Margaret Sullivan

American Crisis exclusive: The 'Media Capitulation Index' A sweeping report — with rankings — on the decline of independence in our corporatized media

“It’s more than a trend. It’s a growing crisis of the press abdicating its responsibility to hold powerful people and institutions accountable”

@sulliview.bsky.social

margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/american-c...

I appreciate you, Lisa.

American Crisis exclusive: The 'Media Capitulation Index' A sweeping report — with rankings — on the decline of independence in our corporatized media

@sulliview.bsky.social is always a good read.

margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/american-c...

American Crisis exclusive: The 'Media Capitulation Index' A sweeping report — with rankings — on the decline of independence in our corporatized media

"The ratings, which come with explanations, range from a star (signaling independence) up to five chickens (signaling propaganda). As you’ll see, there are enough chickens in these ratings to start a good-sized poultry farm." - @sulliview.bsky.social margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/american-c...

Free Press ‘Media Capitulation Index’ Reveals How the Nation’s Biggest Media Companies Are Responding to Trump The sweeping investigation into the 35 largest American media conglomerates finds many are failing to defend democracy and a free press against authoritarian threats.

"As you’ll see, there are enough chickens in these ratings to start a good-sized poultry farm." -- @sulliview.bsky.social

American Crisis exclusive: The 'Media Capitulation Index' A sweeping report — with rankings — on the decline of independence in our corporatized media

Read @sulliview.bsky.social's exclusive preview of the Media Capitulation Index, which she calls "a sweeping report ... on the decline of independence in our corporatized media."

2/4

margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/american-c...

American Crisis exclusive: The 'Media Capitulation Index' A sweeping report — with rankings — on the decline of independence in our corporatized media

'We’re at a moment of emergency and media crisis.'

@sulliview.bsky.social on @freepress.bsky.social's new report on how well — or poorly — the American press is holding powerful people and institutions accountable

margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/american-c...

It’s there but mentioned under the Amazon link.

American Crisis exclusive: The 'Media Capitulation Index' A sweeping report — with rankings — on the decline of independence in our corporatized media

Media capitulation is a slippery slope.

Once editorial independence is compromised, the temptation to cave further to official pressure grows even stronger.

@timkarr.bsky.social with @sulliview.bsky.social:

margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/american-c...

American Crisis exclusive: The 'Media Capitulation Index' A sweeping report — with rankings — on the decline of independence in our corporatized media

It’s more than a trend. It’s a growing crisis of the press abdicating its responsibility to hold powerful people and institutions accountable.

Important read from @sulliview.bsky.social.

open.substack.com/pub/margaret...

American Crisis exclusive: The 'Media Capitulation Index' A sweeping report — with rankings — on the decline of independence in our corporatized media

Super cool to
see @freepress.bsky.social's Media Capitulation Index featured exclusively this morning by @sulliview.bsky.social (Congrats to my colleague @timkarr.bsky.social and all the FP team colleagues involved in making this happen)

American Crisis exclusive: The 'Media Capitulation Index' A sweeping report — with rankings — on the decline of independence in our corporatized media

Read more from @sulliview.bsky.social (2/2)

🎁link - share.inquirer.com/x8uRxm

How did American media and Republican politicians lose their spines? Amid capitulation and cowardice, the Wall Street Journal showed something rare: Courage under pressure.

"News organizations (or their corporate owners) are tumbling like so many dominoes as President Trump tries to show them who’s boss" @sulliview.bsky.social

Under this capitalist autocracy, Trump doesn't need explicit controls on the media.
Money talks.
margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/how-did-am...

OPINION @sulliview.bsky.social “If you believe, as I do, that American #democracy needs a strong, robust press to survive, there’s a lot of reason to feel depressed right now. News organizations (or their corporate owners) are tumbling like so many dominoes as #Trump tries to show them who’s boss.”

Ghislaine Maxwell is 63 and scheduled to be released from prison when she’s 80. Trump appears to be offering her the chance to walk out of jail this summer for a life on the French Riviera in exchange for exonerating him on Jeff Epstein. Any guesses?

How did American media and Republican politicians lose their spines? Amid capitulation and cowardice, the Wall Street Journal showed something rare: Courage under pressure.

"How did American media and Republican politicians lose their spines?"
margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/how-did-am...
via @sulliview.bsky.social

How did American media and Republican politicians lose their spines? Amid capitulation and cowardice, the Wall Street Journal showed something rare: Courage under pressure.

‘These days… it’s one example after another of cowardice.’

But @wsj.com’s courage under pressure offers a ray of hope.

Via @sulliview.bsky.social

margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/how-did-am...

How did American media and Republican politicians lose their spines? Amid capitulation and cowardice, the Wall Street Journal showed something rare: Courage under pressure.

