the corporate "powers that be" are determined to cow-tow to Donald Trump. "60 Minutes" has been a brilliant and popular show for decades...for a reason: it tells the truth as it sees it.
The voices of our people are being heard more and more loudly in demonstrations and townhalls all over our country. We the people are in favor of true free speech, and being called out for lies.
Thank you Judd, Rebecca, and Noel for your deep dive into this free speech issue and the lengths the petty and vindictive Trump will go to.
"How short-sighted of Shari Redstone to allow corporate greed to corrupt the integrity of CBS!" I think that "integrity" is not a word that belongs in the same sentence with "Shari Redstone". And it's not "corporate greed" -- it's HER greed.
News is not Paramount’s primary concern. Entertainment is its bread and butter, from movies to sports to SpongeBob. In its earnings report I ‘searched the page’ and found “news” mentioned once - “news releases”.
We got here when reporting & journalism became for-profit commodities not a responsibility.
The FCC's conduct here is, of course, reprehensible, but, as the saying goes, it takes two to tango. Shari Redstone bending over backwards to appease the Trump administration in hopes of securing a lucrative merger is so g-d selfish in light of what these actions imply for a healthy and free press. Saying that they compromise CBS News's integrity is an understatement.
The morbidly wealthy are, in some fashion, mentally sick. Accruing wealth beyond the dreams of avarice is a sign of sickness. The solution is confiscatory and punitive taxation on great wealth and a death tax which escheats almost all wealth to the state. The scions of great wealth need to work for a living like the rest of us.
Doesn’t she have enough money already? Why can’t she just be happy with what she has instead of seeking even more obscene wealth at the cost of our ability to have truthful news broadcast by CBS? Redstone’s behavior disgusts me
NONE of the billionaires seem to feel that they have enough money. It seems so strange to me. I can't imagine having that much money -- because I would be giving it away almost as fast as it came in.
As usual, the rich get richer without regard for the consequences. We should be not be surprised no matter the politics of the oligarch. This is why we need publicly owned media to counteract the worst instincts of the people who can’t seem to get wealthy enough to chill and do the right thing.
To be clear - it is irresponsible speech that the right wants protected. How long before yelling "fire" in crowded theater is legal? We already are seeing threats against public officials on the left go unacted on by law enforcement, yet when one makes even the slightest negative comment against a conservative, the FBI swings into action. The authoritarian nightmare is here.
Thanks as always ... Clearly th FCC has become a weaponized political arm of the Trump Administration and its agenda Carr is a blatant and proud provocateur from the MAGA / Project 2025 camp. His self-righteousness is astounding and frightening. Free speech is going to be on life support as he continues.
Censorship and attempted suppression of free speech is to be resisted like plague. Its effects are chilling to the entire democratic process. I was around for the last Lady Chatterly’s trials, but that was fiction. The censorship of fact and edited content is a whole other realm. Thanks, gang, for another sterling report.
This is a tragedy for venerable CBS. And, it demonstrates the total takeover that this tyrannical government would like to accomplish. Trump has extorted law firms, universities, corporations, and now is focusing on the media. His absurd claims against CBS and others should be considered “frivolous”, the very thing that now he is beginning to go after in the judicial system - because he is losing all his cases!!!! He would have lost a court case with CBS. But the problem is that so many of our media outlets are now corporately owned by other entities who have dual purposes - not only to provide the truth, but also to ensure government approval for their business dealings. The fact that Shari Redstone is disgracing herself to get that merger for Paramount is bad enough. The real crime is that so many leaders in this country are now afraid of our own government, and the only way out is to BRIBE Trump. HE should be held to account, and removed from offices. Trump is nothing but a mob boss, and he demands payments to keep his thugs off the backs of our business leaders, law firms, universities, and even individuals. This is another action that the Democrats will prioritize when we are in charge again. No president or representative of a president may EXTORT others to advance their agendas. The pathetic Republicans in Congress will pay a heavy price for watching this happen and doing nothing to save our democracy.
Is Harvard the only organization with a spine? They rightfully made the decision that once you give into a bully that won't be the end of it, they will keep coming at you until there is nothing left. They put their foot down and said No. Maybe someone else will too.
I think Harvard has a spine & they know their mission. Education. They are a non-profit.
Sadly, Paramount does not view their mission as including reporting or journalism. It is entertainment. That’s where the money is. It is for profit.
Sports, Comedy, Movies. I find no mention of anything related to journalism in its 2024 earnings report. In what is basically a footnote (cautions on “forward-looking statements”) “news releases” are mentioned.
This is just another example of how corporate weasels owning major news outlets undercuts not only journalism and truth seeking but democracy itself.
It’s tough making money in the news business, and the temptation to cash in on clickbait or liquidate the business rather than maintain a crucial legacy news outlet is omnipresent — but if you’re a giant media company that never really cared about anything but enriching yourself and your shareholders, it turns out it’s a pretty easy choice.
