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Category: Journalism

Fox News has become a platform for Russian propaganda

Fox News has become a platform for Russian propaganda

William Saletan writes: For seven months, Russia has waged a vicious war of aggression in Ukraine, killing thousands of civilians. To make matters worse, in the past two weeks, Vladimir Putin has illegally annexed parts of Ukraine and has once again threatened to use nuclear weapons. A principled American conservative TV network might advocate a muscular response to this behavior. At a minimum, it would tell the truth. But Fox News is unconstrained by such principles. In primetime hours, it…

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Four years after Khashoggi’s murder, assaults on press freedom are getting worse

Four years after Khashoggi’s murder, assaults on press freedom are getting worse

David Ignatius writes: On the fourth anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, we should demand accountability from Saudi Arabia, louder than ever. But we should also denounce, as Khashoggi would have, the assaults against press freedom in so many other countries that continue unabated — and often go unremarked. Khashoggi’s last column, received by The Post the day after he went missing, was about the need for “free expression,” not just in Saudi Arabia but everywhere that authorities try to suppress…

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Israeli army: ‘High possibility’ soldier killed reporter

Israeli army: ‘High possibility’ soldier killed reporter

The Associated Press reports: The Israeli army said Monday there was a “high possibility” that a soldier killed a well-known Al Jazeera journalist in the occupied West Bank last May, as it announced the results of its investigation into the killing. In a briefing to reporters, a senior military official said a soldier opened fire after mistakenly identifying Shireen Abu Akleh as a militant. But he provided no evidence to back up the Israeli claim that Palestinian gunmen were present…

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Insiders reveal how Erdogan controls Turkey’s newsrooms

Insiders reveal how Erdogan controls Turkey’s newsrooms

Reuters reports: When President Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law suddenly quit as finance minister in late 2020, four staff in Turkey’s leading newsrooms said they received a clear direction from their managers: don’t report this until the government says so. The resignation of Berat Albayrak, which he announced in a Sunday evening Instagram post, was reported by international and independent Turkish news outlets. The lira soared on hopes of a new direction for the beleaguered economy. But for more than 24 hours,…

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Trump is increasingly being cold-shouldered by Fox News

Trump is increasingly being cold-shouldered by Fox News

The New York Times reports: It’s been more than 100 days since Donald J. Trump was interviewed on Fox News. The network, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch and boosted Mr. Trump’s ascension from real estate developer and reality television star to the White House, is now often bypassing him in favor of showcasing other Republicans. In the former president’s view, according to two people who have spoken to him recently, Fox’s ignoring him is an affront far worse than…

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Without media accountability, Republicans will govern like a one-party state

Without media accountability, Republicans will govern like a one-party state

Jonathan Chait writes: Last week, the Florida Republican Party held its annual Sunshine Summit, which was marked by a new policy: The mainstream media was not permitted to cover the event. Instead, the only “news” would be transmitted through conservative-approved sources. “We in the state of Florida are not going to allow legacy media outlets to be involved in our primaries,” Florida governor Ron DeSantis said. “I’m not going to have a bunch of left-wing media people asking our candidates…

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One America News, a dependable Trump promoter, faces a ‘death blow’

One America News, a dependable Trump promoter, faces a ‘death blow’

The New York Times reports: The future of One America News, which established itself as a powerful voice in conservative media by promoting some of the most outlandish falsehoods about the 2020 election, is in serious doubt as major carriers drop it from their lineups and defamation lawsuits threaten to drain its finances. By the end of this week, the cable network will have lost its presence in some 20 million homes this year. The most recent blow came from…

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You trust the media more than you say you do

You trust the media more than you say you do

Jack Shafer writes: If you follow the trendline of plummeting trust in newspapers, as just updated by Gallup, you could make an argument that by the year 2030 or so, 0 percent of respondents will say they have any “confidence” in newspapers and TV news. It sounds ridiculous, but that’s the direction the data is headed. In 1979, 51 percent of those polled said they had a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in newspaper journalism. But in…

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Russia bans news outlet Bellingcat, labels it a security threat

