Dear Mother Jones Reader,
The Trump administration has never made any bones about what it thinks of journalists (“scum,” “enemy of the people,” etc.), and with the war against Iran growing increasingly unpopular, they have turned to the media as their scapegoat. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested some propaganda-style headlines (“Iran increasingly desperate”), right after banning press photographers from his briefing, allegedly for publishing “unflattering” photos of him. Trump attacked “corrupt” news organizations that he said were engaging in “treason.”
But this week they also tried something new and dangerous: threatening that broadcasters could lose their licenses if they cover the war against Iran in a way the government doesn’t like. Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr said it first, and Trump immediately endorsed the idea of going after “Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic” newsrooms.
How much of this Trump and Carr can actually do remains to be seen—the First Amendment does still exist—but as with any bully, it’s about the threat looming over us. Broadcast companies like Nextstar, Sinclair, and Tegna, and the TV networks their stations are affiliated with, may not wait to find out whether the FCC follows through. At a time when the administration holds power over their mergers and acquisitions, they have chosen appeasement over and over again.
But no one holds power over Mother Jones—except our readers. And we need you with us. Our nonprofit newsroom is fiercely independent, not backed by billionaires or corporations but by readers—just like you. That’s why we can go after the truth and the investigations that matter without fear or favor.
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