On The Listening Post this week: The National Enquirer was once Trump’s most strident cheerleader — now it’s his latest headache. Plus, Radio Dabanga: Is Darfur losing its media lifeline?
Catch & Kill: Could Trump’s media allies hasten his downfall?
The question in Washington these days is not just: Where is the Mueller investigation into US President Donald Trump going – but who is next? His lawyer, Michael Cohen and a business associate, Allen Weisselberg agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for immunity.
Now, Trump’s long-time friend, and a key media player David Pecker has done the same. Pecker is at the helm of American Media Inc which owns the tabloid ‘National Enquirer’ – part of the Trump story, mostly because of the stories it doesn’t publish, a practice known as “catch and kill”. If someone had a potentially damaging story about Donald Trump for sale – the Enquirer would buy it and bury it – so that bad news would never see the light of day.
Contributors:
John Nichols – Writer, The Nation
Amanda Terkel – Washington Bureau Chief, HuffPost
Elizabeth Anker – Associate Professor of American Studies and Political Sciences, George Washington University
John Ziegler – Radio Host and Columnist, Mediaite
On our radar
Richard Gizbert speaks to producer Will Yong about why Facebook has banned 20 accounts in Myanmar; and how Sky TV in the UK is in hot water with the media regulator after airing ads paid for by Saudi Arabia.
Radio Dabanga: Is Darfur losing its media lifeline?
It’s been more than 15 years since the conflict in Darfur in western Sudan began and there is no end in sight to the fighting. But with the authorities preventing journalists going in and information coming out – Darfur has turned into a black hole for news.
One broadcaster, has proven critically important – Radio Dabanga. Beaming in from Amsterdam to remain beyond the reach of government censors, the station has become a rare source of independent news for what it says are its more than three million daily listeners.
The Listening Post‘s Johanna Hoes reports from Holland on the radio station that broadcasts news and information to citizens left in the dark.
Contributors:
Kamal Elsadig – Editor-in-Chief, Radio Dabanga
Hassan Berkia – Sudanese Journalists Network
Abdul Azim Awad – Secretary General, National Council for Press and Publications
Eric Reeves – Senior Fellow, Harvard University, Author: ‘Compromising with Evil’ Shammal
Al-Nour – Reporter, Al-Tayaar Newspaper
Source: Al Jazeera
