Free Republic

The sweet and fluffy coverage can't last forever. Before President Joe Biden was sworn in to the Oval Office, the American people received a glimpse of what hard-hitting journalism would look like for the next four years. From staying mum on the Hunter Biden story to having “chills” over watching Biden’s plane land at Joint Base Andrews, the pro-Biden “why are you so wonderful” reportage has been embarrassing. But the Fourth Estate suspending its pearl-clutching journalism and hanging a “gone fishin’” sign on the front door was as expected as a newsroom wishing everything was worse than Watergate – at...

I never expected that an MSNBC host would deliver outright admission that the media have a serious double standard and would attack Donald Trump for actions that Joe Biden just took to no approbation at all. Has someone spiked the coffee pot at the MSNBC's D.C. studios with sodium thiopental? Or is it that with Democrats in charge of all three elective organs of the federal government, it is deemed safe to let a little bit of truth out? We'll never know, but I am guessing we won't see any similar admissions anytime soon. ... MSNBC Live host Stephanie Ruhle...

Major-General John A. Dix, Commanding at New York: Whereas there has been wickedly and traitorously printed and published this morning in the New York World and New York Journal of Commerce, newspapers printed and published in the city of New York, a false and spurious proclamation purporting to be signed by the President and to be countersigned by the Secretary of State, which publication is of a treasonable nature, designed to give aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States and to the rebels now at war against the Government and their aiders and abettors, you are therefore...

An English-language newspaper controlled by the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda department paid U.S. media companies nearly $2 million for printing and advertising expenses over the past six months, even amid heightened scrutiny over Beijing’s disinformation efforts in the West.China Daily paid The Wall Street Journal more than $85,000 and the Los Angeles Times $340,000 for advertising campaigns between May and October 2020, according to a disclosure that the propaganda mill filed this week with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).China Daily also paid Foreign Policy magazine $100,000, The Financial Times, a U.K.-based newspaper, $223,710, and $132,046...

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Husband of Dem rep Chellie Pingree has purchased a 75% share in Maine's Largest Newspapers.Sussman to get 75% stake in MaineToday Media A new restructuring plan finalized today between MaineToday Media and Maine billionaire Donald Sussman gives Sussman 75% ownership in the media company. In February, Sussman outlined a deal to become a 5% equity partner through a $3.3 million loan to MTM. But as the deal went through its due diligence, investors, including out-of-state pension funds, insisted on changes. Maine Values, Sussman's company, is providing the same money, but as a straight stock purchase, resulting in a 75% ownership...

The media are still feeling the impact of an executive order signed in 1917 that created ‘the nation’s first ministry of information’.. When the United States declared war on Germany 100 years ago, the impact on the news business was swift and dramatic. In its crusade to “make the world safe for democracy,” the Wilson administration took immediate steps at home to curtail one of the pillars of democracy – press freedom – by implementing a plan to control, manipulate and censor all news coverage, on a scale never seen in U.S. history. Following the lead of the Germans and...

Forty-nine-year-old Lee Keltner was fatally shot following a “Patriot Muster” protest last Saturday afternoon in downtown Denver, blocks from the Colorado Capitol near the Denver Art Museum. The shooter was an unlicensed security guard with documented far-left ties who was hired by Denver NBC News affiliate KUSA 9News. The story even garnered President Trump’s attention, with multiple retweets on Wednesday. On Thursday, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann, a Democrat, announced she will file second-degree murder charges against Dolloff. While first-degree murder charges in Colorado require evidence of planning and intent to kill, second-degree murder charges imply that “the person knowingly...

Peter Schweizer says that the mainstream media has largely failed to show significant interest in the business dealings Hunter Biden conducted during his father's vice presidential tenure. ... a media double standard by suggesting reporters would more fully cover the story if it pertained to the Trump family. Joe Biden's claim that he never discussed these matters with his son is ludicrous. He and his son are very close. They talk about the fact that they are very close and they talk all the time," Schweizer said during an interview on the John Solomon ... But the mainstream media has...

Early voting has just ended in Florida and election day is on Tuesday, August 18th, but that hasn’t stopped CBS12 in Palm Beach County, Florida from posting their election results in the 2020 primary election. President Donald Trump and Republicans have warned of voter fraud and voter suppression in the 2020 presidential election, so could CBS12 pre-election day, election results be a sampling of what is to come in the coming months? How can CBS12 be reporting the election results before election day? Or better yet, why is CBS12 reporting 100% precincts reporting 48 hours before the polls even open....

