The Owners

15 Feb 1898

Two papers, one fight. In 1890s New York, Joseph Pulitzer’s World and William Randolph Hearst’s Journal fought for readers with bold headlines and, say the State Department’s historians, “occasionally printing rousing stories that proved to be false.” When the battleship Maine sank in Havana harbor on 15 February 1898, both printed rumors of plots to sink it. The historians repeat a line credited to Hearst, “You furnish the pictures, I’ll provide the war.” A 2001 review by the historian W. Joseph Campbell calls that exchange “almost certainly” apocryphal: its source is one memoir, Hearst denied it in 1907, and the telegrams “have never surfaced.” The State Department’s page says other factors “played a greater role” in the war.

20 Oct 1977

Fifty, or four hundred. Carl Bernstein, who had left The Washington Post, reported in Rolling Stone in 1977 that the CIA gave the Church Committee’s staff summaries of over 400 relationships with American journalists in 25 years; 200 to 250 were “working journalists,” the rest at book publishers, trade papers and newsletters. He wrote that the committee’s report left the 400 out and spoke of “some fifty recent contacts.” The report itself counted about 50 as of February 1976, about half paid, and said the CIA withheld names. A CIA official told Bernstein the files held “puffing” by case officers and that many listed would be “appalled.”

20 Oct 1977

Did owners agree? Bernstein’s central claim was about owners: cover “rarely” came “without the knowledge and consent” of a principal owner, publisher or senior editor. He wrote that the most valuable ties, according to CIA officials, were with the New York Times, CBS and Time Inc., and that the CIA owned forty percent of a Rome newspaper until the 1970s. Others denied it: the Associated Press’s Wes Gallagher said “I would have fired anybody who worked for them,” and Post editors said they knew of no formal CIA tie. The Church report found only two current ties with staff of general-circulation news organizations; on 11 February 1976 the CIA ended paid ties with accredited correspondents, though fewer than half of the 50 relationships would end. No source here shows the CIA owning a major U.S. outlet.

1979

A name that stuck. Retellings call the CIA’s press ties “Operation Mockingbird,” an alleged campaign to manipulate the domestic press. Snopes reports a description of it first appeared in a 1979 biography of Katharine Graham, whose author, the historian David Hadley says, “provided no information on her sources.” Hadley concludes that the theory of a “deliberate and systematic program” is not grounded in reality, but that this “should not disguise the active role the CIA played” in influencing the press. The genuine “Project Mockingbird” was a 1960s wiretapping program aimed at journalists; Snopes says the CIA declined to answer on the record whether Operation Mockingbird ever existed.

1988

The theory. In 1988 Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky argued in Manufacturing Consent that news passes through five filters, ownership first. Their mechanism, as a sympathetic survey puts it, needs “no conspiracy or direct pressure”: staff learn to act “in accordance with the desires of those who pay them.” Critics said the model overstated the power of the “propaganda system,” was “conspiratorial” and deterministic, and neglected journalistic professionalism; the survey says Herman and Chomsky “responded to and rebutted most” of this. The next scenes show acts by owners; they cannot settle a claim about what happens with no act at all.

5 Aug 2013

Washington, 2013. On 5 August 2013 the Graham family agreed to sell The Washington Post to Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, for $250 million. NPR reported the Post went into his personal portfolio and the deal did not involve Amazon. Don Graham told staff why: “Our revenues had declined seven years in a row.” Bezos wrote to employees: “The paper’s duty will remain to its readers and not to the private interests of its owners.”

25 Oct 2024

No endorsement. In October 2024 Bezos blocked a planned Post endorsement of Kamala Harris. His other companies hold large federal contracts: NPR noted Blue Origin’s multibillion-dollar NASA contract and Amazon’s earlier suit over a $10 billion Pentagon cloud contract. Bezos wrote of a “perception of bias,” “no quid pro quo of any kind is at work here,” and “I am not an ideal owner of The Post” when it comes to the appearance of conflict; he said he had not known of a Blue Origin meeting with Donald Trump the same day. Editor-at-large Robert Kagan resigned, saying the Post was “bending the knee.” NPR also wrote that Bezos “resolutely supported the staff’s coverage during the Trump presidency” and has not interfered with reporting on his own businesses.

