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Category: Journalism/Media

Jeff Bezos cares more about his superyacht and massive tax breaks than he cares about democracy

Jeff Bezos cares more about his superyacht and massive tax breaks than he cares about democracy

David Remnick writes: It’s truly impossible to keep up, isn’t it? Last week—after the Wall Street Journal broke more news about the Trump family’s dodgy crypto-business dealings and before the President shared a racist video of the Obamas depicted as dancing apes—the Amazon entrepreneur Jeff Bezos decided that one of his smaller properties, the Washington Post, has proved such a drag on his two-hundred-and-thirty-billion-dollar fortune that prudence required that he obliterate much of its newsroom. Early in his proprietorship, Bezos…

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Freedom, equality and democracy depend on our work. Journalists must not lie.

Freedom, equality and democracy depend on our work. Journalists must not lie.

Carlos Hernández de Miguel, a Spanish journalist and writer, died on 3 February. He didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye and sharing a few final thoughts: I decided to become a journalist because I truly believed that by reporting rigorously and honestly, we could improve this world. I still believe it now. I know that in my professional career I have made mistakes, I have put up with things (I hope only a few) that I should have rejected,…

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Jeff Bezos and Will Lewis are murdering The Washington Post

Jeff Bezos and Will Lewis are murdering The Washington Post

Ashley Parker writes: We’re witnessing a murder. Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of The Washington Post, and Will Lewis, the publisher he appointed at the end of 2023, are embarking on the latest step of their plan to kill everything that makes the paper special. The Post has survived for nearly 150 years, evolving from a hometown family newspaper into an indispensable national institution, and a pillar of the democratic system. But if Bezos and Lewis continue down their present…

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The case against Don Lemon is bogus, and dangerous

The case against Don Lemon is bogus, and dangerous

The Associated Press reports: Journalist Don Lemon, who dared the Trump administration to come after him after he covered an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church, was indicted for civil rights crimes. Lemon was arrested Thursday by federal agents in Los Angeles, while another independent journalist and two protest participants were arrested in Minnesota. The arrests brought sharp criticism from news media advocates and civil rights activists including the Rev. Al Sharpton, who said the…

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CBS and CNN are being sacrificed to Trump

CBS and CNN are being sacrificed to Trump

Franklin Foer writes: The fate of Warner Bros. Discovery is no longer a regulatory matter. It is a medieval tournament, in which the king invites rival bidders to compete for his approval. To acquire the media company, the aspirants—Paramount and Netflix—will have to offer a sacrifice: Whoever can damage CNN the most stands to walk away with the prize. This is one of those moments in Donald Trump’s presidency when an event that would otherwise be recognized as a death…

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The genocides The New York Times forgot

The genocides The New York Times forgot

Zachary Jablow writes: In the winter of 1981, six years into Indonesia’s occupation of the island nation East Timor, The New York Times Magazine published a report about the island that may as well have been written about Gaza any time since October 7th, 2023. Referring to the relatively small groups in the United States protesting their government’s role in the occupation, correspondent Henry Kamm wrote, “There is substance to these protests, even if, at their most extreme, they degenerate into hyperbole—accusations of ‘genocide’ rather…

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People are getting their news from AI – and it’s altering their views

People are getting their news from AI – and it’s altering their views

When a bot brings you the news, who built it and how it presents the information matter. Zentangle/iStock via Getty Images By Adrian Kuenzler, University of Denver; University of Hong Kong Meta’s decision to end its professional fact-checking program sparked a wave of criticism in the tech and media world. Critics warned that dropping expert oversight could erode trust and reliability in the digital information landscape, especially when profit-driven platforms are mostly left to police themselves. What much of this…

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BBC will fight Trump’s $10bn lawsuit, saying it should be dismissed

BBC will fight Trump’s $10bn lawsuit, saying it should be dismissed

The Guardian reports: The BBC is preparing to argue Donald Trump’s $10bn court case against it should be dismissed, arguing it has no case to answer over the US president’s claims he was defamed by an episode of Panorama. The development comes after Trump filed a 33-page complaint to a Florida court on Monday, accusing the broadcaster of “a false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory and malicious depiction” of the president in the documentary. On Tuesday, the BBC said it would…

