logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2025
1h 8m

How the Right Took Over the Media

Crooked Media
About this episode

Ben Smith, former media columnist at the New York Times and now the editor-in-chief of Semafor, joins Dan to talk about today's ultra-challenging news media landscape. The industry is significantly weaker than it was in 2016, and Trump's aggressive lawsuits have the executives in charge of CBS and ABC scrambling to appease him. Will the death blow for America's free press come from within? Smith runs through what we should have learned from the first Trump presidency, how cults of personality rule in journalism just like they rule in politics, and why the dominance of the Times is terrible for fascism-proofing the country.

 

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Up next
Today
Trump Deports Noem
Trump abruptly fires Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Dan and Jon discuss the Congressional hearings that led to her dismissal, Trump's announcement that Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin will replace her, and the future of DHS. Then they react to the admini ... Show More
1h 40m
Mar 3
Why Democrats Must Oppose Trump's Iran War
The Trump administration struggles to justify its new war with Iran, while Democrats struggle to effectively explain why Americans should oppose it. Jon, Tommy, and Lovett react to Trump's first live remarks following the killing of six American soldiers and dissect the administr ... Show More
1h 31m
Mar 1
Graham Platner Isn't Backing Down
Graham Platner, a Democratic candidate running for Senate in Maine, stops by the studio to talk with Jon about Trump’s impending conflict with Iran, the future of Medicare for All, and what community organizing in rural Maine taught him about building political power in our polar ... Show More
1h 13m
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2024
The Secret Succession Fight That Will Determine the Future of Fox News
<p>For years, Rupert Murdoch seemed content to let his children battle it out for control of his conservative media empire once he’s gone.<br /><br />Jim Rutenberg, who writes about media and politics for The Times, discusses how a secret change to that plan by Mr. Murdoch touche ... Show More
27m 12s
Apr 2025
Beat the Press: How Team Trump Is Trying to Keep the Media in Check
It may seem like an odd time to party in Washington, but journalists and politicos will gather again this weekend at the White House Correspondents Dinner (and slew of late-night soirees and boozy brunches.) Host and Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Radhika Jones, along with executive ... Show More
37m 24s
Jan 2024
Christopher R. Martin, "No Longer Newsworthy: How the Mainstream Media Abandoned the Working Class" (Cornell UP, 2019)
Until the recent political shift pushed workers back into the media spotlight, the mainstream media had largely ignored this significant part of American society in favor of the moneyed upscale consumer for more than four decades. Christopher R. Martin now reveals why and how the ... Show More
47m 24s
Mar 2025
Nixon Dreamed of Breaking the Media. Trump Is Doing It.
<p>As President Trump set out to systematically eliminate or intimidate those who stood in his way — inspectors general, judges, law firms — the news media loomed as one of his most stubborn obstacles. Or so it seemed.</p><p>Jim Rutenberg, a writer at large for The New York Times ... Show More
45m 27s
Oct 2025
She Swore Off Legacy Media. Now She's Running CBS News.
Paramount has acquired news and opinion website the Free Press for $150 million. The company's co-founder, Bari Weiss, has a new job as editor in chief of CBS News. She's a polarizing figure, known for her outspoken support of Israel and strong views on topics like gun rights and ... Show More
18m 10s
Oct 2021
The wild saga of Ozy Media
New York Times journalist Ben Smith discusses his bombshell investigation into U.S. media organization Ozy Media and its defiant founder, Carlos Watson. 
15m 32s
Mar 2025
The Sunday Edition: Donald Trump’s imperial ambitions
<p><em>This episode was originally published in January.</em></p><br><p>The US president-elect has sparked a series of diplomatic rows after saying he was willing to use military or economic force to take control of Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada. How seriously should we ... Show More
28m 29s
Feb 2022
The Problem with the Media
Between Tucker Carlson doing an entire prime time segment on the brown M&M's shoes, to The New York Times printing deceptive clickbait titles and op-eds from known liars because they think it’ll sell, to major corporations systematically buying up and dismantling our entire media ... Show More
45m 31s