Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · Sep 6

Glad to see our findings in How Media Ownership Matters confirmed and extended - will read this closely ! global.oup.com/academic/pro...

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Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · Sep 6

Looks fascinating and definitely worth checking out !

Tales Tomaz @talestomaz.bsky.social · Sep 5

How should we measure media power and concentration in hybrid media systems?

Mariia Aleksevych and I just published a new open-access article in Media and Communication @cogitatiomac.bsky.social with a methodological proposal: www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcomm...

Journalism in the Hybrid Media System

Thematic Issue, Vol 13 (2025)

www.cogitatiopress.com

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Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · Sep 2

Thanks @lisafung.bsky.social ! I’m glad you liked it!

Lisa Fung @lisafung.bsky.social · Sep 1

Interesting Q&A with @rodneybenson.bsky.social (a college classmate!) on what U.S. media can learn from European ownership structure

Via @columjournreview.bsky.social
www.cjr.org/the-intervie...

Rodney Benson on the Value of Publicly Backed Journalism

A recent book suggests American media can learn from European ownership structures.

www.cjr.org

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Nieman Lab @niemanlab.org · Aug 16

“This is a nut that no one else in the country has cracked — how to translate what nonprofit newsrooms are doing for commercial TV.” www.niemanlab.org/2025/08/can-...

Can nonprofit news mix with local TV? A Pennsylvania partnership aims to find out

“This is a nut that no one else in the country has cracked — how to translate what nonprofit newsrooms are doing for commercial TV.”

www.niemanlab.org

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Josh Shepperd @joshshepperd.bsky.social · Jul 28

I enjoyed talking to UCLA's Luskin Center for History and Policy podcast "Then and Now" about the origins and possible future of public media. Thanks to Ben Zdencanovic.

Defunding Big Bird: The Politics and History of Public Broadcasting. A Conversation with Josh Shepperd. - Then & Now

In this episode of then & now, guest host Dr. Ben Zdencanovic welcomes Professor Josh Shepperd, Associate Professor of Media Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder and Director of the Libra...

www.buzzsprout.com

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Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · Jul 31

So true - all of it!

Laura Portwood-Stacer @lportwoodstacer.bsky.social · Jul 31

I “finished” writing my book last November. But I still had 50+ hours of work to do before it actually went to print. Here’s what that included:

1. Reading the final manuscript out loud to myself to catch any weird wording or sentences that needed to be clearer

2. Prepping the files for submission

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Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · Jul 19

As I told the reporter, KQED's announced [layoffs] make "it clear that no one in public media is safe. The threat to public media funding affects even the largest & strongest outlets.” Excellent article w/additional comments from @victorpickard.bsky.social & Nik Usher, www.kqed.org/news/1204866...

‘No One in Public Media Is Safe’: KQED Layoffs Underscore Peril of Federal Defunding | KQED

The Bay Area station is cutting 15% of its staff and bracing for the loss of federal support — a sign, experts say, of deeper problems in U.S. public media’s fragile funding model.

www.kqed.org

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Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · Jul 18

So much for multi-year funding, staggered terms for CPB board members, an organizational home as an independent nonprofit. These carefully designed protections could not stop a power-grabbing President and a sycophantic Congress. Not a great day for US democracy. www.cnn.com/2025/07/17/m...

Trump’s victory over PBS and NPR ‘bias’ will be ‘devastating’ for rural areas, station leaders say | CNN Business

Public TV stations will be “forced to make hard decisions in the weeks and months ahead,” PBS CEO Paula Kerger said Thursday, after the Senate approved a bill canceling all the federal funding for the...

www.cnn.com

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Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · Jul 18

Unfortunately, part of my prediction is already coming true: "In a future company controlled by Skydance, it's easy to imagine that Stewart's and Colbert's shows could be short-lived."
www.newsweek.com/jon-stewart-...

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert face uncertain futures

"They have to have what it takes to succeed independently, but not if it relies on old structures," one expert told Newsweek.

www.newsweek.com

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Truthout @truthout.org · Jul 16

The Senate is on the verge of stripping more than a billion dollars from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which could decimate local news stations. Defenders of public media have mobilized to stop the bill, which strips more than $1.1 billion from the CPB, which includes cuts to NPR and PBS.

Public Media Defenders Mobilize as Senate GOP Set to Gut Over $1B in Funding

This is a coordinated, authoritarian attempt to silence dissent and dismantle the public good,” said Our Revolution.

truthout.org

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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · Jun 28

Government-backed institutions sometimes stand up more strongly to authoritarianism than their commercial counterparts.

Can Public Media Survive Trump?

Government-backed institutions sometimes stand up more strongly to authoritarianism than their commercial counterparts.

www.newyorker.com

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Reposted by Rodney Benson

NPR @npr.org · Jun 4

As GOP congressional leaders are vowing to move full steam ahead to approve Trump's request to eliminate federal funding for public media for the next two years, a group of 29 Senate Democrats are warning the broadcast outlets should be "protected, not decimated."

Partisan battle lines form over Trump's plan to defund NPR & PBS

Senate Democrats warn Trump plan to wipe out public broadcasting funding will shut down stations, eliminate essential services. But House GOP scheduled to vote to clawback $1.1 billion next week.

n.pr

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Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · May 2

Our new book measured partisan slant in 21 US news outlets. NPR had a 1.0 index score (perfectly balanced), compared to Fox (1.6, imbalanced for the right) and WashPost (1.4, for the left). PBS was in the center of our sample (1.2). We find US public media are less “biased” than other media.

