MEDIA and THE FIRST AMENDMENT

Thurs, July 16, 2026:

• Trump calls for revocation of ABC, NBC licenses over speech snub. The president said networks that didn’t air his primetime address on election security had committed “fraud.” - Politico

Sat, July 11, 2026:

• White House Directed Patel to Oversee Investigation Involving Times Reporting, which led to the subpoenaing of several Times reporters who wrote about the security of Air Force One. - NYT

• July 9, 2026: New Air Force One Lacks Defensive Countermeasures of Previous Model, Officials Say. Experts said the lack of such capabilities poses a potential risk when the president travels overseas. The White House defended the aircraft’s safety. - NYT

Mon, June 22, 2026:

• Trump threatens lawsuits against ABC for reporting on Reflecting Pool - CNBC

Thurs, May 28, 2026:

• Trump Files Revised Defamation Lawsuit Against WSJ Publisher

  A federal judge had tossed Trump’s first complaint over article about letter in Jeffrey Epstein birthday book - WSJ

Wed, May 27, 2026:

• Sharyn Alfonsi, whose segment on a brutal Salvadoran prison was pulled abruptly in December, said that CBS News and its top editor, Bari Weiss, had let her contract expire. - NYT

Sun, May 10, 2026:

• Wash Post veterans on what they would change about D.C. journalism - NOTUS

Fri, May 8, 2026:

• ABC Accuses Government of Violating First Amendment. The network’s argument, made to the F.C.C., is the most aggressive posture taken yet by a television network toward the Trump administration. - NYT

• FCC’s warnings on political interviews ‘chill’ First Amendment, ABC says. The broadcast network’s rebuke comes amid a broader fight with Chair Brendan Carr over the company’s TV station licenses. - Politico

Thurs, May 7, 2026:

• ‘Trump’s roving censor’: Top Senate Democrats demand Brendan Carr end Disney review - Politico

Mon, May 4, 2026:

• U.S. Revokes Visas of Bd. Members at Costa Rica Watchdog Newspaper - NYT

• FTC swears off Media Matters boycott probe - Law 360

Fri, May 1, 2026:

• For the first time in the history of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, over half of the world’s countries now fall into the “difficult” or “very serious” categories for press freedom. - RSF

Fri, April 24, 2026:

• Donald Trump and the remaking of America’s media order - FT

Mon, April 20, 2026:

• F.B.I. Director Sues The Atlantic Over Article Claiming Excessive Drinking. Mr. Patel accused the publication of defamation, asking for $250 million in damages. A spokeswoman for The Atlantic called the suit “meritless.” - NYT

Mon, April 13, 2026:

• A federal judge on Monday dismissed President Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the publisher of The Wall Street Journal over its report of his lewd birthday greeting to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Judge Darrin Gayles in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida said in his decision that Mr. Trump had not “plausibly alleged” that The Journal published the article with “actual malice,” a legal standard meaning that it knew what it was publishing was false or had acted with reckless disregard as to its accuracy. - NYT

Thurs, April 9, 2026:

• Judge Rejects Hegseth’s Second Attempt to Restrict Reporters at Pentagon - NYT

Tues, March 31, 2026:

• Federal judge rules Trump order ending NPR and PBS funding was unconstitutional - CNN
  The ruling will not reverse the Trump-led campaign to strip NPR and PBS stations of federal funding. Last summer, Republicans in Congress rescinded federal support over objections from public media advocates.

Sun, March 22, 2026:

• The cruellest irony is that of a President who addresses the Iranian people in the language of liberation and then threatens freedom of the press back home. - NY

Fri, March 20, 2026:

• Striking Down Pentagon Press Limits, Judge Vindicates Independent Journalism. The ruling cut deeper than left-versus-right politics, declaring that the policy imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is unconstitutional. - NYT
  Read the opinion.

Wed, March 18, 2026:

• Judge orders restoration of Voice of America, putting hundreds of journalists back to work - AP

Tues, March 17, 2026:

• Judge Orders Voice of America to Restart All News Operations. More than 1,000 full-time journalists and support staff at the news group were ordered to return to work by March 23 and to resume broadcasting. - NYT
  Judge Lamberth wrote that Congress passed clear laws funding V.O.A. and directing the administration to maintain news operations “in each significant region of the world” that present “a variety of opinions and voices.” But the Trump administration, Judge Lamberth said, flagrantly disregarded the rules in seeking to shutter the news service and its parent agency… It was not immediately clear whether the administration will appeal the decision.