26 Feb 2025

A cartoon, then a column. In January 2025 the Pulitzer-winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes resigned after the opinion editor, David Shipley, rejected her sketch of tech chiefs, Bezos among them, bringing money to Trump. Shipley said he had already run a column on the topic and scheduled another: “The only bias was against repetition.” On 26 February Bezos announced the opinion pages would defend “personal liberties and free markets,” saying these views are “underserved,” and that opposing views “will be left to be published by others.” Bezos said Shipley “decided to step away.” A Post reporter wrote that day that he had “not felt encroachment” on the news side.

4 Feb 2026

Three hundred journalists. On 4 February 2026 the Post cut a third of its workforce at Bezos’s behest, NPR reported, including more than 300 journalists. Executive editor Matt Murray called it a “strategic reset”; publisher Will Lewis had said in 2024 that the paper lost $177 million over two years. Former editor Marty Baron said the paper made money for six straight years and called the day “among the darkest days,” blaming “ill-conceived decisions.” NPR’s media correspondent credited Bezos on 9 February: he “never interfered in news coverage,” the newsroom grew by about 85 percent at its peak under him, and he and the acting chief said consumer data would drive decisions. Lewis stepped down days later.

Oct 2024

Los Angeles. The owner of the Los Angeles Times, Patrick Soon-Shiong, also killed an editorial endorsing Harris. NPR reported he said he acted to block reflexive liberal bias and because the editorial board had not interviewed Harris, and noted he had previously spoken with Trump. In 2021 NPR wrote that Times journalists had “lionized” him for rebuilding the newsroom, though the paper ran eight-figure deficits; he then held nearly 24 percent of Tribune Publishing and did not vote on Alden’s bid to buy it.

18 Apr 2023

Wilmington, 2023. Dominion sued Fox News and Fox Corp. over broadcasts of claims that Dominion rigged the 2020 vote. Before trial the judge, Eric Davis, emphasized it was “CRYSTAL clear” that none of the allegations about Dominion aired on Fox were true.

18 Apr 2023

Hosts and executives. AP reported that records in the case showed Fox hosts and executives did not believe the claims but aired them partly to win back viewers angered by Fox’s correct Arizona call; Rupert Murdoch wrote “We don’t want to antagonize Trump further” and testified he believed the election was fair. Fox’s defense was that it “never reported those to be true” but reported allegations by a sitting president. On 18 April 2023 the Murdochs’ company settled for $787.5 million, saying “We acknowledge the Court’s rulings,” with no admission of error; Lachlan Murdoch called it a business decision. Smartmatic’s separate $2.7 billion suit was still open in May 2026, when an appeals court granted Fox more discovery; our sources end there.

29 Nov 2012

London, 2012. After phone hacking at the News of the World, which closed in July 2011, the Leveson Inquiry questioned owners and editors. Leveson recorded that The Times and Sunday Times have guaranteed editorial independence, while Rupert Murdoch “takes an active interest in the editorial direction” of the Sun and News of the World group; Murdoch said “if any politician wanted my opinions on major matters, they only had to read the editorials in the Sun.” Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre said he had “total freedom from proprietorial and managerial interference,” “a freedom that is not necessarily found in other newspaper groups,” and told the inquiry Labour could hardly have gone to war in Iraq without Murdoch’s papers’ support. Leveson wrote that, with one sole exception, the press did not investigate itself; he named Nick Davies as the sole investigative journalist who started to uncover the truth.

1 Jul 2025

Washington, 2025. Donald Trump, then a candidate, sued CBS’s parent, Paramount, over how 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris, arguing the edits deceived voters. Paramount maintained the suit was “completely without merit.” On 1 July 2025 it agreed to pay $16 million, allocated to his future presidential library and legal costs, with no apology; 60 Minutes would release transcripts of candidate interviews. NPR called it a suit “many legal experts considered spurious.” NPR’s Los Angeles Times guest said ABC’s earlier $15 million settlement differed: ABC had “some exposure” for misdescribing a verdict, while at CBS “there was no evidence of wrongdoing.”

24 Jul 2025

The deal. The FCC approved the $8 billion Paramount-Skydance merger on 24 July 2025, less than a month after the settlement. NPR wrote that the settlement “helped controlling owner Shari Redstone smooth the sale.” NPR reported from filings that Skydance’s head, David Ellison, promised to end diversity programs, name an ombudsman for two years and embrace “ideological diversity,” and described his father Larry Ellison as “a financial supporter and adviser to the president.” Democratic lawmakers asked whether the settlement was effectively a bribe; Paramount said it treated the settlement and the FCC review as separate, and called the end of Colbert’s show a financial decision.

