Media’s Great Wake-Up Calls… From Outrage to Common Sense

Under his ownership, The Washington Post, in a bold declaration on X, Bezos made it crystal clear: “We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We’ll cover other topics too, of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.”

Washington Post pivots to reality, some are outraged

No corporate jargon. No hedging. Just an unflinching commitment to the ideas that have fueled prosperity for centuries.

This isn’t about left or right—it’s about reality. Free people make better choices than bureaucrats. Free markets drive innovation, not government mandates. These aren’t controversial ideas; they form the foundation of America’s success.

Modern media abandoned intellectual diversity embracing government intervention, redistribution and top-down control. Challenge that orthodoxy, and you’re suddenly labeled an outlier.

Washington Post editorial page editor David Shipley is stepping down and his exit speaks volumes. If a veteran journalist can’t lead an opinion section that unapologetically supports liberty and free enterprise, the problem isn’t Bezos’s vision—it’s a media culture that treats these values as fringe.

Who loses when a newspaper champions free markets and individual autonomy? Only those who see journalism as a weapon, not a pursuit of truth. Bezos isn’t limiting The Post—he’s broadening it. The paper will still host diverse views, but it won’t treat liberty as negotiable.

This isn’t ideology. It’s a return to fundamentals

Media is undergoing significant upheaval, reshaped by four key forces: technology, legal battles, declining trust… and a move away from ideological content.

Artificial intelligence (AI), algorithms and social platforms increasingly control what content is seen. Meanwhile, lawsuits and government pressure evaluate whether speech remains a right or a privilege controlled by those in power.

As public confidence erodes and advertising revenue shrinks, media are forced to abandon partisan narratives, scrambling to balance credibility, profitability and relevance in a rapidly changing cultural shift.

On noteworthy change that has taken place over the last several years is: 22 million people read newspapers each day– while 63 million listen to talk radio each day. That is impact.

CNN and MSNBC are cutting staff and scaling back partisan content as trust and ad revenue decline.

CNN is shifting toward a global digital strategy, while MSNBC’s restructuring—including cuts to Rachel Maddow’s team—signals a retreat from ideological programming.

ABC’s The View co-host Sunny Hostin even had to read legal notes on-air retracting misinformation, raising credibility concerns.

Meanwhile, Defamation lawsuits against major media outlets are surging, as legal pushback against misinformation intensifies.

• Donald Trump sued ABC News in 2024 after George Stephanopoulos falsely claimed a jury found him liable for rape. ABC settled for $15 million and issued a public apology.
• Nick Sandmann won settlements from CNN, The Washington Post, and others over misleading 2019-2020 coverage of his viral encounter with a Native American activist.
• Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox News over 2020 election-related falsehoods remains ongoing.
• Donald Trump sued CBS News and Paramount Global in 2024 for $10 billion, alleging 60 Minutes deceptively edited an interview with Kamala Harris to favor her. The case is pending.
• Dr. Mahendra Amin sued NBCUniversal in 2025 after MSNBC hosts falsely accused him of performing forced hysterectomies on detained women. NBC settled for $30 million.
• U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young won $5 million from CNN after a jury ruled the network falsely portrayed him as profiteering from Afghanistan evacuations.
• Elon Musk’s X Corp. sued Media Matters in 2023, alleging it fabricated images to misrepresent X’s ad placements alongside extremist content. The case is pending.

Rising lawsuits show public figures and businesses won’t tolerate reckless media, forcing news outlets to weigh accuracy against sensationalism.

Biden’s plan to control the Internet is hacked by public backlash

The Biden administration’s push to control online speech sparked fierce backlash from legal, political and corporate forces.

Lawsuits from Missouri and Louisiana accused the government of pressuring social media to silence certain viewpoints, leading to court rulings that upheld First Amendment protections.

Public outrage forced Biden’s Department of Homeland Security to shut down its Disinformation Governance Board, widely seen as an attempt to police speech under the guise of fighting misinformation.

Congressional investigations exposed federal agencies secretly pressuring tech companies to remove content, fueling concerns over government overreach.

Even Mark Zuckerberg admitted regret for complying with White House demands to censor debates on COVID-19 and election integrity.

This battle isn’t just legal—it’s a defining fight over free speech in the digital age, where government power, tech influence and public resistance collide.

The Constitutions’ Framers would not recognize media in 2025

Today, anyone with a smartphone, blog or social media account can publish content instantly, reaching millions without institutional oversight.

This dissolves the historical distinction between “the public” and “the press,” making every citizen a potential journalist, commentator or influencer.

When an individual posts content and identifies as a citizen journalist, they are not only shielded by the First Amendment’s “freedom of the press” clause—but also by the broader “freedom of speech” clause—making their voice indistinguishable from that of professional reporters.

In this new era, where the lines between truth and narrative blur, the democratization of information brings both unprecedented opportunities and profound challenges.

As we stand at the crossroads of an AI, cyber and digital revolution, the question lingers: in a world where everyone can speak, should anyone decide what we hear?

Today, communications professionals must earn trust… in a world where audiences fact-check instantly and media credibility is under fire. Those who master authenticity, transparency and agility will not just shape the conversation… but define the future of brand and communication. This is the only way to manage the narrative.

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Opinions personal. Richard Torrenzano is chief executive of The Torrenzano Group, which helps organizations take control of how they are perceived. For nearly a decade, he was a member of the New York Stock Exchange management (policy) and Executive (operations) committees. His new book Command the Conversation: Next Level Communications Techniques,will be released this month. He is a sought after expert and leading commentator on AI and cyber-attacks, brands, crisis, media, financial markets and reputation.