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  1. A lot of things have changed, mostly for the worst, between the first and second Trump presidency. For example, during our first dance with assclown fascism under Downmarket Mussolini, American corporate media made a massive show of "opposing" Trump; despite the fact that I (and many other observers) pointed out that their coverage of the administration typically benefitted the regime more often than it hurt them, and the class solidarity inherent to corporate media outlets often resulted in them covering up for the wealthy donors and supporters that propped up Trump's administration until the precise moment it became clear he wasn't going to win a second term in 2020. The story has been quite different here in the second Trump era however; as this Guardian article notes, despite Trump's threats and smears towards the media, corporate outlets like WaPo, LA Times, and now CBS have willingly collaborated with Trump's fascist regime and agenda. What changed? As it turns out, the whims and financial motivations of billionaire reactionaries who own corporate media companies.

    theguardian.com/us-news/2025/m

    Trump complains the US media aren’t bending to his will. Aren’t they?

    "Despite that acquiescence, Trump has continued to threaten journalists, branding pollsters “negative criminals” who “should be investigated for election fraud”. In April, he attacked “radical lunatic Democrats and their comrades in the fake news media”, adding: “Those lying to the American People on behalf of violent criminals have to be held responsible by the Agencies and the Courts.”

    The attacks overlook the ways in which some outlets have submitted to Trump’s will – either by executives settling frivolous lawsuits or wealthy owners interfering to avoid upsetting Trump.

    Jeff Bezos, the Washington Post owner, ordered an overhaul to the paper’s editorial pages in February that effectively muzzled the newspaper’s criticism of Trump. The Los Angeles Times dropped its endorsement of Kamala Harris under pressure from Patrick Soon-Shiong, its billionaire owner.

    In December, ABC News settled a Trump lawsuit, in a move first amendment experts said could foster more attacks on the media. And in another blow, the owner of CBS News is said to be considering settling a $10bn lawsuit brought against the network over the editing of a Kamala Harris interview."

    Folks, this is a story about greed and cowardice and that's not just my opinion. Trump isn't right, and the activities he's undertaking to cow the American media, be they government investigations or frivolous lawsuits, have no basis in the law. If folks like Jeff Bezos, Patrick Soon-Shiong, and Shari Redstone wanted to fight this, they'd win. Since surrendering and collaborating is more profitable to these billionaire leeches however, they're directing their media companies to roll over. Furthermore, the cost of this collaboration with fascism goes far beyond the mitigation of Trump criticism in our media environment; with billionaire media barons kissing his ring, and corporate outlets scrambling to settle his obscenely conspiratorial lawsuits based on open lies, the Kelpto Kaiser will now argue that he's been right about the media all along and that justifies further cracking down on the so-called "free press" in America. Collaborating with fascism, will merely breed more fascism; not that any of these rich reactionaries who own media companies seem to give a shit at all.

    As someone who engages in a lot of media criticism and analysis, I can't say any of this is surprising to me; if anything, corporate media's outward posture of hostility towards Trump at points during his first administration is the historical aberration here. For profit media in America has always consistently sided with power and the state; after all the same class of people who own corporate media companies, also own most of the country. Just because we can easily predict class solidarity and billionaire ownership rolling over for fascism however, doesn't change the horrifying reality of what's going on here; nobody is handing out Pulitzer's here, but both WaPo and the LA Times did some excellent critical reporting during the first Trump regime and have been nowhere as effective here in Der Leader's second term. This is a big win for the Kelpto Kaiser; which makes it a devastating loss for all of us who don't want the fascists to win.

    #Fascism #Trump #Media #Collaboration #Capitalism #CorporateMedia #WashingtonPost #LATimes #CBS #60Minutes #ShariRedstone #JeffBezos #PatrickSoonShiong #USPol #censorship

  2. This person, who is blaming #DEI for the #fire fighting in #LA, is the latest addition to the #LATimes editorial board. Nauseating.

    If you haven't canceled your subscription to #PatrickSoonShiong's campaign to undermine #democracy through #media #disinformation, now might be the right time.

    thedailybeast.com/scott-jennin

    #PatrickSoonShiong
    #LosAngelesTimes
    #ScottJennings
    #MAGA
    #ClimateChange

  3. This person, who is blaming #DEI for the #fire fighting in #LA, is the latest addition to the #LATimes editorial board. Nauseating.

    If you haven't canceled your subscription to #PatrickSoonShiong's campaign to undermine #democracy through #media #disinformation, now might be the right time.

    thedailybeast.com/scott-jennin

    #PatrickSoonShiong
    #LosAngelesTimes
    #ScottJennings
    #MAGA
    #ClimateChange

  4. This person, who is blaming #DEI for the #fire fighting in #LA, is the latest addition to the #LATimes editorial board. Nauseating.

