Trump's chilling effects continue |
Right now Radio Free Asia is laying off the vast majority of its staff and shutting down many of its news broadcasts and streams.
The RFA layoff notices are the latest impacts of President Trump's crusade against the international broadcasters that the United States has bankrolled for decades.
Even though Radio Free Asia, Voice of America and other US-funded international broadcasters keep winning favorable court rulings, "the government is still not fully complying,” VOA's sidelined press freedom editor Jessica Jerreat told me. Instead, the Trump administration keeps appealing, and the damage is intensifying in the meantime.
"Every day that we're not broadcasting is a day that will allow adversaries to spread propaganda unchecked," VOA journalist Patsy Widakuswara said. Here's my new CNN.com story about the state of play...
|
Trump's appointee to shrink the US Agency for Global Media, Kari Lake, recently said on Fox that "we're trying to modernize it" and "shrink it down a little bit." She railed against the judges who are standing in her way.
But the judges are simply saying that the Trump admin should do it legally. The funds for these broadcasters were allocated by Congress, Judge Royce C. Lamberth wrote earlier this week, so "actors within the Executive Branch do not have carte blanche to unilaterally change course, withhold funds that the President and the Legislature jointly agreed to spend, and functionally dismantle an agency that the President and Legislature jointly agreed to support."
The admin appealed that ruling, too...
|
'Irreparable reputational harm' |
Today the leaders of RFA, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Middle East Broadcasting Networks sent an impassioned letter to Lake about the "irreparable harm" being done. "Our journalists are terrified that the withdrawal of support from their employers will lead to harassment, prison, and worse," the letter stated.
In some especially serious cases, staffers who work for the networks may be at risk of deportation back to repressive regimes. RFA's layoffs exempted several of its most vulnerable staffers for that very reason. The organization is trying to keep a few of the proverbial lights on for as long as possible.
"We urge you to restore our funding immediately before further irreparable reputational harm is done to the United States — and before innocent lives are needlessly and recklessly lost," the letter concluded. More here...
|
|
|
Trump's newest anti-NPR maneuver |
Last night Trump signed an executive order directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to end federal funding for NPR and PBS.
The corporation, however, is a private entity that is supposed to be protected from executive orders. When Congress established the corporation in 1967, it specifically tried to insulate public media from political pressure.
The corporation's CEO Patricia Harrison pointed all of that out in a statement just a few minutes ago. "CPB is not a federal executive agency subject to the President’s authority," she said.
So: More TBD. One big unknown: What's the status of the rescission package the White House has promised to send to Congress?
|
|
|
The Atlantic's next two hires |
The Atlantic's editorial staff expansion continues: Today Jeffrey Goldberg is naming two new staff writers, Jamie Thompson and Josh Tyrangiel.
Thompson, currently a contributing writer, won a National Magazine Award for her March 2024 Atlantic cover story, "To Stop a Shooter."
Tyrangiel, who led teams at TIME, Bloomberg, and VICE over the years, and recently returned to his reporting roots, came out with his first piece for The Atlantic this morning: A must-read profile of Anthony Weiner's attempted political comeback. He says "spending time with Weiner is like living inside an episode of 'The Bear.'" Tyrangiel will officially start as a staff writer in July.
|
|
|
You can almost hear gamers (myself included) sighing with disappointment. "Grand Theft Auto 6 — one of the most eagerly awaited releases of all time — has been delayed until May 2026," the BBC reports. Rockstar Games says it needs more time to "deliver at the level of quality you expect and deserve." The release was expected later this year, so Rockstar shares are down about 10% as a result of the delay...
|
|
|
Coming up this weekend... |
CNBC will be airing and streaming Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders meeting starting at 8:30am ET Saturday.
Journalism remains the favorite to win Saturday's Kentucky Derby. The horse is a "symbol of resilience," as Tim Layden explains in this touching NBC Sports piece.
Quinta Brunson will host this weekend's "SNL," with musical guest Benson Boone.
|
|
|
As "60 Minutes" stares down White House pressure, and Paramount boss Shari Redstone reportedly tries to broker a payoff, "60" will devote the top of this Sunday's show to "The Rule of Law." That's the title of Scott Pelley's upcoming report "on the law firms picked out by the President and the different ways they're responding to White House pressure."
>> Context: The NYT reported on Tuesday that this law firms-focused segment was in the works, and said some "60" producers were concerned that CBS bosses might "interfere" with it.
|
Speaking of "60 Minutes," the newsmag picked up *13* News and Documentary Emmy nominations yesterday, including an Outstanding Edited Interview nod for the Kamala Harris segment that caused Trump to sue CBS. Trump falsely says the editing was a "crime"; TV news pros say it was award-worthy.
CNN's Liam Reilly asked the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences if they're concerned that Trump might seek retribution for the nomination. NATAS responded by saying that the "60 Minutes" segment was "evaluated by two separate panels of judges, including senior editorial leaders from every other major U.S. broadcast news organization. From a field of more than three dozen entries in one of the year's most competitive categories, the segment was nominated on the strength of its journalism."
|
>> Along with "60," PBS's "Frontline" and CNN's "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper" received a whole raft of Emmy nominations. Here is the full list.
>> Netflix received the most Peabody wins this year, "sweeping six categories, followed by HBO/Max with four, PBS with three, and FX/Hulu and Al Jazeera, both with 2."
>> "Buena Vista Social Club," "Death Becomes Her," and "Maybe Happy Ending" have earned 10 Tony nods each. CNN's Alli Rosenbloom notes that "George Clooney earned his first-ever Tony nomination in the lead actor in a play category for his performance in 'Good Night, and Good Luck.'"
|
|
|
>> Steve Doocy, 70, who has co-hosted "Fox & Friends" since the day it launched in 1998, is leaving the show's New York couch and becoming its "coast-to-coast host," appearing remotely three days a week. (Mediaite)
>> Fox's Maria Bartiromo dined with Trump at the White House, then "gushed" about it on air. (Daily Beast)
|
|
|
|