21 Dec 2025

Two newsrooms. In December 2025 CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, Ellison’s pick, pulled a 60 Minutes segment on a Salvadoran prison. She said it “did not advance the ball” and needed the principals “on the record and on camera”; correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi called it “not an editorial decision, it is a political one.” No source here shows Ellison ordering it. It aired on 18 January 2026 with still no officials on camera but with new White House and Homeland Security statements; Trump meanwhile said the new owners are “no better than the old ownership.” On 6 October 2026 Ellison closed the $111 billion purchase of CNN’s owner, telling CNN “We believe in complete editorial independence” and, asked if he pledged not to interfere, “Correct”; NPR said a board of journalists is to be set up within six months, and noted Rupert Murdoch had earlier “ignored and then overrode” such boards.

2 Apr 2018

Must-run. In 2018 NPR called Sinclair the largest broadcaster in the country, controlled by the Smith family, and said it sends stations “must-run” segments that include conservative commentary. That April anchors at nearly 200 stations read the same script about “fake news.” Sinclair’s news chief said it was “a warning about fake news circulating on social media” and that Sinclair’s “reporting is nonpartisan”; American University’s Jane Hall called it “a corporate piece of propaganda, in my opinion.” A study of stations Sinclair bought found coverage of national politics up about 25 percent and of local politics down about 10 percent relative to other stations in the same markets, with a rightward shift and a very small loss of viewers. In 2023 Sinclair laid off the newsroom of its Gainesville station and replaced local reporting with its national program.

21 May 2021

Alden. In May 2021 Alden Global Capital, already a 32 percent holder, won shareholder approval to buy Tribune Publishing, which includes the Chicago Tribune. Journalists told NPR of steep cuts: the NewsGuild said Alden cut staff at guild papers by 75 percent on average over one six-year period, and the Baltimore Sun newsroom had some 80 journalists, down from 400. A Tribune editor said Alden wanted profit margins above 20 percent against 10 to 13. Alden declined NPR’s requests for comment; its president, Heath Freeman, said the purchase “reaffirms our commitment to the newspaper industry.” These sources describe cuts, not Alden directing coverage; in 2018 the Denver Post’s own editors pleaded with Alden to “rethink its business strategy.”

13 Oct 2026

What is left. Northwestern’s Medill school found the 10 largest newspaper owners control about two-thirds of local dailies, and the 10 largest TV owners 75 percent of local TV newsrooms; it names “aggressive consolidation by large chains,” with changes in business models, as a cause of two decades of contraction. In the past year 170 newspapers closed or merged and 238 counties had no local news source, with nearly 47 million people limited or without access; less than 10 percent of this year’s closures were papers of the top 10 owners, though closures do not count staff cuts. A billionaire, David Hoffmann, took control of Lee Enterprises. Yet 75 startups began since 2025, and the staff of the Alden-owned Chicago Tribune won a 2026 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting for its coverage of the immigration sweep of Chicago.

31 Oct 2026

What still gets out. In 2025 the Wall Street Journal, which NPR called the Murdochs’ paper, reported that a letter bearing Donald Trump’s name was in a 2003 birthday album for Jeffrey Epstein. Trump denied writing it, called the story “false, malicious, and defamatory,” and sued the Journal and Rupert Murdoch for $10 billion. A federal judge dismissed it in April, let him refile, and on 31 October 2026 dismissed it with prejudice: the complaint “falls short of pleading actual malice,” and the Journal’s story had not ignored his denial. The ruling did not decide who wrote the letter. The 2026 Pulitzer for Public Service went to The Washington Post, Bezos’s paper, for reporting on the administration’s overhaul of federal agencies; ProPublica, a nonprofit, shared one of two local-reporting prizes with the Connecticut Mirror, for a series on towing companies.

2 Oct 2025

Dead? Bought? Owned? Gallup found trust in the mass media at a new low of 28 percent in 2025, from 40 percent five years earlier, but did not ask why; it was 68 to 72 percent in the 1970s and is 8 percent among Republicans. “Bought”: payment is documented here only for the CIA’s paid ties of the 1970s, and no scene shows an owner paying for a story. “Owned”: owners acted, mostly on opinion pages and endorsements (Bezos, Soon-Shiong), and the Post’s own newsroom, by NPR’s account, was not interfered with. A study of 429 U.S. dailies in 2000 to 2005 found owner identity explained far less of the variation in slant than reader demand (about 20 percent); it compares chains, so it cannot see one-paper owners, television, or what all papers share, and the Sinclair study found shifts after a purchase. This story draws no verdict.