Nieman Lab
The Daily Digest: March 27, 2025

How can we reach beyond the local news choir? Spotlight PA’s founding editor has ideas

In the wake of the 2024 election, where “democracy” was not a top issue for most voters, local news messaging focused on democracy may not suffice to build the broad coalition essential to give local news in the U.S. a sustainable future. By Sophie Culpepper.

Robert W. McChesney, America’s leading left-wing critic of corporate media, has died

After studying the early days of radio, McChesney developed a holistic critique of media structures that exposed how open they were to manipulation by those in power. By Joshua Benton.
What we’re reading
The Washington Post / Jeremy Barr
Fox News journalist’s widow sues network over his death in Ukraine →
“Earlier this month, Ross-Stanton filed suit against Fox in Britain, arguing that the network did not adequately protect her husband and did not hold the necessary insurance to be able to fully compensate his family after his death. She is asking for more than 9 million pounds — approximately $11.6 million — in compensation. Ross-Stanton’s suit argues that Fox is liable for the absence of a security consultant and for what she says was inadequate risk assessment before the trip.”
Financial Times / Daniel Thomas
BBC drops podcast adverts plan after industry backlash →
“BBC Studios last year set out proposals to sell adverts in a push to make more money to support the corporation away from its traditional licence fee income. But companies in the commercial radio and podcasting industry hit out at the move, warning that the adverts would cannibalize their revenues, with the publicly funded and biggest British broadcaster posing unfair competition.”
The Hill / Zach Schonfeld
Trump administration restores funding for Radio Free Europe, Open Technology Fund after lawsuits →
“The Trump administration says it has restored funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Open Technology Fund after the groups sued. The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) had cut off the funding as part of the administration’s broader effort to eliminate the agency, which also oversees Voice of America. In a pair of new court filings, the Justice Department said the groups’ demands for injunctions are effectively moot now that the government has restored the funding.”
The New York Times / Danielle Kaye
Voice of America director sues Trump officials over shutdown →
“The lawsuit, filed by Michael Abramowitz, Voice of America’s director, marks the latest legal challenge to the administration’s push to shrink the government … The suit argues that dismantling the broadcaster violates federal law, including the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs the process by which federal agencies develop and issue regulations. It is also a violation of separation of powers, the plaintiffs said, because Congress is solely responsible for creating or abolishing agencies, and for determining agencies’ mandates. The Agency for Global Media is congressionally chartered as an independent agency.”
Politico / Gregory Svirnovskiy
LA Times owner defends remaking paper to Tucker Carlson →
“Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong defended his decision to pull back his editorial board’s planned endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris in an interview on far-right host Tucker Carlson’s podcast. ‘I said, this is unacceptable. And as you can see, because it’s a left lean, they wrote terrible stories about President [Donald] Trump,’ Soon-Shiong told Carlson in an interview that aired Wednesday. ‘So my statement to them was, you may have an opinion, but all of us should have opinions based on facts.'”
The Guardian / Michael Savage
BBC reporter arrested and deported from Turkey after covering protests →
“In a statement, the BBC said: ‘This morning, the Turkish authorities deported BBC News correspondent Mark Lowen from Istanbul, having taken him from his hotel the previous day and detained him for 17 hours. Mark Lowen was in Turkey to report on the recent protests. He has been told he was deported for ‘being a threat to public order.'”
NPR / Bobby Allyn
Judge allows ‘New York Times’ copyright case against OpenAI to go forward →
“A federal judge on Wednesday rejected OpenAI’s request to toss out a copyright lawsuit from The New York Times that alleges that the tech company exploited the newspaper’s content without permission or payment. In an order allowing the lawsuit to go forward, Judge Sidney Stein, of the Southern District of New York, narrowed the scope of the lawsuit but allowed the case’s main copyright infringement claims to go forward … The judge’s ruling means that the suit can now proceed to trial, but a trial date has not been set.”
The Guardian / Nick Robins-Early
NPR and PBS testify in heated hearing of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Doge panel →
“‘NPR and PBS have increasingly become radical leftwing echo chambers,’ said the Georgia Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene during her opening remarks, accusing NPR of having a ‘communist agenda.’ The hearing, called ‘Anti-American Airwaves: Holding the Heads of NPR and PBS Accountable,’ was chaired by Greene who is head of a ‘delivering on government efficiency’ group within the House oversight committee.”
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