Center for Journalism and Liberty

OMI Reacts to Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Deal & Trump’s Apparent Interference — Open Markets Institute Dr. Courtney Radsch, director of the Center for Journalism and Liberty at Open Markets released the following statement concerning the news that Netflix has dropped its bid for Warner Brothers Discove...

Learn more: www.openmarketsinstitute.org/publications...

The film & television industry has already been allowed to consolidate to the point where a handful of corporations control what stories get told, who gets to tell them, & on what terms.

Allowing Paramount to absorb Warner Bros. Discovery is a bad call, plain & simple.

CJL Reacts to Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Deal & Trump’s Apparent Interference  — Center for Journalism & Liberty Dr. Courtney Radsch, director of the Center for Journalism and Liberty at Open Markets released the following statement concerning the news that Netflix has dropped its bid for Warner Brothers Discove...

Find our full statement --> www.journalismliberty.org/publications...

@sulliview.bsky.social spoke with @courtneyr.bsky.social for @theguardian.com piece examining Trump's role in Paramount's move to acquire Warner Bros. -- and CNN.

We've already called on state AGs to investigate. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

This would be welcome news:

"Further consolidation of this industry would deepen already dangerous concentrations of power over film, television, news, and information." -
@courtneyr.bsky.social

CJL Reacts to Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Deal & Trump’s Apparent Interference  — Center for Journalism & Liberty Dr. Courtney Radsch, director of the Center for Journalism and Liberty at Open Markets released the following statement concerning the news that Netflix has dropped its bid for Warner Brothers Discove...

A Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery deal must not be allowed to go forward. Our reaction: www.journalismliberty.org/publications...

Important new resource: A small number of large corporations already control much of the media we watch/consume. Learn more about how proposed mergers - Netflix, Paramount, Warner Bros, Nexstar - would make it worse: blockthemerger.vercel.app

Another reminder seems useful:

Censorship and capitulation: the latest on Colbert v Carr Why corporate greed and cowardice, government jawboning and media behemoths blocked the airing of an interview with a Senate candidate from Texas.

CJL Director @courtneyr.bsky.social breaks down the latest Colbert free press controversy: substack.com/home/post/p-...

Opinion | OpenAI Is Making the Mistakes Facebook Made. I Quit.

ICYMI: Incorporating ads into GenAI is a recipe for manipulation & further decline of our information environment. Kudos to Zoe for speaking out. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/o...

The truth about covering tech at Bezos’s Washington Post And why ‘We the users’ matters more than ever

For 8 years my stories had to include: "Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post, but I review all technology with the same critical eye."
Not anymore. My first Substack is about what it was like covering Amazon while Bezos paid my salary—and why tech accountability matters more than ever bit.ly/4rAmcRn

European Publishers Council files EU antitrust complaint about Google's AI Overviews The European Publishers Council has complained to EU antitrust regulators about Alphabet unit Google's AI-generated summaries known as AI Overviews, the lobbying group said on Tuesday.

European Publishers Council files EU antitrust complaint about Google's AI Overviews reut.rs/3ZYsdeX

Saving Journalism — Center for Journalism & Liberty The Open Markets Institute uses journalism to promote greater awareness of the political and economic dangers of monopolization.

It is essential to democracy that we design our policies and markets to independently fund and preserve journalism. Especially in the age of AI.

Learn how: www.journalismliberty.org/saving-journ... 2/2

Big Tech redirected eyeballs + advertising revenue away from reliable news.

Tech oligarch Jeff Bezos is cratering the Washington Post.

At CJL, we focus on solutions to journalism's Big Tech problem. 1/2

Policy Brief Warns: U.S. “Free Speech” Attacks Threaten Europe’s Sovereignty and Democracy — Open Markets Institute CJL director Dr. Courtney Radsch and Europe director Max von Thun author a brief arguing that dominant U.S. platforms such as Google, Meta and X wield unprecedented power to manipulate political d...

Before the House Judiciary Cmte. kicks off their hearing on how the EU supposedly threatens American free speech, here's a brief on how it's actually the opposite: Dominant tech companies, unchecked, have manipulated all of our political discourse. www.openmarketsinstitute.org/publications...

