donal brown

Scholar sues Fox for defamation

The former head of the short-lived Biden administration board to fight disinformation threats to national security filed a lawsuit against Fox News for lying about her, leading to threats to her safety and diminished career opportunities. Even though her board had no power to silence critics of the Biden administration, Fox host made claims that that was her charge and attacked her personally even warning that there could be “men with guns to tell you

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Greenpeace challenges corporate suppression of free speech

Greenpeace’s Ebony Martin in Salon, May 13, 2023, argues that corporations routinely cause chemical spills and other public health threats with impunity as they use the legal system to silence anyone criticizing them. Through the use of SLAPPs, or Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, the fossil fuel industry has attacked over 150 individuals and organizations in the last 10 years. Martin wants Congress to enact Representative Jaime Raskin’s bipartisan legislation that protects the right to

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Musk beats down free expression in Turkey

Elon Musk complied with the Turkish government request to censor the accounts of the election opponents of President Tayyip Erdogan. Muck has enacted 30 percent more government requests for censorship than his predecessor. (Business Insider, May 13, 2023, by Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert) A host of critics blasted Musk for his hypocrisy in declaring Twitter a free speech stronghold then regularly shutting down speech. Conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg posted on Twitter that if Twitter were shut down

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Tucker Carlson to resurface sooner than later

Fired Fox News host tucker Carlson said he would soon begin a broadcast on Twitter. He indicated he would focus on the how the elite control life in America. It remains to be seen if he will still indulge his propensity for racist comments and lies about public events. (New York Magazine, May 9, 2023, by Matt Stieb) It’s unclear if Carson’s move to Twitter will make money as advertisers may well desert in the

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Ideas emerge for covering Trump effectively

Perry Bacon Jr. in The Washington Post, May 9, 2023, says that the media has to cover former president Donald Trump as the most likely to receive the Republican nomination for president in 2024 but avoid past mistakes. CNN said they were treating Trump like any other candidate, a dangerous approach since he spews lies and tries to tear down democratic institutions and norms. Bacon lists three principles that should govern coverage: focus on “the

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