Tribune and McClatchy are both approaching critical deadlines that could lead to mergers, divisions — or even the first big nonprofit newspaper chain in the United States. ======================================================================= The next 48 hours may decide the fate of two of America’s largest newspaper chains that collectively serve almost a fifth of all American local newspaper readers. And what happens in those hours could prompt a wave of other moves across the rest of the industry. The dates June 30 and July 1 have called out from the calendar for a while now. On Tuesday, Tribune Publishing will reach the end of...

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) applauded local news relief funding awarded to The Eastsider, a neighborhood news blog, through the Facebook Journalism Project . . . the sudden onset of the coronavirus pandemic has only accelerated these trends, and more and more places are becoming news deserts, without dedicated journalists to investigate corruption, tell local stories and document communities’ histories,” he said.

Tribune Publishing and the Chicago Tribune Guild agreed to furlough all unionized Chicago Tribune newsroom employees making over $40,000 for three weeks. The furloughs, a cost-saving measure, will be taken in one-week increments from May through July. Furloughed employees will continue to receive health benefits, as well as unemployment insurance, but no salary. Furloughs for nonunion employees across the company were announced last month, when Tribune Publishing also implemented permanent pay cuts of up to 10% for nonunion employees making $67,000 a year or more. Tribune Publishing -- which owns the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun and the New York...

And politicians are lobbying to give the media billions. Even while the media is blaring stories about the abuse of the Payroll Protection Plan loans from the Small Business Administration, its own industry took millions in loans and wants billions more. Unlike many small businesses which were forced to shut down because of the lockdown, the media has been wrongly listed as ‘essential’ and exempted from the shutdowns, but that hasn’t stopped it from taking money that should have been used to compensate small business owners who can’t stay open. Even when the media operations cashing in on the SBA...

Gradually it is dawning on people that the big losers in COVID-19 are fracking, airlines, hotels, restaurants, newspapers, and New York City. The first three are resilient because they have weathered many a business cycle but he latter three are devastated. One industry in peril that does not get mentioned is the automotive industry, particularly those who service vehicles. Automobiles are sturdier and last longer. My car is 10 years old and I see no reason for it not to go another 10 years, especially as I have averaged less than 10,000 miles annually in the last 6 years. Projecting...

After instituting pay cuts across its nonunion employees earlier this month, Tribune Publishing announced it will furlough employees across the company. Staffers will take three-week furloughs in one-week increments between May and July of this year to “ensure financial stability,” but will retain health benefits during those periods. Furloughs effect nonunion employees who make between $40,000 and $67,000 per year, the Chicago Tribune reports. As an alternative to a furlough, employees have the option of receiving a severance package and leaving the company. The move comes as the company experiences a further decline in advertising revenue amid the COVID-19 pandemic....

"Journalists are risking their own health to provide life-saving information to a nation sheltering in place," NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss said. "We cannot stand by and let news organizations in our communities die. Public stimulus funds are the only way to ensure the long-term viability of the news organizations people rely on."

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The editor of The Advocate newspaper is asking the community for donations to help keep their operation up and running. John Georges, who owns a billion-dollar group of businesses including The Advocate newspaper, said Wednesday, March 25 the plea for public donations came after people in the community asked how they could help. “Every penny matters in the newspaper business,” Georges said by phone Wednesday. “If there are people in the community who want to contribute to make their paper last longer, we are accepting.” “Simply put, we need your help,” said the mass email...

If you read a publication that claims newspapers have become biased, you might assume that the source of that charge was conservative. However, it might surprise you to know that even the liberal New York Review of Books also made that claim of bias in their February 27 issue in an article by Nicholas Lemann, "Can Journalism Be Saved?" The story was a review of books about the state of newspaper journalism. Lemann was discussing a couple of books by Michael Schudson and Matthew Pressman when he made the unusual admission of flat-out newspaper bias in recent years:

McClatchy Co. filed for bankruptcy Thursday, a move that will end family control of America’s second largest local news company and hand it to creditors who have expressed support for independent journalism. The Chapter 11 filing will allow McClatchy to restructure its debts and, it hopes, shed much of its pension obligations. Under a plan outlined in its filing to a federal bankruptcy court, about 55 percent of its debt would be eliminated as the news organization tries to reposition for a digital future. The likely new owners, if the court accepts the plan, would be led by hedge fund...