Media Bits and Bytes — November 11, 2025
- RIP Teen Vogue
- RIP 60 Minutes
- Washpost, Bezos and Conflict of Interest
- Zohran’s Got It
- MAGA’s Chicago
- ICE Monitoring Social Media
- Why Silicon Valley Loves Trump
- Joy Reid, Corporate Cable Refugee
- Asian Diasporic Media
- Google and Vertical Monopolies
By Parker Molloy
The Present Age
Teen Vogue spent years building expertise on the exact issues that are about to become even more urgent — attacks on reproductive rights, anti-trans legislation, threats to academic freedom, labor organizing among young workers. And now, right when that coverage matters most, Condé Nast has decided it’s expendable.
By Robert B. Hubbell
Today's Edition Newsletter
When media historians document the demise of 60 Minutes, Norah O’Donnell’s interview with Donald Trump on November 2, 2025, will be identified as the moment when mourners shoveled earth laden with equal parts sorrow, disgrace, and surrender into the grave of a once proud institution.
Washpost, Bezos and Conflict of Interest
By David Folkenflik
NPR
On at least three occasions in the past two weeks, an official Washington Post editorial has taken on matters in which owner Jeff Bezos has a financial or corporate interest without noting his stake. In each case, the Post’s official editorial line landed in sync with its owner’s financial interests.
Zohran’s Got It
• Solidarity Tech By Micah Sifry, The Connector
• Tongue Tied By Julie Hollar, FAIR
• “The Red Apple” By Michael M. Grynbaum, The New York Times
By Nader Issa
Chicago Sun-Times
Military imagery projects government strength in the face of Chicago’s dangers. Hyperbolic language describes unremarkable protests. Strong leaders are propped up as the face of the campaign. Social media influencers are deputized to spread the message. This all coincides with a campaign to recruit more immigration agents that appeals to American nostalgia and patriotism while vilifying immigrants.
By Nicole M. Bennett
The Conversation
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has published a request for information for private-sector contractors to launch a round-the-clock social media monitoring program. Private contractors will be paid to comb through “Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, VK, Flickr, Myspace, X, TikTok, Reddit, WhatsApp, YouTube, etc.,” turning public posts into leads that feed directly into ICE’s databases..
Why Silicon Valley Loves Trump
By Jake Pearson
ProPublica
The Trump administration has hollowed out the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau— the primary regulator with jurisdiction over financial technology companies and the only one looking out for consumers in the rapidly expanding crypto marketplace. Lawsuits have been dropped, settlements have been renegotiated in favor of companies and a proposed consumer-friendly crypto regulation was killed outright.
Joy Reid, Corporate Cable Refugee
By Jeremy Barr
The Guardian
Joy Reid hosted the 7pm hour on MSNBC for nearly five years, providing a daily dose of progressive energy and verve that led into the network’s primetime programming. Then, in late February, Reid was suddenly forced out. Reid has since launched her own streaming show, The Joy Reid Show, and has a few things to say about the mainstream media she was once part of.
By Christine X. Phan, Sarah Nguyễn and Rachel Kuo
NPQ
In response to inadequate media coverage—lacking in both accuracy and nuance—grassroots immigrant organizations continue developing a diasporic community media journalism (DCMJ) to build a more informed and engaged public. DCMJ projects connect people living in communities far away from their homelands with each other in service of enhancing political engagement and participation.
Google and Vertical Monopolies
By Cory Doctorow
Pluralistic
“Industrial organization” (IO) is a theory that insists that vertical monopolies are actually really good. That's when a company takes over parts of the supply chain both upstream and downstream from it. Google is a real poster-child for what happens to a market when regulators adopt IO ideas.