Margaret Sullivan

In settling a case they could have won against Trump, ABC News broke the first rule of resisting autocracy: “Do not obey in advance.” My post here: https://open.substack.com/pub/margaretsullivan/p/abc-news-should-never-have-settled?r=1yc91&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

ABC News caved when it settled with Trump

The Disney-owned news outlet broke Rule 1 of resisting autocracy: “Don’t obey in advance”

My latest on Bezos bulldozing the reputation and business of the paper he vowed to save. And yes, it’s personal https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/26/jeff-bezos-washington-post-opinion

Jeff Bezos is muzzling the Washington Post’s opinion section. That’s a death knell | Margaret Sullivan

‘I couldn’t be more sad and disgusted,’ says former top editor Martin Baron

Journalists everywhere need to stand in solidarity on this killing spree and resulting news blackout. See below in this thread for some actions and stay tuned here https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-hits-gaza-hospital-killing-least-20-people-including-five-journalists-2025-08-25/

Israel hits Gaza hospital, killing at least 20 people, including five journalists

Israel struck Nasser hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 20 people, including five journalists who worked for Reuters, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and others.

Stop putting up with the lying and the abuse https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/12/trump-insults-female-journalists?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Trump keeps insulting female journalists. It’s time for the press to stop tolerating it | Margaret Sullivan

‘Piggy’, ‘corrupt’, ‘stupid’: the president keeps lashing out. Here’s how journalists can stand up to him

https://apnews.com/article/pope-leo-journalists-free-press-121ae0103b771fb3cda71ae03870853d

Pope Leo XIV urges release of imprisoned journalists, affirms gift of free speech and press

Pope Leo XIV has called for the release of imprisoned journalists and affirmed the “precious gift of free speech and the press.”

The hallmark (the “brand”) of the Washington Post has been accountability journalism. Thus, today’s staff decimation is Bezos’s greatest gift to Trump, so much more valuable than the Melania movie, inauguration money, etc. This disaster began, for real, with the Harris endorsement he killed.

The reality-based press needs to do its job better to communicate the dangers of a second Trump presidency. My column https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/09/trump-president-democracy-threat-media-journalism?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The public doesn’t understand the risks of a Trump victory. That’s the media’s fault | Margare...

With democracy in the balance, the press must relay the crucial importance of this election and the dangers of a Trump win

From my column, linked below

Sane Lunatic @sanelunatic.bsky.social

Great insights from the always-great @sulliview.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Why is the media ignoring growing resistance to Trump? | Margaret Sullivan

Protest actions like ‘Hands Off’ and ‘No Kings’ are sweeping across the US. But the media is barely paying attention

Scapegoated by Trump’s Justice Department, Reality Winner deserves a pardon now for the public service she performed. My new column https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/05/joe-biden-pardon-reality-winner-whistleblower

Joe Biden should pardon Reality Winner for her actions as a whistleblower | Margaret Sullivan

The leaker went to jail for a patriotic, if illegal, act. She has a lot to offer the world if she’s allowed to move on

Today’s print front page of @latimes.com captures the horror. The Times, to its credit, has made its fire coverage free

I wrote about two New York Times headlines https://margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/about-those-new-york-times-headlines?publication_id=1186548&utm_campaign=email-post-title&r=x9iw&utm_medium=email

About those New York Times headlines

Yes, I do care to explain

With Amazon’s $40 million deal for a Melania documentary, Jeff Bezos turns up the Trump supplication and it’s pretty dark. You know what dies in darkness. New from me in @us.theguardian.com https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/10/melania-trump-amazon-documentary?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Melania’s $40m Amazon deal: another sign Bezos is capitulating to Donald Trump | Margaret Sullivan

Sadly, the Amazon-Melania deal has much the same flavor as the rest of Trump appeasement moves – not just by Bezos but by others of his ilk