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Tim Karr @timkarr.bsky.social · Apr 22

BREAKING: A US district judge just ruled that Trump's effort to dismantle Voice of America, and Radio Free Asia and Middle East is likely illegal.

Judge ordered the White House “to take all necessary steps" to restore these outlets to their former (pre-Trump EO) status.

#SoMuchLosing

Trump Handed Huge Loss in Fight to Shut Down Voice of America

Donald Trump signed an executive order eliminating the critical news source.

newrepublic.com

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Reposted by Rodney Benson

Nathan Tankus @nathantankus.bsky.social · Apr 22

Woah

CNN @cnn.com · Apr 22

Bill Owens, the executive producer for CBS News’ flagship “60 Minutes” program, announced he will resign from the top job on Tuesday, saying he no longer has control over the show.

Read more: cnn.it/4jKGOTk

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Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · Apr 22

Deciding What’s News set the research agenda for the sociology of news (& for the production of culture writ large) for a generation. A landmark work, a truly great scholar. Herb always made time for junior scholars. His surprise emails commenting on some recent article he had read were legendary.

Jen Mercieca @jenmercieca.bsky.social · Apr 22

Herbert Gans, leading sociologist and media analyst, dies at 97
apnews.com/article/herb...

Herbert Gans, leading sociologist and media analyst, dies at 97

Herbert Gans, an eminent sociologist and media analyst, has died at age 97. He wrote groundbreaking studies that advocated for greater diversity and public participation in everything from the suburbs...

apnews.com

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · Apr 21

Donald Trump *personally* caused the crisis in confidence in US bonds, the approx 10% slide in the S&P 500 in the last month, and the unfolding collapse of international tourism to the United States. Leaving aside everything he did before, he should be the biggest pariah ever to hold the office.

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Daniel Laurison @daniellaurison.bsky.social · Apr 22

The presidents of 200 US colleges declare:

"As leaders of America’s colleges, universities, and scholarly societies, we speak with one voice against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education."

Good!

www.aacu.org/newsroom/a-c...

A Call for Constructive Engagement | AAC&U

A Call for Constructive Engagement

www.aacu.org

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Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · Apr 21

Thank you @arusbridger.bsky.social & @lionelbarber.bsky.social for discussing How Media Ownership Matters (Oxford, just out) - especially its finding of high quality public affairs coverage by US, Swedish & French public & civil society/nonprofit outlets
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/podcasts/med...

Who owns the media?

Does it matter who funds and owns the media? Alan and Lionel are joined by professor and author Rodney Benson to discuss

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk

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Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · Apr 21

Great reminder @timkarr.bsky.social but I found very convincing @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social ‘s argument that Trump ultimately only responds to institutional power - eg when Harvard stood up to him or if and when major companies or business leaders push back

Tim Karr @timkarr.bsky.social · Apr 18

Every time this president does something outrageous and anti-American, I take some comfort in public polling showing him to be the least popular president in the 70+ years that pollsters have collected approval ratings:

www.newsweek.com/trumps-appro...

Trump's approval rating worst of post-WWII presidents

Trump had an average approval rating of 41 percent during the first quarter of his first term, according to Gallup.

www.newsweek.com

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Reposted by Rodney Benson

Tim Karr @timkarr.bsky.social · Apr 21

...Sullivan calls on readers to "demand better" from news outlets. & they should, of course.

But they should also look at the other endemic pressures (ie profit motives) that led to this failure, & advocate for more systemic change.

Supporting a robust public/noncommercial media system is a start.

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Emily Bell @emilybell.bsky.social · Apr 17

At least 50pc of the decisions being taken in the administration at the moment relate to ancient N.Y. real estate beefs…..the movie The Apprentice is basically a documentary www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/n...

Trump Administration Says It Will Take Over Renovation of Penn Station

The head of the federal Department of Transportation promised on Thursday to take away control from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

www.nytimes.com

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Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · Apr 19

Anything from Free Press is worth reading: this is a make or break moment to save public media in this country. We deserve the same high quality accessible public media that other (stronger) democracies take for granted as a key to creating an informed and (relatively) non-polarized citizenry

Free Press @freepress.bsky.social · Apr 19

Project 2025 laid out a clear plan to destroy public media — and Trump is following it to a T.

Our explainer delves into the risks — and explains why the Corporation for Public Broadcasting deserves *more* funding. https://www.freepress.net/blog/trump-carr-congress-defund-public-media

How the Trump Administration Is Trying to Defund Public Media

Now that the GOP controls both the White House and Congress, its obsession with destroying public media could become a reality. Learn about the history of U.S. public media — and what’s at stake.

www.freepress.net

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · Apr 19

"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both."

—Louis Brandeis

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Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · Apr 19

Belatedly arriving to Bluesky! I'm really looking forward to this discussion with Anya Schiffrin and Steve Waldman on how owners and ownership models can support the quality journalism that democracy needs

Institute for Public Knowledge @ipk.bsky.social · Apr 9

Join the Institute for Public Knowledge on Wednesday, April 23rd (5:30-7:00 PM) for a book talk with Rodney Benson. He will discuss his new book How Media Ownership Matters with Anya Schiffrin and @stevenwaldman.bsky.social.

ipk.nyu.edu/events/book-...

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