13 h. ago Brendan Carr admits his FCC is Trump’s journalism police | Seth Stern and Clayton Weimers

It is clear that the FCC is not an independent agency, but an instrument of the president’s political agendaThe Federal Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr, admitted at a Senate hearing on Wednesday that there had been a political “sea change” and he no longer viewed the FCC as an independent agency. Commissioners, he says, serve at the pleasure of the president.In his case, that president is Donald Trump, whose face Carr wears as a lapel pin, whose agenda he loudly embraces, and who often publicly demands that Carr censor his critics, including revoking their broadcast licenses.Seth Stern is the director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation and a first amendment lawyer. Clayton Weimers is the executive director of RSF USA, the North American branch of Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Continue reading...

Politics

15 h. ago Starmer says he wouldn’t let someone talk to his daughter the way Trump spoke to reporter

The prime minister was challenged on ITV’s Loose Women over his reaction to the derogatory language used by Trump to a female journalist

Politics

26 h. ago US military says it carried out lethal strike on vessel in Pacific, killing four, as Trump addresses country – live

Pete Hegseth says no US military harmed as US Southern Command says it hit three vessels in international watersFour Republicans join Democrats to force vote on bill that would extend Obamacare subsidiesThe Donald Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, will soon make his first appearance before Congress since sparking an uproar with comments seen as pressuring ABC to temporarily pull comedian Jimmy Kimmel from the air.ABC indefinitely suspended Kimmel’s show over statements he made following the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which prompted Carr to say that he wanted broadcasters to “take action” on Kimmel, and: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Continue reading...

Events

28 h. ago Donald Trump says Venezuela ‘illegally took’ US oil and ‘we want it back’ – live

President tells reporters that Venezuela ‘took all of our energy rights’ in latest ramping up of rhetoricFour Republicans join Democrats to force vote on bill that would extend Obamacare subsidiesThe Donald Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, will soon make his first appearance before Congress since sparking an uproar with comments seen as pressuring ABC to temporarily pull comedian Jimmy Kimmel from the air.ABC indefinitely suspended Kimmel’s show over statements he made following the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which prompted Carr to say that he wanted broadcasters to “take action” on Kimmel, and: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Continue reading...

Politics

34 h. ago Top House Democrat demands immediate action to extend Obamacare subsidies after four Republicans help force vote – live

House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries calls on Mike Johnson to allow vote on legislation extending Affordable Care Act subsidies before recessFour Republicans join Democrats to force vote on bill that would extend Obamacare subsidiesThe Donald Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, will soon make his first appearance before Congress since sparking an uproar with comments seen as pressuring ABC to temporarily pull comedian Jimmy Kimmel from the air.ABC indefinitely suspended Kimmel’s show over statements he made following the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which prompted Carr to say that he wanted broadcasters to “take action” on Kimmel, and: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Continue reading...

Politics

35 h. ago Top House Democrat demands immediate vote on extending ACA subsidies – US politics live

Hakeem Jeffries, House minority leader, calls on Mike Johnson to immediately allow vote on legislation before House is set to go on recessThe Donald Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, will soon make his first appearance before Congress since sparking an uproar with comments seen as pressuring ABC to temporarily pull comedian Jimmy Kimmel from the air.ABC indefinitely suspended Kimmel’s show over statements he made following the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which prompted Carr to say that he wanted broadcasters to “take action” on Kimmel, and: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago ‘It’s not a coincidence’: journalists of color on being laid off amid Trump’s anti

Black and brown former employees from CBS, NBC and Teen Vogue talk about the effects of being let goTrey Sherman was traveling to work on the New York subway when he received an email from David Reiter, a CBS News executive, about an imminent meeting on 29 October. Sherman, an associate producer of CBS Evening News Plus at the time, suspected that he would be laid off. CBS News’s parent company, Paramount, had closed a merger with the Hollywood studio Skydance in August, and planned to slash more than 2,000 jobs as part of corporate restructuring.Sherman, who is Black, and Reiter, who is white, had an amicable conversation, according to Sherman. Reiter told Sherman that he was being laid off because his show was being eliminated, Sherman said, and that Reiter was unable to assign the team to other positions. Sherman accepted the news and the two men wished each other good luck. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Trump and White House blast ‘Fake News’ journalists and negative polls as president pushes affordability agenda: Live updates

A new poll found Trump’s approval rating on the economy has declined substantially in recent months

Politics

8 d. ago Trump rages that New York Times and others are ‘seditious ... even treasonous’ to report that he’s not in great health

Trump, who frequently targets media organizations and journalists, calls for The New York Times to ‘cease publication’ after it released an op-ed about his declining ‘vigor’