Kinda sad that the same program at the center of the tobacco scandals of the 90s is here again, for essentially the same reason — a corporate parent too greedy to stand behind the truth.
Well see uh, the signal chat's connected to the meme line and the meme line's connected to the lie line and the lie line's connected to the bit coins and if you're lost that's too damn bad.
Cry harder! I'm gonna get paid soon as muh terrif, uh tarrif, uh tariff check comes.
This is precisely why PI and other independent outlets who practice journalism as a calling rather than a way to make money are so important. Without you, our democracy would already have crumbled.
I wish someone would sue Fox News for election interference.
Well, if Trump can successfully sue CBS, then we should be able to launch a class action lawsuit against FOX and win.
I so agree. I have asked people I follow (Bulwark, Lincoln Project, Molly Jong-Fast, Etc) why they don’t address the 24/7 Fox propaganda. I don’t understand how people can wonder how we got Trump2.0 and ignore the Fox effect. Until we do, we will remain ultra-partisan.
This. So very much THIS.
Trump is clearly--to non-FOX News viewers at least--trying to destroy every form of media that is not far Right. Like any other autocratic wannabe king would do. But FOX News is the holy grail, the cornerstone of RW media, where 85% of GOP voters get some/most/all of their news. Yes, they got gut punched in the Dominion Voting case. But because of how loose libel law is in the US, they endlessly lie about anything and everything else. The scope and breadth of their dishonesty...is simply breathtaking.
And until or unless they and their lesser imitators are forced to adhere to actual journalistic practices...and be at least somewhat more truthful, our democracy will not survive.
Ferverently hope that Lachlin Murdock loses control of the Murdock Empire. Ruppert is afraid of Lachlin not maintaining control. The other children are decidedly NOT right wing mafia. That will effect change from within at the ownership level.
Lachlin dethroned *might* help. At least short term. But any change in editorial policy would have to be done slowly/artfully, or else FOX's share would just be bled off by Sinclair. OANN, etc.
A "Truth in Media" law is needed to save the 4th Estate. That would require news media to use actual journalistic standards (2+ sources, citations to actual studies, immediate retractions/corrections when wrong, etc), or face severe penalties.
"truth in Media" those were the days..... I remember them.
A Dem legal brain trust would need to craft something 1st Amendment compliant. And maybe that's not possible...but FOX News and its' lesser ilk are getting ever more brazen with lying, not less. Gotta do something.
Amen.
This just leaves me speechless. Thank you, Judd, for reporting on this very important topic. This is why it's vital to have independent media such as Popular Information. Proud to support you.
How short-sighted of Shari Redstone to allow corporate greed to corrupt the integrity of CBS! How immediate the power and courage of Bill Owens to quit if she and the corporate "powers that be" are determined to cow-tow to Donald Trump. "60 Minutes" has been a brilliant and popular show for decades...for a reason: it tells the truth as it sees it.
The voices of our people are being heard more and more loudly in demonstrations and townhalls all over our country. We the people are in favor of true free speech, and being called out for lies.
Thank you Judd, Rebecca, and Noel for your deep dive into this free speech issue and the lengths the petty and vindictive Trump will go to.
"How short-sighted of Shari Redstone to allow corporate greed to corrupt the integrity of CBS!" I think that "integrity" is not a word that belongs in the same sentence with "Shari Redstone". And it's not "corporate greed" -- it's HER greed.
It is both. Here is their 2024 quarterly / 2024 annual earnings report. I searched for the word “news”. It came up once “news releases”.
https://ir.paramount.com/static-files/b7ec193e-39b1-4871-9150-50df2eeb85fd#:~:text=DTC%20profitability%20improved%20%241.2%20billion,year%20domestic%20profitability%20for%202025.
Redstone’s sight is limited to the distance between her face and her wallet. Nothing else matters.
News is not Paramount’s primary concern. Entertainment is its bread and butter, from movies to sports to SpongeBob. In its earnings report I ‘searched the page’ and found “news” mentioned once - “news releases”.
We got here when reporting & journalism became for-profit commodities not a responsibility.
https://ir.paramount.com/static-files/b7ec193e-39b1-4871-9150-50df2eeb85fd#:~:text=DTC%20profitability%20improved%20%241.2%20billion,year%20domestic%20profitability%20for%202025.
"We got here when reporting & journalism became for-profit commodities not a responsibility."
Precisely!!!
Redstone is a corrupt disgrace
The FCC's conduct here is, of course, reprehensible, but, as the saying goes, it takes two to tango. Shari Redstone bending over backwards to appease the Trump administration in hopes of securing a lucrative merger is so g-d selfish in light of what these actions imply for a healthy and free press. Saying that they compromise CBS News's integrity is an understatement.
The morbidly wealthy are, in some fashion, mentally sick. Accruing wealth beyond the dreams of avarice is a sign of sickness. The solution is confiscatory and punitive taxation on great wealth and a death tax which escheats almost all wealth to the state. The scions of great wealth need to work for a living like the rest of us.
