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Trump vs the media: US president wages war on the fourth estate

The administration has launched a frontal assault on the traditional news industry at a time when it is in decline

© FT montage/Getty Images

© FT montage/Getty Images

In a manic week when Donald Trump launched trade wars, ripped up US foreign policy and gutted government agencies, the president also found time to demand a television network lose its licence over alleged media bias.

In a social media post, Trump accused CBS and its 60 Minutes news programme of “the biggest Broadcasting SCANDAL in History!!!” for what he claimed was deceptive editing of an interview with Kamala Harris, the Democratic opponent he defeated in the November election. CBS and its lawyers say the lawsuit is meritless.

Trump has badmouthed the press for years, labelling it “enemies of the people” and “fake news”. But now he is taking action — using lawsuits and regulatory threats to attack critical news organisations’ finances and their ability to operate, media experts say.

CBS faces the decision to either settle a lawsuit with Trump that legal experts have deemed baseless — sparking internal revolt from its journalists — or stand firm against a president bent on using the first few weeks of his administration to demonstrate his power.

Washington lobbyists say the Trump administration will use regulation to get what it wants from the media, including more favourable coverage, at a time when many groups are trying to strike new deals and are seeking consolidation.

 

onald Trump has accused CBS of deceptive editing of a ‘60 Minutes’ interview with his presidential rival Kamala Harris © CBS
Donald Trump has accused CBS of deceptive editing of a ‘60 Minutes’ interview with his presidential rival Kamala Harris © CBS

 

Trump’s criticism of CBS comes as its parent company, Paramount Global, is working to close its $8bn sale to Skydance, an independent movie studio. 

Paramount’s owner, Shari Redstone, is open to a “reasonable settlement” of the 60 Minutes matter with the Trump administration — an idea that has angered many at CBS — but was not currently involved in settlement discussions, said a person familiar with her thinking.

Brendan Carr, who Trump chose as chair of the Federal Communications Commission, has said the 60 Minutes interview will be part of his review into the merger of Skydance with Paramount, and this week CBS turned over transcripts of the Harris segment.

A settlement by CBS would be a further sign of the weak position among the country’s largest media and tech companies as they seek to stay on the right side of the president.

 

ABC News agreed to pay $15mn to Trump’s future presidential foundation to settle a defamation suit in response to on-air comments by anchor George Stephanopoulos © Lorenzo Bevilaqua/ABC/Getty Images
ABC News agreed to pay $15mn to Trump’s future presidential foundation to settle a defamation suit in response to on-air comments by anchor George Stephanopoulos © Lorenzo Bevilaqua/ABC/Getty Images

 


In December, ABC News said it would give $15mn to Trump’s future presidential foundation to settle a defamation suit against the network for on-air comments made by George Stephanopoulos, one of its star anchors.

The moves come as declining viewership and ratings have left the traditional news networks on a more vulnerable financial footing. At the same time, Trump is seeking to elevate the status of conservative-leaning outlets, including start-up TV networks and podcasters.

Martin Kalb, professor emeritus at Harvard’s Kennedy School, said: “Trump has succeeded in diminishing the power of the established traditional press. And he’s working now with the new press to give him the legitimacy and the centrality that his ego and his political position demand.”

As some newsrooms lose confidence that their proprietors have their backs, journalists are quietly expressing concerns the result will be less independent coverage of the administration.

CNN journalist Jim Acosta last month announced he would leave after his morning show was moved to midnight in a move seen by many as trying to play to Trump, who has criticised the journalist.

“Don’t give in to fear. Hold on to the truth. Hold on to hope,” Acosta said. “To President Trump and his allies, you may think you have silenced me. But guess again.”

 

CNN journalist Jim Acosta, who was known for aggressively questioning the Trump administration in its first term, is leaving the network after his morning show was moved to a midnight slot © Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg 

 

It is not just media outlets under scrutiny. Last month, Meta agreed to pay $25mn to settle Trump’s lawsuit over its move to suspend him from Facebook and Instagram following the January 6 2021 attack on the Capitol.

Media analyst Claire Enders said Trump was “cowing all of corporate America . . . and has made no secret of his planned vendettas against any media reporting unfavourably on him and his policies”.

“Payments by ABC News in 2024 and [possible payments by] CBS News now show how frightened corporate America is of the powers of this president and of his agenda,” Enders added.

One lobbyist with links to the new administration argued the White House no longer saw the need to appeal to the traditional media, and can rely instead on podcasters and social influencers to reach their core audiences alongside support from Elon Musk’s X.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt last month said she would open up the briefing room to “independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers and content creators”, with a dedicated seat in the first row for new media.

 

Donald Trump with lawyer Roy Cohn in the 1980s © Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
 Donald Trump with lawyer Roy Cohn in the 1980s © Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

 


Another prominent lobbyist said the placement and favouritism of the press will be used strategically, with the threat of a ban hanging over the attendees for the perceived sins of their newspaper or media group.

The Department of Defense has told The New York Times, NBC News, NPR and Politico that they would need to give up office space at the Pentagon for conservative outlets such as Breitbart News and One America News.

This week, Trump attacked Axel Springer’s Politico for allegedly receiving funding from USAID, which the media company pointed out was a paid subscription.

The attacks were quickly picked up by rightwing commentators as well as Musk. Leavitt said she could “confirm that the more than $8mn taxpayer dollars that have gone to essentially subsidising subscriptions to Politico on the American taxpayer’s dime will no longer be happening”.

In a note to readers, Politico chief executive Goli Sheikholeslami and editor-in-chief John Harris said “some online voices are deliberately spreading falsehoods”, pointing out government agencies were simply subscribers to its journalism.

This week the White House directed the General Services Administration, which manages federal property, to terminate “every single media contract”, Axios reported, citing an internal email. Contracts for Politico, Bloomberg, The Financial Times and others were among those listed.

Many media executives do not see such attacks as a threat to their finances, but warn of the impact on media groups reliant on US government support.

Carr has argued against “sending taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS given the changes in the media marketplace”, while Marjorie Taylor Greene, the congresswoman who chairs a Department of Government Efficiency committee, has called for the leaders of NPR and PBS — both partially federally funded public broadcasters — to testify at a hearing on supposed media bias.

However, it is the savage cuts to USAID funding that have led to the most immediate crisis at media outlets around the world that relied on US government support in often dangerous situations.

Trump posted on his Truth Social website on Wednesday: “LOOKS LIKE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS HAVE BEEN STOLLEN AT USAID, AND OTHER AGENCIES, MUCH OF IT GOING TO THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA AS A ‘PAYOFF’ FOR CREATING GOOD STORIES ABOUT THE DEMOCRATS.”

Paul Radu, co-founder at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, a global network of investigative journalists that faces a cut to a quarter of its budget, said: “We are concerned journalists working around the world are at great risk. There is much harm that will occur — and is already occurring — to people who tell us the truth at their own risk.”

Author: Editors Desk, Christopher Grimes in Los Angeles, Daniel Thomas in London and Anna Nicolaou in New York

Source: Financial Times

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