Dear Friend of Press Freedom:
Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery would shortchange shareholders to reward company insiders willing to trade editorial independence for favoritism from the Trump administration. A new lawsuit backed by Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) is fighting to stop it. Plus: subpoenas to journalists, censorship of medical journals, and DOGE secrecy.
FPF backs lawsuit to stop Ellison-Trump corruption from tanking news outlets
A new shareholder’s derivative lawsuit against officers and directors of Paramount Skydance Corp. brought by attorneys from FPF and the Public Integrity Project seeks to halt Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The complaint, brought on behalf of a shareholder against Paramount higher-ups including CEO David Ellison, seeks to prevent Paramount insiders from profiting at shareholders’ expense through breaches of their fiduciary duties to the company by trading editorial independence for favoritism from the Trump administration. Delaware litigator Mary S. Thomas is also on the case.
The complaint points to the well-documented unlawful payments and editorial concessions that surrounded Ellison’s Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount last year, as well as reported promises from Ellison and his centibillionaire father Larry to similarly overhaul CNN.
The Ellisons’ real endgame for Paramount
All that being said, the Ellisons can’t be blowing this many billions just to kiss up to an unpopular lame duck president for a couple years.
FPF Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern wrote for MS NOW that the real agenda may be to enrich Larry’s Oracle — which aspires to run a dystopian global surveillance network — by shaping narratives that scare Americans into giving up their rights. President Donald Trump’s corruption provides them with an opening to buy the influence they need in order to do that.
Trump subpoenas NYT for reporting his bribe plane is unsafe
The Trump administration subpoenaed New York Times journalists over reporting that the new Air Force One, which was gifted to the president by Qatar and retrofit at a cost of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, was deemed unsafe to fly Trump and those who travel with him — including reporters — back from the NATO summit in Turkey.
We said in a statement that “when the government claims it needs to investigate journalists to protect national security, it really means its own reputational security. This is as clear an example as you can get.”
We’re also encouraging senators to vote against Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, Jay Clayton — the prosecutor whose office issued the subpoenas and who refused to answer questions about it at his recent confirmation hearing. You can too: Use our action center to write to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee today.
Censorship of medical journals infects journalism too
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seems better suited to be the subject of medical research than its arbiter. He’s not an editor or peer reviewer, and he’s definitely (and thankfully) not a judge. So why is he issuing veiled threats to scientific publications that journalists often cite in their reporting?
FPF’s Stern wrote about how Kennedy’s unlawful crackdown on medical literature — and similar tactics from others in the administration — severs journalists from their source materials, much like Kennedy once severed a roadkill raccoon from his manhood.
What happened to DOGE’s records?
The Department of Government Efficiency has quietly ended its formal mission, leaving behind the most transformative restructuring of the federal government in a generation — and little public accounting of its actions.
Our Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy Lauren Harper explained that while DOGE was supposed to produce a public audit to improve accountability, it instead leaves Americans with no clear explanation of what it accomplished and how much it saved, if anything.
What we’re reading
Hegseth announces joint taskforce with DOJ to target and prosecute press leaks
The Guardian
This has nothing to do with national security; it’s about shielding officials from embarrassment and accountability.
Private matters
Columbia Journalism Review
Catherine Herridge, an independent journalist, is standing up for the First Amendment even as she’s being fined $800 a day for refusing to reveal her source. Corporate media outlets should take note.
Judge allows news site to publish school lockdown video but sets limits
The New York Times
“Judge McCloskey was right to narrow his order against New Brunswick Today, but it’s outrageous that he’s extended it to purport to apply to any member of the press who wants to publish or write about this video,” said FPF Senior Advocacy Adviser Caitlin Vogus.
Journalist’s devices seized at U.S. border following Iran reporting
Defending Rights & Dissent
This has no place in a country that claims to protect freedom of the press. If this journalist was targeted because of his reporting or viewpoint, it’s an even more outrageous assault on the First Amendment.
Why big tech wants age verification
The Majority Report
FPF’s Vogus explained how age verification laws undermine everyone’s privacy, risk journalists’ confidential sources, and fail to keep kids safe.
New RSF report: National security as a weapon against journalism
Reporters Without Borders
Until Congress reforms the Espionage Act, it will remain a loaded gun pointed at whistleblowers and the press, as this new report highlights.
stLouIST