In a striking example of the U.S. authoritarian right’s overt strategy to reshape the media landscape, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has openly expressed his desire for Larry Ellison and his son David to take control of CNN. This sentiment, voiced in response to CNN’s coverage of the Iran War, underscores a broader effort to mimic the media control seen in Viktor Orban’s Hungary, where major outlets are owned by autocratic allies and serve as constant propaganda arms. Hegseth’s complaint that headlines should read „Iran increasingly desperate” instead of „Mideast War Intensifies” is particularly ironic, given that the latter phrasing came directly from his own Pentagon press release. This incident highlights the Trump administration’s lack of subtlety in its push to align media narratives with its political and military interests, openly bragging about interference in press freedom.
The article argues that the right-wing’s goal is to consolidate U.S. media under a handful of wealthy figures like Larry Ellison and Elon Musk, creating a uniform propaganda machine akin to a „North Korea bullhorn.” However, this ambition faces significant hurdles due to America’s size, diversity, and the decentralized nature of the internet. Additionally, the financial strains from Ellison’s acquisitions of CBS and Warner Brothers—burdened with debt—are forcing massive cost-cutting and layoffs, which could undermine efforts to build an effective, ratings-driven propaganda operation. The incompetence of key figures like David Ellison and commentator Bari Weiss further complicates these plans, suggesting that maintaining informational control in such a vast and varied country may be an exercise in hubris.
Despite these challenges, the piece warns that Democrats have historically been ineffective on media policy reform, offering little resistance to this consolidation. Yet, it points to factors working in favor of media independence: public agency, the ability of audiences to migrate to alternative platforms, and the sheer difficulty of monopolizing information in a decentralized digital age. The article concludes that while the right may continue to „set money on fire” in pursuit of media dominance, the diversity and scale of the American public will likely thwart attempts to establish a monolithic propaganda mill, preserving some space for independent journalism amid the ongoing struggle for free speech and press integrity.
Ez a cikk a Neural News AI (V1) verziójával készült.