John Oliver says Bob Iger should use "the only phrase that can genuinely make a weak bully go away. And that is, 'fuck you, make me.'" youtu.be/ohPToBog_-g?...

Howard Stern says he feels for Disney, but he’s canceling Disney+. “I’m trying to say with my pocketbook that I do not support what they’re doing with Jimmy.” x.com/sternshow/st...

"Should the Pentagon be in charge of deciding what reporters can report on?" No. And when a White House reporter shouted that question to President Trump yesterday, Trump said, "No, I don't think so." But that's what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is trying to do.

Big Tech's embrace of President Trump has left many of us wondering: What the hell happened to Silicon Valley? In our new politics issue, we're getting into it. Also, we're taking this cover across the US in billboards, posters and a mural. Clues to find us in the 🧵: www.wired.com/politics-iss...

In the interview that aired on Fox today, Trump made it sound like the Murdochs are personally involved in the pending TikTok deal. I'm told the talks are about Fox Corp becoming part of the consortium, not Rupert or Lachlan individually, per a person familiar with the matter.

The United States will have control over TikTok’s algorithm in the acquisition of the social media platform’s US operations, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

Bob Iger, who once wanted to run for president against Trump, is in a no-win situation — with Kimmel on one side, Trump on the other, and Disney’s reputation at stake. Three full days have now passed without a publicly announced resolution. www.cnn.com/2025/09/20/m...

I keep thinking of that old protest message: "Use your rights, or lose your rights."

But they don't have to actually try. They just have to make noise about affiliate license renewals, merger approvals, selective prosecution, and companies will do what they want anyway.

“The BLS — charged with collecting critical data on employment, prices and more — did not explain the reasoning for the delay or when it might ultimately be released.”

New from me: Here's why Trump and his FCC chairman's threats against TV station licenses are (in the words of ex-Disney CEO Michael Eisner) "aggressive yet hollow" www.cnn.com/2025/09/19/m...

Biggest story in the world, told in the mainstream press perfectly well: AP/PBS headline: TRUMP'S MOVES AGAINST MEDIA OUTLETS MIRROR AUTHORITARIAN APPROACHES TO SILENCING DISSENT www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...

Imagine we're all stuck in an elevator together. It's only moving in one direction — downward. Every time the doors open, we're at some new, lower level. No one knows how to reverse course. No one knows what awaits us at the very bottom. The US media is on that ride right now...

Page One of today's NYT:

Amid the Disney boycott calls (which I don't expect will amount to much) and the widespread criticism of ABC's Kimmel suspension, some staffers have been dreading going to work; as one source remarked to me, "We feel like the company has let us down."

Thinking about the conversation between @timmiller.bsky.social & @brianstelter.bsky.social about Kimmel. And how it’s not as catastrophic because major media is a thing of the past and there’s so much independent media. But this highlights part of what ails us. We have no unified culture anymore.

While Disney is clearly feeling the MAGA pressure, its ABC News division published a big and important scoop about Trump's broader retribution campaign overnight. Details in this morning's Reliable Sources newsletter: cnn.it/4gzLrPC

"With an autocrat, you cannot give an inch," Stephen Colbert says on "The Late Show" tonight www.cnbc.com/2025/09/18/j...

New reporting from CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister: "ABC hopes to bring Jimmy Kimmel back, but temperature needs to be taken down under FCC threats"

Why is @timmiller.bsky.social staring at me like that? Find out on today's episode of @thebulwark.com's podcast. The episode's title: "Worst Case Scenario" www.thebulwark.com/p/brian-stel...

The New Yorker has just released next week's cover. "Remote Control," by Barry Blitt, captures "Donald Trump's unprecedented series of attacks on the media, destruction of federal programs, and abuses of executive power that have ushered in a new era of political vengeance."

Fantastic! If you've never seen/heard Maria's appearance on The Weekly Show do yourself a favor and check it out:

Pretty good rundown on what's going on with the Kimmel situation here from @brianstelter.bsky.social Sharing with my students as this was a big topic of discussion in media law and ethics class today. view.newsletters.cnn.com/messages/175...

🔌 We're continuing to live-blog all of today's Kimmel developments right here -> www.cnn.com/business/liv...