    If you haven't canceled your subscription to #PatrickSoonShiong's campaign to undermine #democracy through #media #disinformation, now might be the right time.

    thedailybeast.com/scott-jennin

    #PatrickSoonShiong
    #LosAngelesTimes
    #ScottJennings
    #MAGA
    #ClimateChange

  5. This person, who is blaming #DEI for the #fire fighting in #LA, is the latest addition to the #LATimes editorial board. Nauseating.

    If you haven't canceled your subscription to #PatrickSoonShiong's campaign to undermine #democracy through #media #disinformation, now might be the right time.

    thedailybeast.com/scott-jennin

    #PatrickSoonShiong
    #LosAngelesTimes
    #ScottJennings
    #MAGA
    #ClimateChange

  6. #Journalism, or what once was journalism, is now semantic muzak. The sharp edges of fact are being worn down by fascism and gobsmacking amounts of money.

    "CNN’s Reliable Sources reported on Friday morning that besides Soon-Shiong spiking the editorial, several recent opinion section headlines were also “softened” or “made more bland” by editors concerned that “anything too harsh would get rejected” by the billionaire owner."

    independent.co.uk/news/world/a

    #PatrickSoonShiong
    #LATimes
    #Media

  7. #Journalism, or what once was journalism, is now semantic muzak. The sharp edges of fact are being worn down by fascism and gobsmacking amounts of money.

    "CNN’s Reliable Sources reported on Friday morning that besides Soon-Shiong spiking the editorial, several recent opinion section headlines were also “softened” or “made more bland” by editors concerned that “anything too harsh would get rejected” by the billionaire owner."

    independent.co.uk/news/world/a

    #PatrickSoonShiong
    #LATimes
    #Media

  8. #Journalism, or what once was journalism, is now semantic muzak. The sharp edges of fact are being worn down by fascism and gobsmacking amounts of money.

    "CNN’s Reliable Sources reported on Friday morning that besides Soon-Shiong spiking the editorial, several recent opinion section headlines were also “softened” or “made more bland” by editors concerned that “anything too harsh would get rejected” by the billionaire owner."

    independent.co.uk/news/world/a

    #PatrickSoonShiong
    #LATimes
    #Media

  9. #Journalism, or what once was journalism, is now semantic muzak. The sharp edges of fact are being worn down by fascism and gobsmacking amounts of money.

    "CNN’s Reliable Sources reported on Friday morning that besides Soon-Shiong spiking the editorial, several recent opinion section headlines were also “softened” or “made more bland” by editors concerned that “anything too harsh would get rejected” by the billionaire owner."

    independent.co.uk/news/world/a

    #PatrickSoonShiong
    #LATimes
    #Media

  10. And not to overlooked as we consider the Litman story:

    "Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Wednesday expressed his optimism about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's next term and suggested he would 'help' the Republican gut regulations."

    ~ Jessica Corbett

    It's all about the money, tax cuts and deregulation, for these men whose souls are shriveled like qwizened nuts.

    #Trump #LosAngelesTimes #PatrickSoonShiong #HarryLitman #media #WashingtonPost #JeffBezos
    /3

    commondreams.org/news/jeff-bez

  11. Journalist Harry Litman has announced his resignation as an editorial writer for Los Angeles Times after Patrick Soon-Shiong has made clear he intends to take the papper in a pro-Trump direction. Litman says,

    "The idea of balance is fundamentally misplaced when on one side of the balance is a sociopathic liar like Donald Trump."

    #Trump #LosAngelesTimes #PatrickSoonShiong #HarryLitman #media
    /1

    harrylitman.substack.com/p/why

  12. Harry Litman: “I have written my last op-ed for the Times. Yesterday, I resigned my position. I don’t want to continue to work for a paper that is appeasing Trump and facilitating his assault on democratic rule for craven reasons.”

    #latimes #patricksoonshiong #LosAngelesTimes #WashingtonPost #JeffBezos #WaPo #Journalism #FreePress #BoycottAmazon #EatTheBillionaires #USPol

  13. Harry Litman: “I have written my last op-ed for the Times. Yesterday, I resigned my position. I don’t want to continue to work for a paper that is appeasing Trump and facilitating his assault on democratic rule for craven reasons.”

    #latimes #patricksoonshiong #LosAngelesTimes #WashingtonPost #JeffBezos #WaPo #Journalism #FreePress #BoycottAmazon #EatTheBillionaires #USPol

  14. "It is possible to do meaningful journalism without being under the thumb of a conflicted billionaire. Independent outlets like ProPublica, 404 Media, the Marshall Project, the Texas Tribune, Mother Jones, the American Prospect, the Bulwark and, yes, Popular Information do it every day."

    ~ Judd Legum

    Legum provides links to each of those valuable sources of news commentary.

    #JeffBezos #WashingtonPost #PatrickSoonShiong #LosAngelesTimes #EconomicElites
    /3

    popular.info/p/jeff-bezos-isnt

  15. "The actions of Bezos and Musk and Patrick Soon-Shiong shouldn’t shock anyone because—steady yourself—they like power and money.