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I asked the Pentagon about Pete Hegseth’s mentor, Eric Geressy, then the threats started

I asked the Pentagon about Pete Hegseth’s mentor, Eric Geressy, then the threats started

Dan Friedman writes: Six weeks ago, Jack Posobiec asked me to comment on whether I have a “creepy fetish for Asian women.” That was one of several false and wildly personal allegations that the far-right pundit and newly minted member of the Pentagon press corps said that he planned to include in “a story that I’m writing about you.” I immediately understood his October 28 email to be a threat, though it was not made explicit. The day before, I…

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The newsroom’s AI has a hidden political agenda

The newsroom’s AI has a hidden political agenda

Parker Molloy writes: In October 2023, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned that “AI will be capable of superhuman persuasion well before it is superhuman at general intelligence, which may lead to some very strange outcomes.” Two years later, we’re watching those strange outcomes unfold in real time. And in 2026, they’re going to collide with journalism in ways most reporters won’t even notice. Here’s what’s happening: The Trump administration has been systematically pushing to reshape AI systems according to its…

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The Ellisons: The billionaire family poised to rewire U.S. media in Israel’s favor

The Ellisons: The billionaire family poised to rewire U.S. media in Israel’s favor

Will Alden writes: In early September, the Hollywood producer Lawrence Bender — known for his work with Quentin Tarantino on films including “Pulp Fiction” and “Inglourious Basterds” — had what he later described as “a really tough conversation” with the investors in “Red Alert,” an Israeli miniseries that dramatizes the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023. With just weeks remaining before the anticipated release on the second anniversary of the attacks, the show, produced by Israeli mass media company Keshet…

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Censoring remarks on Trump: The BBC succumbs to the ‘paralysing cowardice’ of today’s elites

Censoring remarks on Trump: The BBC succumbs to the ‘paralysing cowardice’ of today’s elites

The Guardian reports: The BBC has been plunged into a new row over its treatment of Donald Trump, after an academic accused it of censoring his remarks about alleged corruption by the US president. Rutger Bregman, a Dutch author and historian, said the BBC had removed a “key line” from a flagship address he had been invited to give by the corporation. Bregman, who is giving the BBC’s prestigious annual Reith Lectures, said his claim that Trump was “the most…

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Larry Ellison discussed axing CNN hosts with White House in takeover bid talks

Larry Ellison discussed axing CNN hosts with White House in takeover bid talks

The Guardian reports: Senior White House officials have discussed internally their preference for Paramount Skydance to acquire Warner Bros Discovery in recent weeks, and one official has discussed potential programming changes at CNN with Larry Ellison, the largest shareholder of Paramount. The discussions, according to people familiar with the matter, come as Paramount portrays itself as the best bid for Warner Bros Discovery, after the company announced last month it was open to offers, because it would have an easier…

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‘A lot of people didn’t like’ Khashoggi, said Trump as MBS was questioned about the journalist’s murder

‘A lot of people didn’t like’ Khashoggi, said Trump as MBS was questioned about the journalist’s murder

I pressed Trump on MBS's role in the Khashoggi killing during a tape-recorded interview on Jan. 22, 2020:“I’ve gotten involved very much,” Trump said. “I know everything about the whole situation.”So what happened, sir? I asked.“I saved his ass," Trump said. “That’s what… — Bob Woodward (@realBobWoodward) November 18, 2025 The New York Times reports: “Things happen.” That was how President Trump described the murder of the columnist Jamal Khashoggi on Tuesday afternoon while sitting beside Crown Prince Mohammed bin…

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Michael Wolff’s questionable explanation for cozying up to Jeffrey Epstein

Michael Wolff’s questionable explanation for cozying up to Jeffrey Epstein

David A. Graham writes: In her classic book The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcolm studied how the author Joe McGinniss buttered up the accused killer Jeffrey MacDonald—formally joining his legal-defense team and sending fawningly supportive letters after his conviction—only to turn around and publish a scathing book portraying him as a sociopath. Observing McGinniss’s approach, Malcolm draws a distinction between the reporting phase, when a journalist courts her subject, and the writing phase, when she betrays them. Many reporters…

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