This just in: Jon Stewart normally only hosts “The Daily Show” on Monday nights nowadays, but tonight he is returning to his longtime desk for one Thursday edition, Comedy Central says. His guest: Maria Ressa

ABC's decision reeks of Orbanism. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán consolidated control of the media in his country using autocratic carrots and sticks, and President Trump appears to be following the same playbook. I laid it out on CNN TV and in this column: www.cnn.com/2025/09/18/m...

In this morning's Reliable Sources, we listed these 10 questions about what's next for ABC, Jimmy Kimmel, and the media industry writ large: cnn.it/4mqTHD1

Multiple falsehoods in Trump's remarks this morning about the ABC decision: "Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else... He was fired for lack of talent."

Here's our CNN live story with all of today's updates about the Jimmy Kimmel suspension. Still no comment from Kimmel's camp... www.cnn.com/business/liv...

Great questions.

FCC chair Brendan Carr said, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way." ABC arguably chose the easiest way of all, benching Kimmel just as soon as key station groups complained... cnn.it/4mqTHD1

Special edition of the Reliable Sources newsletter just landed: cnn.it/4mqTHD1

Let's reminder that Disney arguably started this wave of media capitulation by settling Trump's lawsuit against ABC last December. And now here we are...

The WGA’s statement on ABC’s decision to pull “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

As the criticism of ABC piles up, here's my late-night summary of how and why Trump administration pressure led the network to sideline its late-night show

Red states accused the Biden administration of "jawboning" -- coercing social media platforms to "censor" content (mostly COVID misinformation), merely by liaising and flagging false content for those companies. Now the FCC *explicitly threatens* a network over content but that's all good?

KEY to the story about ABC suspending Kimmel's show: Nexstar and Sinclair, two big owners of ABC-affiliated stations, both need FCC approval for pending deals. With a lot of $$ on the line, both have reason to curry favor with the Trump admin. Both decided to yank Kimmel's show.

Brian Stelter: “Even though we are talking about comedy, this is so serious. America is a less free place if late night comedians cannot do and say what they want.” @brianstelter.bsky.social

> @brianstelter.bsky.social

Today in Reliable Sources: The NYT is vowing to fight President Trump's lawsuit, Stephen A. Smith is launching his new politics talk show, and Meta is unveiling a new pair of AI-powered smart glasses. Read all about it here: cnn.it/3K5hriu b

This was also equally true of the cases where the networks chose to settle and pay him a bribe though.

An appeals court has tossed @ninajankowicz.com's defamation suit against Fox News. "As a disinformation researcher, the part of the outcome that stands out most to me is the failure of the law to meet this moment in our information ecosystem," she writes: wiczipedia.substack.com/p/the-justic...

Floyd Abrams: Trump's lawsuit against the NYT "is ridiculous as a matter of law but extraordinarily dangerous as a matter of national policy. It threatens core First Amendment principles in a manner unique in our history." www.cnn.com/2025/09/16/m...

NEW: Bemoaning the lack of civics education, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wonders if Americans know the difference between a president and a king: www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...

Trump's tense exchange with ABC's Jon Karl today shows a total lack of respect and understanding of the First Amendment.

JON KARL: What do you make of Pam Bondi saying she's gonna go after hate speech? A lot of your allies say hate speech is free speech TRUMP: We'll probably go after people like you because you treat me so unfairly. You have a lot of hate in your hate. Maybe they'll have to go after you.

ABC. CBS. The Des Moines Register. The Wall Street Journal. And now the NYT. Trump's legal crusade against the American press has now reached the publication that he (arguably) covets most and criticizes most. Full coverage in this morning's Reliable Sources newsletter: cnn.it/4pxqkld

It's true for elected officials, for activists, for influencers, for journalists: If the perceived risk to one's safety is too high, if the cost is too steep, then people will retreat from public life and choose other professions — and everyone will be worse off.

New PEN America statement: “The firing and suspension of multiple journalists after the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk should alarm anyone who cares about free speech and a free press. Taken together, these measures risk creating a chilling effect that extends beyond those directly targeted..."

The Washington Post, which has been overhauling its entire Opinions department, is declining to comment on Karen Attiah's assertions about her firing