Broadcasting

Media Defiance

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Article in AlterNet by Thom Hartman, 6/7/26

Headline: “Opinion | One defiant stand is sending shockwaves through Trump’s media takeover”

Over the past year and a half, we’ve watched Brendan Carr, Trump’s hitman at the FCC, go to CPAC conferences and brag about how he’s going to assault stations that say things he and Trump dislike. He’s trying to intimidate ABC affiliates into muzzling Jimmy Kimmel — again. And he succeeded in taking down Stephen Colbert.

“And a Trump-adjacent billionaire nepo-baby has acquired CBS and is systematically stripping it of its journalistic integrity,

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/alternet-exclusives/scott-pelley-trump/

Interview Tyrants?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Joel Simon, 6/1/26

Headline:  “Should Journalists Interview Dictators?”

Subhead:  “Encounters on the line between control and conditions.”

“. . .The trope of the dictator interview—presenting a despot as a celebrity, a figure of popular fascination with whom a reporter has managed to secure time—crystallized in the sixties and seventies, when Oriana Fallaci, an Italian journalist and provocateur, confronted Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, among others. In 1979, not long after the triumph of the Iranian revolution, she interviewed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and—famously—ripped off her chador, calling it a “stupid medieval rag.” Barbara Walters took the opposite tack, humanizing and personalizing repressive leaders such as Fidel Castro, whom she first interviewed in 1977, and Mu‘ammar Gaddhafi, with whom she spoke a dozen years later. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/feature/should-journalists-interview-dictators-dan-rather-jon-lee-anderson-christiane-amanpour.php

No Questions From Her!

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Article in Mediaite by Michael Luciano, 6/3/26

Headline:  “Kaitlan Collins Responds To Trump’s Oval Office Outburst at Her, Points Out She ‘Had Yet To Ask the President a Question’ “

“. . .the president seemed clearly irritated when he was asked earlier today why his administration says it is not moving forward with that $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund, as they have called it,’ she said. ‘And just to note, as you’re about to listen to this, this first exchange actually occurred before I had yet to ask the president a question’. . . .”

” ‘CNN’s a very corrupt organization with a corrupt reporter standing right there,’ Trump said. ‘Never smiles. A young, beautiful woman. Never smiles. I never see a smile on her face. I see her standing there with hatred in her eyes’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/kaitlan-collins-responds-to-trumps-oval-office-outburst-at-her-points-out-she-had-yet-to-ask-the-president-a-question/

Replacement for “60 Minutes”

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Article in The Wrap by Alyssa Ray, 6/3/26

Headline:  “Jimmy Kimmel Rips the ‘Trump Suck-Ups’ at CBS News After Scott Pelley’s ’60 Minutes’ Termination | Video”

Subhead: “ ’60 Minutes’ will be replaced by new episodes of ‘Reporters Unleashed,’  the late night host quips”

“The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host touched on Pelley’s ousting from the storied news program during Wednesday’s monologue, in which he celebrated the longtime journalist for standing for ‘truth and integrity.’

“ ‘Last night, the Trump suck-ups at CBS fired a great and deeply respected journalist, Scott Pelley, from his job at “60 Minutes,” because he stood up for truth and integrity at a show that’s been the gold-standard for broadcast journalism for 57 years,’ Kimmel said. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/tv-shows/jimmy-kimmel-reacts-scott-pelley-60-minutes-firing-slams-cbs-news/

CBS Firings – Weiss Responds

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Article in The Hill by Sarah Davis, 6/3/26

Headline:  “Bari Weiss: Scott Pelley fired from ’60 Minutes’ for breaking ‘foundation’ of trust “

The head of CBS News told staff on Wednesday that the network’s decision to fire a longtime ‘60 Minutes’ correspondent involved a breach of trust, according to an audio transcript of an editorial call reported by The New York Times.

“ ‘’m only interested in working in a newsroom that is built on trust and mutual respect; we cannot do our work without it. That foundation was broken on Monday,’ Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss reportedly told the newsroom on the morning call.

