Propaganda in cinemas, newsrooms slashed: this is the US media under Trump and his tech barons | Nesrine Malik

"In one, Melania Trump releases a glossy documentary, Melania, an account of her return to the White House. Amazon outbid others to secure the rights to the documentary, spending $75m (54m) in total, and ticket sales so far suggest that this was, shall we say, not a purely commercial venture. In the other, the Washington Post is set to cut up to 200 jobs early this month, including the majority of its foreign staff and a sizeable chunk of its newsroom."

"In July of last year, tech billionaire and Donald Trump ally Larry Ellison and his Hollywood producer son, David, took over Paramount, which oversees CBS News. The former New York Times columnist and, more recently, founder of anti-woke blog the Free Press, Bari Weiss, was parachuted in to run CBS News. She promptly ran into trouble, as she took on veterans of a channel that produces such storied programmes as 60 Minutes, and tried to justify editorial decisions that were seen as slanted in favour of the Trump administration. Weiss is now also expected to make cuts to the newsroom."

"The telling thing is what will remain in these institutions, what is to be emphasised. Weiss has announced that she has added a host of opinion writers and wants to put huge emphasis on scoops crucially scoops of ideas. Scoops of explanation. In short: more heat, less light."

Billionaire-backed decisions are reshaping major US media outlets by funding partisan content while cutting newsroom capacity. A high-budget Melania Trump documentary received a $75m acquisition from Amazon despite weak ticket sales, while the Washington Post plans up to 200 job cuts, including most foreign staff. Jeff Bezos's choices signal capital shifting toward sympathetic narratives and away from the fourth estate that holds power to account. CBS News experienced a takeover by Larry Ellison and editorial leadership from Bari Weiss, who clashed with veteran journalists and signals a shift toward opinion, scoops, and reduced investigative emphasis.

Read at www.theguardian.com