Fomr @sulliview.bsky.social

"It’s a far cry from the era of Watergate and the Pentagon Papers. At that time, some 50 years ago, the nation’s biggest newspapers and most dominant TV networks...

How did American media and Republican politicians lose their spines? open.substack.com/pub/margaret...

Senior FBI & Justice Department Reporter, News Digital Company Description: NBCUniversal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. We create world-class content, which we distribute across our portfolio of film, television, and stre...

Big job open here at @nbcnews.com: Senior DOJ and FBI Reporter. We're looking for someone seasoned: Strong sources, knows the intricacies of the beat, able to publish revelatory reporting on major cases and the priorities of the leaders at HQ.

Apply here:

jobs.smartrecruiters.com/NBCUniversal...

Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die July 21, 2025 AFP has been working with 1 writer, 3 photographers and 6 videographers, all freelance, in the Gaza Strip since its staff journalists left in 2024. Along with a few others, they are now the only ones left to report what is happening in the Gaza Strip. The international press has been banned from entering the territory for nearly two years. We refuse to watch them die. One of them, Bashar, has been working with AFP since 2010, first as a fixer, then freelance photographer, and since 2024, as lead photographer. On July 19th he managed to post a message on Facebook: “I no longer have the strength to work for the media. My body is thin and I can’t work anymore.” Bashar, 30, works & lives in the same conditions as all Gazans, moving from one refugee camp to another under Israeli bombings. For > a year he’s lived in utter destitution, working at extreme risk to his life. Hygiene is a major issue for him, with recurring bouts of severe intestinal illness. Since Feb, Bashar’s been living in the ruins of his home in Gaza City with his mother, 4 brothers & sisters and the family of one of his brothers. Their house is devoid of any furnishings, except a few cushions. On Sunday morning, he reported that one of his brothers had “fallen, due to hunger.” Even though these journalists receive a monthly salary from AFP, it’s no longer enough to buy food, or they have to pay completely exorbitant prices. The banking system has collapsed, and those who exchange money via online bank accounts charge a commission of up to 40%. AFP no longer has the ability to provide them with a vehicle and there is not enough fuel to allow these journalists to travel for their reporting. Driving a car means becoming a target for Israeli airstrikes. AFP reporters therefore travel on foot or by donkey cart. (alt txt continued in next post)

A horrifying statement published today by the Editorial Committee of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.

"Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die"

Translation from French to English by @cnorristrent.bsky.social:

Scoop: The WaPo is set to announce on Tuesday that it is rethinking its "Third Newsroom" ambitions and the head of the team is taking a buyout. More details in @status.news: link.status.news/3IVfxjG

Why is the media paying millions to Trump? – podcast Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian US columnist Margaret Sullivan about why critics are worried about the million-dollar settlements between media organisations and the president and what they ...

"We are supposed to hold powerful people accountable and not do their bidding. In fact, a lot of the latter is happening," @sulliview.bsky.social tells Guardian Columnist Jonathan Freedland about news media's increasing abdication of its Fourth Estate obligations.

🧵 1/5

Thanks much, Mark

That’s right. My sense is that he doesn’t see the role as useful or desirable

American Crisis | Margaret Sullivan | Substack A newsletter that explores the crucial relationship between journalism and American democracy. Click to read American Crisis, by Margaret Sullivan, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of sub...

https://open.substack.com/pub/margaretsullivan

Please consider subscribing to my American Crisis newsletter where I continue to do democracy-oriented media criticism. Link in this thread

Camp Mystic’s leader got a ‘life threatening’ flood alert. They evacuated an hour later. More than an hour passed between Camp Mystic receiving a severe flood warning and a decision to evacuate young campers asleep in cabins by the Guadalupe River.

The @washingtonpost.com assigned around 20 staffers to this account of the Texas flood, with one jawdropping anecdote after another

One thing that becomes clear: The extraordinary courage of camp counselors, who evacuated their girls as older adults floundered and stalled

Free link wapo.st/44N1cNI

MAGA cares more about Jeffrey Epstein than dying without Medicaid, which explains everything MAGA rage over the Trump regime's failure to show an Epstein conspiracy reveals what matters inside a right-wing bubble.

Jeffrey Epstein was never 'just a distraction' - not to MAGA which saw him as the embodiment of immoral liberal hypocrisy, and which is much madder about their bubble bursting than any Medicaid cuts

What Dems must learn from the Epstein meltdown. My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/comm...

The right-wing outrage machine gears up, and a cartoonist gets death threats The scary aftermath of an editorial cartoon about Texas

"The whole chapter both highlights and exposes how the right-wing outrage machine is always ready to mobilize."

- @sulliview.bsky.social

Read more here:

"The right-wing outrage machine gears up, and a cartoonist gets death threats"
margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/the-right-...