Jim Rutenberg

On the Media The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.

To understand the methods that Trump’s FCC is using to put pressure on television networks, we have to go back to the 1920s. A history lesson on how we got here, with @jimrutenberg.bsky.social: lnk.to/onthemedia/b...

On the Media The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.

.@jimrutenberg.bsky.social on how the FCC is using a century-old rule to crack down on late-night talk shows: lnk.to/onthemedia/b...

On the Media The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.

Stephen Colbert has accused his network, CBS, of spiking an interview with politician James Talarico for fear of backlash from the FCC. The full story on how late-night shows are being targeted by the government, with @jimrutenberg.bsky.social: lnk.to/onthemedia/b...

Tune into this week’s show, featuring: @jimrutenberg.bsky.social and Daniel Suhr lnk.to/onthemedia/b...

In the last days, there has been an unprecedented attack targeting investigative journalists trying to seize their Signal accounts. This has gone largely unreported. I have been repeatedly targeted by phishing, and I learned that also colleagues from other outlets were targeted, with the attackers unfortunately managing to compromise at least one colleague’s account. What’s worrying: this doesn’t seem like an isolated case. A broader wave is apparently hitting journalists (and some civil society actors) via Signal. How it works: Attackers message you on Signal pretending to be “Signal Support,” warning about “suspicious activity,” and urging you to “re-verify” your account. Once you accept the chat, you receive a real Signal SMS verification code, because the attacker is actively trying to register your number on a new device. If you share that code, you’re handing them the keys. Signal’s extra protection is the Signal PIN. If an attacker also tricks you into giving up your PIN (or you don’t have strong protections enabled), they can see your contacts and networks, potentially join chats going forward, and lock you out by changing settings. Quick protections worth doing today: - Signal will never contact you via a two-way in-app support chat. Treat those messages as hostile. - Never share SMS codes, Signal PIN, or anything called “registration lock.” - Turn on Registration Lock (Settings → Account → Registration Lock). - If you see a “safety number changed” alert: verify the person via a different channel (call/video), not just Signal text. - Report + block suspicious requests, and review linked devices. If you work with sensitive sources: this isn’t just about losing an account, it’s about exposing networks. Please share this with colleagues who rely on Signal day-to-day.

WARNING, fellow journalists: As @nicoschmidt.io explains, attackers are trying to hijack reporters' Signal accounts by tricking people into handing over their 2FA codes. www.linkedin.com/posts/nicosc...

Federal Regulators Take New Aim at Late-Night TV

NEW: Round Two —-> Federal Regulators Take New Aim at Late-Night TV www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/b...

‘We Need to Be the News’: Inside Bari Weiss’s Bumpy Revamp at CBS

and if you haven't seen check out this by Michael Grynbaum and Benjamin Mullin www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/b...

The MAGA Plan to Take Over TV Is Just Beginning

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/m...

The CBS News makeover -- which has included the declaration "We Love America. And we make no apologies for saying so" and a last-minute hold on an administration-critical '60 Minutes' segment - has provided a mission accomplished moment for Suhr and Carr and Trump. The effort continues...(7/7)

His use of his arm of the administrative state against the networks has drawn some pushback from conservatives, notably Senator Ted Cruz, who is now exploring ways to stop so-called "jawboning" aimed at silencing critics, as he effectively defined Carr's treatment of ABC. (6/7)

In an interview with me the FCC chair Brendan Carr credited Suhr with "providing sort of the legal and regulatory framework" for his campaign against CBS, NBC and ABC, which included his "easy way or the hard way" line about ABC that was followed by its suspension of Kimmel in September (5/7)

Suhr told me it was his hope that his project - which has employed an old regulatory doctrine known as the "public interest standard" against all the major networks sans Fox - will help lead to more "family-friendly, faith-inspired patriotic content" on broadcast. (4/7)

Suhr originated the FCC complaint against 60 Minutes over its 2024 Harris interview that the FCC chair Brendan Carr used as leverage for his demands — which dovetailed with Suhr’s — that Skydance pledge to reorient CBS to meet the government's definition of unbiased news + assign a bias monitor(3/7)

The conditions on CBS were set with input from a conservative group called Center For American Rights. Its co-leader leader Daniel Suhr told me he sees himself as aligned with the longtime Federalist Society chief Leonard Leo’s new project to “smash liberal dominance” in news and entertainment (2/7)

The MAGA Plan to Take Over TV Is Just Beginning

Often overlooked in the story about Bari Weiss and CBS is how the network’s new look stems from Trump’s move to control TV. It's the direct result of conditions the FCC placed on Skydance in return for approving its deal to buy CBS. My new NYTMag piece delves in (1/7) www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/m...