The state of the media business has declined precipitously during the second occupation of the White House by Donald Trump. Either they have capitulated to his threats, lied to “sanewash” his incoherent babbling, soft-pedaled his autocratic policies, or just failed to demonstrate the courage that is expected from practitioners of a free press.

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In short, the performance of much of the media amounts to simply cowardice. While there are some notable exceptions, the craven spinelessness, greed, and biases of most of the biggest media conglomerates is more than a little disturbing. And their sheepish surrender to Trump’s crybaby bullying encourages his worst totalitarian tendencies. Such as…

SEE THIS: Trump at the ‘Justice’ Department: CNN, MSNBC, and Other Media are Illegal and ‘It Has to Stop’

Trump has been carefully studying the anti-democratic tactics of his tyrannical idols Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Viktor Orbán. And the results are evident in recent interactions between the government agencies he presides over and his MAGA media pals.

For instance, Larry and David Ellison, the Trump-fluffing moguls who own Paramount Skydance, are now seeking to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. They have already gotten some preliminary approvals from Trump, his Justice Department, and his Federal Trade Commission. And now they are seeking to get a green light from the Federal Communications Commission. As reported by the Hollywood Reporter…

“Paramount has asked the Federal Communications Commission to sign off on its equity investment from three prominent Middle East sovereign wealth funds that are backing the company’s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.”

Paramount is making a direct appeal to Trump flunky Brendan Carr, his FCC chair, to approve the deal for the merger, including $24 billion from “Saudi Arabia’s PIF (public investment fund), L’Imad, an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, and a Qatar Investment Authority fund.” And while they say that “the sovereign funds are only acquiring non-voting equity shares,” it would still be an unprecedented arrangement wherein these foreign investors would own 49.5% of the company.

Paramount says that “the Ellison family and RedBird will…be the sole owners of Class A Common Stock, representing 100% of the voting shares.” And they think that makes things better? It actually means that these politically biased billionaire pals of Trump will be the overlords of two prominent news networks, CBS and CNN, along with all of the other assets of the combined media empire.

There are legal obstacles to foreign individuals, businesses, or governments owning U.S. media companies. The law cites national security, propaganda or political influence, and media concentration, as issues impacting approval. Under normal circumstances it would be particularly concerning for Middle Eastern entities to own such large percentages of American media.

The potential for exploiting the platforms (both news and entertainment) is obvious and worrisome. Even limited to non-voting shares, they would have significant leverage by simply threatening to sell shares, maneuvering their own competing platforms, or bailing out entirely.

Anyone who thinks that investors who own nearly half of the company wouldn’t be able to influence the company’s decisions is terminally naïve. And if those investors also happen to be tight with the U.S. administration, it just makes the potential for risk even greater.

There is literally no limit to the nefarious financial and national security mischief that they could engage in. And Trump’s Justice Department and other oversight agencies would be useless. Trump has already cleansed them of any ethical operatives. His administration, and Trump himself, would be no deterrent at all. In fact, the record shows that he would be an accomplice.

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• Trump Brags About Getting Fascist Control of the Media in Bonkers Truth Social Post
• Trump’s FCC Threatens to Change ‘Equal Time’ Rules to Suppress the Free Speech of Trump Critics

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