Journalism/Media Archives - Attention to the Unseen

Trump demanded that taxpayer money be used for TV ads praising him

October 3, 2026 From elsewhere

The New York Times reports: President Trump personally instructed his budget director to use taxpayer money for TV ads praising him and his presidency, setting in motion a $20 million contract that used funds from the Department of Homeland Security, according to people familiar with the matter. The ads have run across cable and network television — on Fox News, CNN and MS Now, with football games on Fox and with national newscasts on CBS, ABC and NBC, including “Meet…

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Trump is ‘literally stealing’ $20M in taxpayer funds for pro-Trump ads

September 29, 2026 From elsewhere

The Associated Press reports: The Department of Homeland Security has tapped $20 million to pay for the campaign-style ads glorifying President Donald Trump that have drawn widespread criticism from Republicans and Democrats as a blatant misuse of taxpayer dollars that likely runs afoul of anti-propaganda law. In a letter Tuesday to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, two top Democratic senators said that the money is being drawn from Trump’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” and was supposed to go for…

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Pro-Trump ads are being paid for by U.S. taxpayers

September 27, 2026 From elsewhere

The New York Times reports: As President Trump ran to return to the White House in 2024, his campaign released a somber, black-and-white ad in which he railed against the “deep state” and vowed to expel “warmongers” from government. “This is the final battle,” Mr. Trump is heard saying in the online ad, which shows him walking silently down a hallway. That ad has returned this weekend, airing on television stations across the country, with one notable difference: As it…

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‘Pink slime’ is polluting AI chatbots ahead of the midterms

September 25, 2026 From elsewhere

Ines Chomnalez and Isis Blachez from NewsGuard, write: It’s no secret that AI has become an explosive factor in American politics. Even before the latest concerns that AI poses existential risks to humanity, many people had soured on the rapid growth of data centers used to support the technology. Meanwhile, tens of millions of AI industry dollars are sloshing around the midterm campaign in support of candidates on both sides of the aisle. But the increasing ubiquity of AI is…

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Fox News, NYT, AP and other media outlets jointly condemn Trump’s media ban

September 23, 2026 From elsewhere

Politico reports: More than 50 media organizations signed an amicus brief backing POLITICO, CNN and MS NOW in their lawsuit against President Donald Trump on Wednesday, an unusual display of solidarity across the industry in calling for the immediate reversal of his media ban. The brief was signed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the White House Correspondents’ Association and 49 other media organizations. That list runs the ideological gamut, from Fox News to Vox Media, and…

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The Washington press corps needs to boycott White House events

September 21, 2026 From elsewhere

Margaret Sullivan writes: On Monday, the three news organizations that had been kicked out of the White House because of Donald Trump’s latest fit of pique sued the president and three top advisers. An accompanying statement by CNN, MS Now and Politico accurately calls last week’s sudden lockout “a direct assault on the first amendment”. The legal action is the right move, of course, and one that may prevail since the ban seems to be a clear case of what…

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Did OpenAI carry out the biggest IP heist of all-time?

September 19, 2026 From elsewhere

The Hollywood Reporter reports: VCR recordings. Book digitization. The use of existing code to build a new operating system. The legality of some of the most consequential technology and products in the last century have come down to a singular question: Are they protected under fair use, the legal doctrine allowing the use of copyrighted works without a license? Now, that question has become the central battleground in landmark lawsuits between publishers, studios and recording companies against artificial intelligence companies…

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Trump’s widening attacks on the First Amendment

September 19, 2026 From elsewhere

Adam Serwer writes: On the first day of his second term in the White House, President Trump signed an executive order on free speech stating that his administration would ensure that “no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.” He has gone on to violate that order many times. Trump announced today on his social-media network, Truth Social, that he is banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White…

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‘Doom loop’: OpenAI and Microsoft admit LLMs are destroying the web and are built on theft

September 18, 2026 From elsewhere

404 Media reports: Executives working on AI at Microsoft and OpenAI admitted what its critics have been saying all along: Large language models are predatory pieces of technology that have been built on what a Microsoft executive called “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions,” and the “largest theft of labor in human history.” An internal Microsoft document said generative AI products have created a “doom loop” that is killing “the entire web.” Those statements and a series of other mask-off…

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Corporate cowardice: Universal is getting cold feet on releasing the new Elon Musk documentary

September 17, 2026 From elsewhere

The Hollywood Reporter reports: If Universal opts against releasing the movie, it would mark an extraordinary reversal at a moment when media companies are already under scrutiny for bowing to various forms of political pressure. Amazon backed out of releasing Artificial as it got into business with Sam Altman’s OpenAI, while ABC News and Paramount/CBS News each paid millions to settle lawsuits with the Trump administration many legal experts felt would be quickly dismissed. Universal would be required to pay…

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How Trump wields power to stifle free speech

September 12, 2026 From elsewhere

The New York Times reports: The Justice Department has sent F.B.I. agents to reporters’ homes to serve subpoenas and, in at least one case, flashed a warrant to seize devices. The Pentagon has fired the editor and publisher of its traditionally independent newspaper, Stars and Stripes, and blocked access to other journalists who refused to sign pledges that would limit their reporting. Regulatory agencies are using their powers to pressure media organizations over their content. The administration has stripped funding…

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Washington Post ordered to reinstate opinion writer fired over Charlie Kirk posts

August 24, 2026 From elsewhere

The Guardian reports: An independent arbitrator has ordered the Washington Post to rehire the high-profile opinion columnist Karen Attiah, abruptly fired by the news organization last September over comments she made on social media about Charlie Kirk, the then recently slain conservative activist. On Monday, an arbitrator ruled that the Post had violated her rights as a union-protected employee and ordered the newspaper to reinstate her and compensate her for lost wages. “This decision confirms what we’ve said from the…

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Fake news spreads like an epidemic. Here’s how to stop it

August 15, 2026 From elsewhere

The Straits Times reports: More than five years after the outbreak of Covid-19, most of us still remember the shape of the pandemic. It started small and distant. Then it passed from one person to another quickly, and we often did not even know we were spreading it. Today’s misinformation epidemic has the same shape: Fake news spreads quickly, and those “infected” by a rumour are often unaware it is untrue before passing it on to others. The “pink salt…

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There’s no ‘middle’ between neofascist corporatism and democracy

August 10, 2026 From elsewhere

Robert Reich writes: The statements seem as belligerent as Pete Hegseth on a bad hair day. “We are preparing for the next war that is coming,” says Jonathan Cowan. Cowan is president of Third Way, described by The New York Times as a “leading centrist Democratic group.” Cowan’s Third Way is preparing a $15 million war chest to “discredit democratic socialism.” Pointing to Dr. Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in the Michigan Senate primary last week, Cowan warns that “it is deeply…

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