Mon, March 16, 2026:

• With Threats and Claims of ‘Treason,’ Trump Pressures Media on the War. A president who calls journalists the “enemy of the people” has accused news organizations of undermining a military effort that many Americans oppose. - NYT

Wed, March 11, 2026:

• Pentagon bars press photographers over ‘unflattering’ Hegseth photos - WP

• Justice Department appealed a judge’s order that blocked officials from searching a Washington Post reporter’s electronic devices in a leak investigation. - WP

Mon, March 2, 2026:

• An internal government database reviewed by The Washington Post demonstrates the vast scope of the Trump administration’s ongoing effort to revise or remove information on African American history, climate change and other topics at hundreds of national park sites. - WP

Sat, Feb 28, 2026:

• Trump allies claim victory as the Ellisons expand their media empire. Paramount’s Warner Bros. deal is seen by many as a win for conservatives seeking greater sway over the media — and raises new scrutiny over President Trump’s role in it. - WP

Tues, Feb 24, 2026:

• Federal judge rejects government’s request to search Washington Post reporter’s devices. The newspaper argued the search violated the reporter’s constitutional rights. - WP

Thurs, Feb 19, 2026:

• Texas’ Senate primary race between Crockett and Talarico ramps up after pulled Colbert interview - AP

Wed, Feb 11, 2026:

• Gallup will no longer measure presidential approval after 88 years - Hill

Thurs, Feb 5, 2026:

• As global press freedom dwindles, corrupt politicians rejoice. Less scrutiny, more booty. - The Economist

Fri, Jan 30, 2026:

• Federal authorities arrested independent journalist Don Lemon in Los Angeles on Thursday evening - WP

Tues, Jan 27, 2026:

• National park signs related to Native Americans, climate change to be removed - WP

Mon, Jan 26, 2026:

• Trump is ramping up his lawsuits against the media. In the past year: Trump has filed a flurry of lawsuits against outlets he alleges marred his reputation. Targets include ABC, CBS and the New York Times — track the suits here. - WP

Fri, Jan 23, 2026:

• A senior White House official has defended posting an AI-manipulated image of a woman arrested by federal agents over an anti-immigration enforcement protest - BBC

Wed, Jan 21, 2026:

• Judge blocks government from searching data seized from Post reporter. The seizure “chills speech, cripples reporting, and inflicts irreparable harm,” The Post said in statement. - WP

Sun, Jan 18, 2026:

• One Month Later, CBS Airs Postponed ‘60 Minutes’ Report With Few Changes. A 13-minute segment about Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration had been pulled at the last minute by CBS News’s editor in chief, Bari Weiss.-NYT

  • CBS News added two short segments, at the beginning and the end of the report, that included new comments from the Trump administration and additional details about the criminal backgrounds of 33 of the 252 Venezuelan men who were sent to the prison.

Fri, Jan 16, 2026:

• They Wanted a University Without Cancel Culture. Then Dissenters Were Ousted. Inside the civil war at the anti-woke university backed by CBS’ Bari Weiss. - Politico

Wed, Jan 14, 2026:

• The Post and the First Amendment. An FBI raid won’t stop reporters form continuing their important work. - WP Editorial Bd.

• Stars and Stripes job applicants are asked if they back Trump policies. People seeking jobs at Stars and Stripes, which Congress guaranteed editorial independence, are being asked how they would advance administration priorities. - WP

Tues, Jan 6, 2026

• On 5th anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, Trump looks to recast history. Trump said that the media hadn’t accurately reported statements he made to a crowd that would later orchestrate the break-in on Jan. 6, 2021 - Politico

Tues, Sept 16, 2025:

• Pam Bondi Needs a Free Speech Tutorial – WSJ

Wed, Aug 13, 2025:

• Historians Alarmed by White House Plan to Oversee Smithsonian Exhibits. The Trump administration’s plan to, in effect, audit the content of Smithsonian museums drew criticism from groups that represent scholars and promote free speech. – NYT

Thurs, July 17, 2025:

• Trump is ratcheting up his war on the media in his second term – WP

  • As he pushes for funding cuts to public media, the Trump administration is trying to fire Democratic board members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. His administration has opened investigations into ABC and NBC News. CBS News’s parent company settled a lawsuit Trump filed that media experts said was largely frivolous. So did ABC News. The president is controlling press access to him and blocked the Associated Press from certain White House events. He gutted the Voice of America and is having it instead air programs from the pro-Trump One America News.

  • By the end of this week, Congress may have voted to cut $1 billion from public radio and TV broadcasting, potentially decimating how rural communities get their news — and expanding President Donald Trump’s war on the media. Trump has made clear that these cuts are in large part because he thinks the coverage isn’t friendly enough to him.

  • “If you go after these shows and companies just because you don’t like their coverage, that’s incredibly concerning,” said Tom Jones, a senior media writer with the journalism nonprofit Poynter and the author of the Poynter Report. “You’re moving toward ‘Let’s eliminate all media we don’t like’ and eventually you get to ‘Let’s just have state media.’ I know that seems hyperbolic, but that seems to be the playbook.”

Tues, April 8, 2025:

• Judge orders White House ban on AP lifted; U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden said the Associated Press is likely to win its lawsuit on First Amendment grounds. – WP

Fri, March 28, 2025:

• Emboldened Trump Squeezes Traditional Media; News organizations grapple with threats from a more combative Trump 2.0 – WSJ

Thurs, March 6, 2025:

• Inside the White House’s new media strategy to promote Trump as “King” – WP
  “After years of working to undermine mainstream outlets and neutralize critical reporting, Trump’s allies are now pushing a parallel information universe of social media feeds and right-wing firebrands to sell the country on his expansionist approach to presidential power.”

• People are going silent: fearing retribution, Trump critics muzzle themselves – NYT

Wed, Feb 12, 2025:

• Associated Press barred from WH briefing for not changing guide to reflect
  Trump’s “Gulf of America” order – The Economist