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5909018-scott-pelley-fired-cbs-weiss-trust/

Press Freedom Groups Warn

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Article in The Wrap by Josh Dickey, 6/2/26
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Headline:  “Next After ’60 Minutes’ Amid ‘Existential Threat’ of Paramount Merger”

Subhead: “The coalition of nine journalism advocacy groups calls the ’60 Minutes’ firings ‘a grotesque effort … to appease a sitting president’ “

“A group of nine press freedom advocacy groups on Tuesday warned that the impending Paramount merger with Warner Bros. represents an ‘existential threat to the free press, independent media and free speech,’ suggesting CNN will be the next to suffer the drastic firings and turmoil that ‘60 Minutes’ has been going through in recent days. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/journalism/press-freedom-groups-paramount-merger-threat-cnn-60-minutes/

“60 Minutes”-Fired

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 6/2/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Scott Pelley is fired, deepening the crisis at ‘60 Minutes’ “

Subhead: “After publicly challenging network leadership, Pelley became the latest casualty in a sweeping remake of CBS News“

“Scott Pelley is out as a correspondent at ’60 Minutes,’ according to multiple reports.

On Monday, Pelley blasted new ’60 Minutes’ executive producer Nick Bilton in a staff meeting and accused CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of ‘murdering’ the iconic news show.

The Wall Street Journal’s Isabella Simonetti reported Tuesday night that Bilton sent Pelley a note to say he was being terminated for cause. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/scott-pelley-fired-60-minutes-cbs-news/

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy 6/2/26

Headline:  “Clock Strikes Midnight for Pelley”

“The ’60 Minutes’ correspondent was fired by email Tuesday night after a dramatic showdown with CBS News leadership, throwing the show into an unprecedented and existential crisis. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/scott-pelley-fired-60-minutes-bari-weiss-nick-bilton

Mickey Media Standing Up!

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Article in Slate byLizzie O’Leary 6/2/26

Headline:  “Disney Finds Its Spine”

“In normal times, in a normal Federal Communications Commission, Anna M. Gomez’s job might be described as wonky. But now is not that time.

“A large part of my role is to call out this administration’s abuses of the First Amendment, particularly when it chooses to weaponize the FCC in trying to shut down any voices that it doesn’t like,” said Gomez. “And we see this constantly, there is a constant infringement on the free press and on the First Amendment and on the rights of viewers and listeners to see and hear what they want to see. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://slate.com/business/2026/06/fcc-disney-abc-renewal-lawsuit-brendan-carr.html

Media – Murder, She Wrote?

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 6/1/6

Headline: “60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley accuses Bari Weiss of ‘murdering’ show”

Subhead: “Pelley reportedly rebuked CBS ousting show’s executive producer, executive editor and two top correspondents”

“Scott Pelley, a veteran 60 Minutes correspondent, called out CBS News management in a heated meeting on Monday morning, attacking the network’s decision on Thursday to fire the show’s executive producer, executive editor, and two fellow correspondents, Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, as part of a broader overhaul of the show, sources tell the Guardian. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jun/01/60-minutes-scott-pelley-cbs-bari-weiss-cuts

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Article in The Washington Post by Scott Nover & Liam Scott, 6/1/26

Headline: ” ‘It was cruel’: Scott Pelley confronts new ‘60 Minutes’ boss in fiery meeting”

Subhead: “The veteran correspondent demanded answers on fired staff and the new executive producer’s qualifications for the job.”

“In a Monday-morning meeting, veteran ’60 Minutes’ correspondent Scott Pelley ripped into his new boss, Nick Bilton.

“ ‘What qualifies you to be in this position?’ Pelley demanded. . .”

“It was a hostile greeting for Bilton during his first meeting with the full ’60 Minutes’ staff since the technology journalist was announced Thursday as the show’s new executive producer. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/06/01/scott-pelley-confronts-new-60-minutes-boss-nick-bilton-fiery-meeting/

Reporting More Than a Game

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Article in Reporters Without Borders by Staff, 5/28/26

Headline:  “Covering the 2026 World Cup? Prepare for more than football”

“The 2026 FIFA World Cup, taking place from June 11 to July 19, is expected to draw thousands of journalists to the United States, Mexico, and Canada to cover the world’s biggest sporting event of the year. Beyond the stadiums, fan zones, and celebrations, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges media professionals to prepare for a more complex reporting environment marked by heightened surveillance, border scrutiny, and mounting concerns about press freedom in Mexico and the US. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://rsf.org/en/covering-2026-world-cup-prepare-more-football