Breaking the News? Journalism in the age of AI Some of the top minds in journalism, tech and media development gathered in Berlin to discuss global perspectives on the future of journalism in the age of AI.

Our director @courtneyr.bsky.social spoke in Berlin last week about the necessity of protecting journalism in the AI Age -- and how to do it: akademie.dw.com/en/breaking-...

The Disastrous Rollout of the Trump-Approved TikTok Serves as a Stark Warning for Us All Big Tech platforms wield far too much power over our information landscape to continue operating without transparency.

Big Tech doesn’t need free expression to make billions of dollars in advertising revenue. In fact, a more censorious platform full of only brand-safe speech is infinitely more profitable. Read my latest in @zeteo.com

“Political parties have sought to crack down on independent journalism, especially when it challenges power…”

@taylorlorenz.bsky.social explains why Americans shouldn’t count on Big Tech to protect free speech following the US takeover of TikTok.

Read the full article: zeteo.com/p/trump-tikt...

More Than Two Dozen Groups Tell FCC to Reject Nexstar-Tegna Deal Public interest groups, labor unions and civil rights organizations sent a letter backing Free Press FCC filing opposing the deal

If the FCC approves the Nexstar-TEGNA merger, the combined entity would own 265 full-power television stations in 44 states and DC, and would be present in 132 of the country’s 210 television Designated Market Areas (DMAs.). That's far too many. www.tvtechnology.com/regulatory-l...

Doesn't look like CBS News has reported on the Trump Admin rolling back the policy. Hmmm

"At a time when communities are already losing trusted local news, allowing a single corporation to dominate so many markets would be a devastating blow to competition, localism, and democratic accountability," said our Director
@courtneyr.bsky.social of the proposed Nexstar-TEGNA merger. 3/3

Broad Coalition Say FCC Must Reject Illegal Nexstar–TEGNA Merger — Center for Journalism & Liberty CJL joined a broad coalition of consumer advocates, antitrust experts, labor unions, civil rights organizations, and public interest groups calling the Federal Communications Commission to reject the ...

"Congress set clear, enforceable limits on how much of the national television audience any one company can control, and the FCC does not have the authority to waive them." 2/3

Find the letter here: www.journalismliberty.org/publications...

More Than Two Dozen Groups Tell FCC to Reject Nexstar-Tegna Deal Public interest groups, labor unions and civil rights organizations sent a letter backing Free Press FCC filing opposing the deal

We've signed a letter to the FCC alongside dozens of expert groups reminding the agency of its duty to reject Nexstar Media's proposed TEGNA acquisition. 1/3

www.tvtechnology.com/regulatory-l...

Recall that this rule was put in place after private equity firms made millions by firing nurses to cut down on labor costs—and killed thousands of people in the process

www.cbsnews.com/news/nursing...

Meta exercises an illegal monopoly over the social media information environment. It harms users, the free press, and our democracy overall. From @openmarkets.bsky.social legal expert Tara Pincock below.

Glad to see the FTC appeal a bad decision.

Your reminder that whether Netflix, Paramount, or otherwise, a Warner Bros buy-out is a bad deal:

www.openmarketsinstitute.org/publications...

Netflix and Paramount deals are both wrong for Warner Bros Discovery – and democracy | Courtney C Radsch A congressional hearing this week underscored the danger a WBD deal would pose to journalism and the American public

It's time for regulators to take a stand. As CJL Director @courtneyr.bsky.social recently argued, we must halt this costly and antidemocratic trend in its tracks, starting with preventing any mega-merger between Warner Bros-Discovery and another streaming giant. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“Streamflation” Is Real: U.S. Inflation Data Shows Soaring Price of Streaming Video Services Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Tuesday showed that overall inflation cooled in December ... but streaming video prices soared by nearly 20 percent.

The trend is clear: Streaming prices are soaring as the industry rapidly consolidates. www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

Netflix and Paramount deals are both wrong for Warner Bros Discovery – and democracy | Courtney C Radsch A congressional hearing this week underscored the danger a WBD deal would pose to journalism and the American public

"Netflix threatens speech through market power, and Paramount Skydance threatens it through demonstrated capitulation. Both are bad." - @courtneyr.bsky.social
in @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...