Politics

9 d. ago Trump is remodeling Washington to fit his twisted vision of America | Judith Levine

The administration is offloading gems of US architecture while redesigning the city to match the president’s valuesWhile the original architect of Donald Trump’s ever-expanding ballroom steps down and preservationists panic over the fate of New Deal murals inside the Social Security Administration building, the president gushes about painting the granite Eisenhower Executive Office Building white, “fixing” the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and erecting his own Arc de Triomphe.To peruse the plans for a Trump-era capital district alongside the General Services Administration’s list of assets identified for accelerated disposition – the federal buildings slated for off-loading – is to discern a diagram of Trump’s values.Judith Levine is a Brooklyn-based journalist, essayist and author of five books. Her Substack is Today in Fascism Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Trump explodes at female journalists AGAIN: 'You are the most obnoxious reporter'

Donald Trump roasted two reporters as 'obnoxious' and 'totally unprepared' during an agriculture roundtable on Monday.

Politics

1 week ago Why I am proud to be a part of the Guardian | Margaret Sullivan

I’ve found that many people I speak with trust the Guardian’s independent, mission-driven coverage of the news The Guardian has no billionaire or big corporate owner: funded by readers, our fierce independence is guaranteed. Please help us reach our year-end fundraising goalOn election day last month, I spent some time interviewing poll workers in New York City.When I introduced myself to one, I told her that I write a column for the Guardian and her immediate reply was “thank you”. I was a little taken aback: people don’t normally react that way to journalists. Trust in the news media is low, and Donald Trump’s unfair cries of “fake news” and his efforts to depict journalists as “enemies of the people” have taken their toll. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago ‘Mouthpieces for Trump’: inside the rightwing takeover of the Pentagon press corps

Pentagon press passes once held by credentialed journalists are now in the hands of rightwing pundits and Trump alliesBeing a member of the Pentagon press corps was once one of the more prestigious assignments in US journalism, a position reserved for heavy hitters from venerable newspapers and news channels, reporters at the peak of their powers.Not any more. A press conference last week – held at a crucial time for a Pentagon embroiled in scandal – was instead attended by more than a dozen rightwing activists, with the government being held to account by a close ally of Donald Trump, an employee at Turning Point USA and someone from a pillow salesman’s nascent media company. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Watch: Trump lashes out at another female journalist’s question

Donald Trump lashed out at a female reporter after she asked what part of his body was checked during a recent MRI scan.

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3 w. ago Trump calls female journalist 'ugly' after she said he looked knackered

The US President slammed a female reporter from the New York Times over a piece that suggested he was looking tired, just weeks after he controversially branded a different reporter a "piggy"

Politics

3 w. ago Trump calls New York Times reporter ‘ugly’ after branding another journalist ‘piggy’

In a Truth Social post, the president lashed out at journalist Katie Rogers after an article questioned whether he was slowing downDonald Trump lashed out on Wednesday against a New York Times reporter, calling her “ugly inside and out” in his latest personal insult against female members of the media after last week calling another “piggy”.In a Truth Social post, Trump criticitized the newspaper for an article suggesting he was running low on energy in his 80th year, insisting he has “never worked so hard in my life”. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago As Epstein questions linger, Trump falls back into familiar habit: lashing out at female reporters

He called one a ‘piggy’ after being questioned about the files, and reacted furiously to another during a meeting with the Saudi crown prince Since the early days of his political career, Donald Trump has been critical of the media, but in recent days his hostility has reached a new peak – particularly when it comes to questions about his association with the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.Trump invoked the phrase “piggy” – a term he has used before – to describe a female reporter on Friday, and has aggressively responded to at least one other female reporter over the past week, including threatening to revoke ABC’s license. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago ‘I will always be respectful to journalists’, says PM after Trump’s ‘piggy’ slur

Footage has emerged of the US president uttering the insult at journalist Catherine Lucey as he took questions on Air Force One last week.

Politics

4 w. ago US watchdog led by Trump ally investigates BBC Panorama edit of January 6 speech

Brendan Carr, head of FCC, asks if programme ever aired in US which is seen as key to any future litigationA US media regulator led by a close ally of Donald Trump is examining whether an edition of the BBC’s Panorama broke US regulations in the way it edited one of the president’s speeches.The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), led by Brendan Carr, has written to the BBC’s outgoing director general, Tim Davie, asking whether the programme was ever aired in the US. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago BBC being investigated by US watchdog over 'deceptive' Donald Trump Panorama programme

FCC chairman Brendan Carr wrote to executives at the BBC as well as US broadcasters PBS and NPR to find out whether the programme was aired in the US and had broken FCC regulations.

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