Doesn’t she have enough money already? Why can’t she just be happy with what she has instead of seeking even more obscene wealth at the cost of our ability to have truthful news broadcast by CBS? Redstone’s behavior disgusts me
NONE of the billionaires seem to feel that they have enough money. It seems so strange to me. I can't imagine having that much money -- because I would be giving it away almost as fast as it came in.
I certainly would not be trying to take more for myself from those who have less to begin with!
As usual, the rich get richer without regard for the consequences. We should be not be surprised no matter the politics of the oligarch. This is why we need publicly owned media to counteract the worst instincts of the people who can’t seem to get wealthy enough to chill and do the right thing.
And of course the Orange Sadist is doing everything in his power to destroy the very small amount of publicly owned media (PBS, NPR).
To be clear - it is irresponsible speech that the right wants protected. How long before yelling "fire" in crowded theater is legal? We already are seeing threats against public officials on the left go unacted on by law enforcement, yet when one makes even the slightest negative comment against a conservative, the FBI swings into action. The authoritarian nightmare is here.
Thanks as always ... Clearly th FCC has become a weaponized political arm of the Trump Administration and its agenda Carr is a blatant and proud provocateur from the MAGA / Project 2025 camp. His self-righteousness is astounding and frightening. Free speech is going to be on life support as he continues.
Remember when they were screeching about the Biden administration "weaponizing government" and engaging in "lawfare?"
The projection is strong with this crew!
Censorship and attempted suppression of free speech is to be resisted like plague. Its effects are chilling to the entire democratic process. I was around for the last Lady Chatterly’s trials, but that was fiction. The censorship of fact and edited content is a whole other realm. Thanks, gang, for another sterling report.
This is a tragedy for venerable CBS. And, it demonstrates the total takeover that this tyrannical government would like to accomplish. Trump has extorted law firms, universities, corporations, and now is focusing on the media. His absurd claims against CBS and others should be considered “frivolous”, the very thing that now he is beginning to go after in the judicial system - because he is losing all his cases!!!! He would have lost a court case with CBS. But the problem is that so many of our media outlets are now corporately owned by other entities who have dual purposes - not only to provide the truth, but also to ensure government approval for their business dealings. The fact that Shari Redstone is disgracing herself to get that merger for Paramount is bad enough. The real crime is that so many leaders in this country are now afraid of our own government, and the only way out is to BRIBE Trump. HE should be held to account, and removed from offices. Trump is nothing but a mob boss, and he demands payments to keep his thugs off the backs of our business leaders, law firms, universities, and even individuals. This is another action that the Democrats will prioritize when we are in charge again. No president or representative of a president may EXTORT others to advance their agendas. The pathetic Republicans in Congress will pay a heavy price for watching this happen and doing nothing to save our democracy.
Is Harvard the only organization with a spine? They rightfully made the decision that once you give into a bully that won't be the end of it, they will keep coming at you until there is nothing left. They put their foot down and said No. Maybe someone else will too.
I think Harvard has a spine & they know their mission. Education. They are a non-profit.
Sadly, Paramount does not view their mission as including reporting or journalism. It is entertainment. That’s where the money is. It is for profit.
Sports, Comedy, Movies. I find no mention of anything related to journalism in its 2024 earnings report. In what is basically a footnote (cautions on “forward-looking statements”) “news releases” are mentioned.
https://ir.paramount.com/static-files/b7ec193e-39b1-4871-9150-50df2eeb85fd#:~:text=DTC%20profitability%20improved%20%241.2%20billion,year%20domestic%20profitability%20for%202025.
This is just another example of how corporate weasels owning major news outlets undercuts not only journalism and truth seeking but democracy itself.
It’s tough making money in the news business, and the temptation to cash in on clickbait or liquidate the business rather than maintain a crucial legacy news outlet is omnipresent — but if you’re a giant media company that never really cared about anything but enriching yourself and your shareholders, it turns out it’s a pretty easy choice.
Kinda sad that the same program at the center of the tobacco scandals of the 90s is here again, for essentially the same reason — a corporate parent too greedy to stand behind the truth.
Yes, yes, and yes. 🥺
Free speech is fine as long as I agree with what it's saying.
I endorse this! Now you better not say nothing else that may go against what I may be presently thinking or what I might be about to think about! See?
Could you diagram that sentence please?
Well see uh, the signal chat's connected to the meme line and the meme line's connected to the lie line and the lie line's connected to the bit coins and if you're lost that's too damn bad.
Cry harder! I'm gonna get paid soon as muh terrif, uh tarrif, uh tariff check comes.
Feeling very fragile at the moment for personal reasons. This isn't the way America will stay a free country. A pox on redstone, et. al
This is precisely why PI and other independent outlets who practice journalism as a calling rather than a way to make money are so important. Without you, our democracy would already have crumbled.
Exactly.
what even are "invidious forms of DEI descrimination"? And who does Carr think he's talking to?
Wake me up when the nightmare is over...
How do so many people manage to ignore the plain fact that submitting to extortion once makes you a target for it again and again?