Journalism is supposed to “afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted,” but Bari Weiss has it backwards. My new column https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/23/bari-weiss-60-minutes-cecot-episode-censorship?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Bari Weiss yanking a 60 Minutes story is censorship by oligarchy | Margaret Sullivan

Weiss ought to cut her losses, green-light the piece, and try to start acting like an editor – not like a cog in the machine of authoritarian politics and oligarchy

This is worth knowing about if you think the best answer to our current ills is at ballot box https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-save-act-would-disenfranchise-millions-of-citizens/

The SAVE Act Would Disenfranchise Millions of Citizens

The SAVE Act would require all Americans to prove their citizenship with documentation unavailable to millions and upend the way every American citizen registers to vote.

Biden’s mental acuity *is* a huge story but the media’s unrelenting focus on it has shoved Trump’s dangers to the back burner. That’s irresponsible. My new column https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/09/biden-media-attacks-trump-felon?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The media has been breathlessly attacking Biden. What about Trump? | Margaret Sullivan

The bigger story is Donald Trump’s appalling unfitness for office. He tried to overturn a legitimate election and is a felon

Here you go …. Is the New York Times trying to wreck Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral bid? | Margaret Sullivan https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/07/is-the-new-york-times-trying-to-wreck-zohran-mamdanis-mayoral-bid?CMP=share_btn_url

Always scoopy and independent, the Status newsletter from @oliverdarcy.bsky.social is excellent again today. Recommended subscription if you care about what’s happening to the 4th Estate in the US

Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social

Scoop: After the LA Times published a piece about Elon Musk that carried a headline owner Patrick Soon-Shiong didn't like, a new rule was implemented: Prior to publishing opinion stories, headlines must be emailed to Soon-Shiong, where he can then choose to weigh in. www.status.news/p/los-angele...

The Times They Are A-Changin’

Staffers at the Los Angeles Times described to Status a demoralized publication depleted of its spirit in which employees are "confused," "offended," and "frustrated."

Is it really a “clash over the facts”?

SFDB @sfdb.bsky.social

"If the analyses do indeed 'directly contradict' the government’s claims, then say so — without fear or favor, as the motto goes." The latest from @sulliview.bsky.social...

Defensive caution can’t compete with right-wing propaganda

Is it so hard for journalists to clearly state that the Trump administration is lying?

Culture wars and sheer meanness. My latest https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/22/nancy-mace-sarah-mcbride-transphobia

I’d much rather share a ladies’ room with Sarah McBride than with Nancy Mace | Margaret Sullivan

Mace’s campaign to humiliate Congress’s first out transgender member is mean-spirited and desperate

This by Dan Kennedy re NPR is worth your read, plus it has a very memorable lede https://dankennedy.net/2024/04/11/fish-in-a-barrel-berliners-case-against-npr-is-based-on-false-and-out-of-context-facts/

Fish in a barrel: Berliner’s case against NPR is based on false and out-of-context facts

Nearly 40 years ago I heard a lawyer tell a jury something in court that has stuck with me: If there’s a rotten fish floating around the top of the barrel, you’re under no obligation to…

Clearly stated and horrifyingly true; gift link here. Read and weep; by Jamelle Bouie in NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/opinion/trump-musk-federal-government.html?unlocked_article_code=1.u04.6KNN.n4DZS9Zdz4e7&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Opinion | There Is No Going Back (Gift Article)

The president’s opponents, whoever they are, cannot expect a return to the Constitution as it was.

1/2 My new post on a rare instance of media courage here. Also takes up the diabolical SAVE act. https://open.substack.com/pub/margaretsullivan/p/as-others-buckle-the-ap-resists-trumps?r=1yc91&utm_medium=ios

As others buckle to Trump's bullying, the AP holds the line.

This is what courage looks like.

New from me https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/25/news-election-endorsements-washington-post-la-times

The Washington Post and LA Times refused to endorse a candidate. Why? | Margaret Sullivan

There’s no way to see this decision other than as an appalling display of cowardice and a dereliction of their public duty