    They will rationalize their choices, of course. But you’ll consistently find that that rationalization follows a simple formula: I am brilliant, only I can accomplish these things, and therefore whatever is best for me is best for everyone."

    #ElonMusk #JeffBezos #WashingtonPost #PatrickSoonShiong #LosAngelesTimes #EconomicElites
    /2

  16. "The members of the billionaire executive class have billed themselves as great men of history beyond scrutiny and reproach. This is the year that shattered the illusion. ...

    It’s more than past due time that we tore down these false and nonsensical myths about the executive god-kings in our midst."

    ~ Ross Rosenfeld

    #ElonMusk #JeffBezos #WashingtonPost #PatrickSoonShiong #LosAngelesTimes #EconomicElites
    /1

    newrepublic.com/article/187640

  17. "The members of the billionaire executive class have billed themselves as great men of history beyond scrutiny and reproach. This is the year that shattered the illusion. ...

    It’s more than past due time that we tore down these false and nonsensical myths about the executive god-kings in our midst."

    ~ Ross Rosenfeld

    #ElonMusk #JeffBezos #WashingtonPost #PatrickSoonShiong #LosAngelesTimes #EconomicElites
    /1

    newrepublic.com/article/187640

  18. "How did our country get so broken? In short, it broke when the billionaires broke it. Billionaires took over just enough of our legal system, and just enough of our media ecosystem, to give themselves more and more power over our political system while making it harder and harder for the rest of us to take that power back."

    #Trump #fascism #WashingtonPost #JeffBezos #LosAngelesTimes #PatrickSoonShiong #ElonMusk #EconomicElites
    /5

  19. "How did our country get so broken? In short, it broke when the billionaires broke it. Billionaires took over just enough of our legal system, and just enough of our media ecosystem, to give themselves more and more power over our political system while making it harder and harder for the rest of us to take that power back."

    #Trump #fascism #WashingtonPost #JeffBezos #LosAngelesTimes #PatrickSoonShiong #ElonMusk #EconomicElites
    /5

  20. Hard truth: Americans don't trust or need billionaires @lawdorknews I am not a billionaire. Ultimately it all seems somewhat circular 2 me when these men have amounts of $ they have. As #Musk #Bezos #patricksoonshiong have shown x & x again They are not here for us. What I do know & if Bezos can lecture us about journalism, I’ll take a few sec to lecture about #wealth accumulation is that they they should not be able to amass the $ power that they have been able to amass lawdork.com/p/opinion-the-hard

  21. Hard truth: Americans don't trust or need billionaires @lawdorknews I am not a billionaire. Ultimately it all seems somewhat circular 2 me when these men have amounts of $ they have. As #Musk #Bezos #patricksoonshiong have shown x & x again They are not here for us. What I do know & if Bezos can lecture us about journalism, I’ll take a few sec to lecture about #wealth accumulation is that they they should not be able to amass the $ power that they have been able to amass lawdork.com/p/opinion-the-hard

  22. "And it shows how fear of public pushback and public opinion has little sway in an authoritarian state, where public figures aim their actions and their words at an audience of one. …

    Bezos and Soon-Shiong have decided to lick Trump’s boots. If Trump’s happy with the shine, why should they worry about what anyone else thinks?"

    #Trump #fascism #WashingtonPost #JeffBezos #LosAngelesTimes #PatrickSoonShiong #EconomicElites
    /5

  23. "The failure of two of the nation’s leading news organizations is instructive. It illustrates the way in which the press’s 'both sides' approach to election coverage has always been an in kind contribution to the Trump campaign. It shows how the wealthy are often eager to make common cause with authoritarians."

    ~ Noah Berlatsky

    #Trump #fascism #WashingtonPost #JeffBezos #LosAngelesTimes #PatrickSoonShiong #EconomicElites
    /4

    publicnotice.co/p/washington-p

  24. "The apparent capitulation [of Patrick Soon-Shiong and Jeff Bezos] to Trump illustrates the danger of billionaires scooping up major media organizations as a side hustle."

    ~ Judd Legum

    #Trump #fascism #WashingtonPost #JeffBezos #LosAngelesTimes #PatrickSoonShiong #EconomicElites
    /3

    popular.info/p/the-billionaire

  25. "Many of the owners and the senior executives of the companies that run major media outlets are Trump supporters. This is inevitably reflected in the decisions made in the newsroom, notwithstanding the protestations of the anchors who create these false equivalencies.

    This leaves us relying on such sources as independent media for honest reporting."

    ~ Mark Mansour

    #Trump #fascism #WashingtonPost #JeffBezos #LosAngelesTimes #PatrickSoonShiong #EconomicElites
    /11

    mmansour.substack.com/p/the-de