Russia bans news outlet Bellingcat, labels it a security threat

Reuters reports: Russia on Friday banned investigative news outlet Bellingcat and its main local partner from operating inside the country, branding them security threats. Netherlands-based Bellingcat exposed the Russian-backed soldiers behind the downing of Malaysian Airlines jet MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 and unmasked FSB agents sent to poison Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in 2020. Russia’s Prosecutor General said the activities of Bellingcat its partner The Insider “posed a threat to… the security of the Russian federation.” Both will…

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As trust wanes, conspiracy theories rise

As trust wanes, conspiracy theories rise

The Associated Press reports: The global public relations firm Edelman has conducted surveys about public trust for more than two decades, beginning after the 1999 World Trade Organization’s meeting in Seattle was marred by anti-globalization riots. Tonia Reis, director of Edelman’s Trust Barometer surveys, said trust is a precious commodity that’s vital for the economy and government to function. “Trust is absolutely essential to everything in society working well,” Reis said. “It’s one of those things that, like air, people…

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Fox and other rightwing networks confront billion-dollar lawsuits over election fraud claims

Fox and other rightwing networks confront billion-dollar lawsuits over election fraud claims

The Guardian reports: In the months following the 2020 US presidential election, rightwing TV news in America was a wild west, an apparently lawless free-for-all where conspiracy theories about voting machines, ballot-stuffed suitcases and dead Venezuelan leaders were repeated to viewers around the clock. There seemed to be little consequence for peddling the most outrageous ideas on primetime. But now, unfortunately for Fox News, One America News Network (OAN), and Newsmax, it turns out that this brave, new world wasn’t…

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Reporters Without Borders investigation indicates Mark Levin and his bodyguard were executed by Russian soldiers

Reporters Without Borders investigation indicates Mark Levin and his bodyguard were executed by Russian soldiers

Reporters Without Borders: RSF sent two investigators to collect evidence and search for clues from 24 May to 3 June: Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF’s investigation desk, and Patrick Chauvel, a French war photo-reporter who had worked with Levin in the Donbas at the end of February. They concluded that Levin and Chernyshov were executed in cold blood. The evidence against the Russian forces is overwhelming. It is detailed in a report published today entitled How Ukrainian journalist Maks…

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How reporters can cover and distinguish threats to democracy from politics-as-usual

How reporters can cover and distinguish threats to democracy from politics-as-usual

Protect Democracy: Authoritarianism rarely happens overnight these days. Today’s authoritarian playbook is a process that happens piecemeal and is hard to distinguish from normal political jockeying. Our report, The Authoritarian Playbook: How reporters can contextualize and cover authoritarian threats as distinct from politics-as-usual outlines the seven fundamental tactics used by aspiring authoritarians, describes examples from in and outside the United States, and offers a framework journalists can use to differentiate between politics-as-usual and something more dangerous to democracy. The vigilance…

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Group aiming to defund disinformation tries to drain Fox News of online advertising

Group aiming to defund disinformation tries to drain Fox News of online advertising

NPR reports: A nonprofit aiming to defund disinformation online that has taken money out of the pockets of several prominent far-right websites now has its sights set on its most formidable target yet: Fox News. The group, Check My Ads, is hoping the success it has had in stripping advertising dollars from right-wing provocateurs including Steve Bannon, Glenn Beck and Dan Bongino will give it momentum as it attempts to confront a powerful media empire. On Thursday, the outfit announced…

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India’s war on journalists

India’s war on journalists

Zeba Warsi writes: An unsettling, eerie silence engulfed the streets of Khajuri Khas two days after the riots. The neighborhood is a Muslim ghetto and was one of the worst hit in the anti-Muslim violence that erupted in Delhi in late February 2020. Fifty-three people were killed, a majority of them Muslims. I walked through lanes covered in ashes. The air was thick with the toxic smell of burned refrigerators and charred vehicles. Broken pieces of furniture lined the streets….

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New evidence suggests Al Jazeera journalist was killed in targeted attack by Israeli forces

New evidence suggests Al Jazeera journalist was killed in targeted attack by Israeli forces

CNN reports: Several shots ring out in quick succession, cutting through a clear, blue spring morning in Jenin, in the West Bank. Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack, crack, crack. The cameraman filming the scene scrambles backwards to take cover behind a low concrete wall. Then a man cries out in Arabic: “Injured! Shireen, Shireen, oh man, Shireen! Ambulance!” When the camera operator pans around the corner, Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh can be seen lying motionless, face down on…

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