Muted: The Decline of Print Media
From the Voice of the People to the Property of the Powerful
For generations, print media was the cornerstone of democracy. Affordable, ubiquitous, and trusted, newspapers and magazines informed the public, held the powerful to account, and stitched communities together. Papers were a quarter at newsstands or free in libraries, cafés, or barbershops. No smartphone, credit card, or login required — just curiosity.
That civic space is disappearing. In this part of our series, we examine how the printed press, once the dominant and most accessible medium, has been gutted by corporate consolidation, financial collapse, and political intimidation. The Trump–Murdoch–Epstein lawsuit may be grabbing headlines today, but the rot runs deeper.
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The Trump–Murdoch–Epstein Flashpoint
On July 18, 2025, The Wall Street Journal published a leaked 2003 letter allegedly sent from Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein, a “bawdy” note featuring a crude drawing and suggestive comments. Hours later, Trump filed a $10-20 billion defamation lawsuit naming WSJ reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo, Dow Jones & Company (the Journal’s parent), News Corp, and Rupert Murdoch, accusing them of malicious, unverified reporting.
“This lawsuit is filed not only on behalf of your favorite President, ME, but also in order to continue standing up for ALL Americans who will no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings of the Fake News Media.” - Donald Trump
This lawsuit is unprecedented, not just in its size, but in what it reveals: even Murdoch’s own paper was not immune to Trump’s wrath when its reporting strayed. The move exposed how fragile even elite, corporate-backed journalism has become under the weight of political pressure, sending a clear message to the rest of the industry: no one is safe from retaliation.
Big Money, Big Influence: Who Owns the Press?
The American press, once seen as a civic institution, is now an asset class, owned and operated for profit and influence by a handful of billionaires and corporations:
Rupert Murdoch (News Corp) owns the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, and dozens of global outlets. A conservative media mogul, Murdoch’s empire prioritizes political influence and shareholder value over journalistic integrity.
Arthur Sulzberger Jr. & family, along with institutional investors, control The New York Times, balancing its historic prestige with shareholder demands and newsroom tensions.
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, owns The Washington Post through his personal holding company, Nash Holdings, steering the paper through the digital era but raising questions about how it handles stories that affect Amazon or Silicon Valley.
Patrick Soon-Shiong, a biotech billionaire, purchased the Los Angeles Times, revitalizing its newsroom while retaining ultimate editorial control.
Gannett, which owns USA Today and hundreds of local titles, is beholden to hedge funds and is subject to relentless cost-cutting.
Alden Global Capital, notorious for buying and gutting papers, controls a sprawling portfolio of local dailies, slashing staff and selling assets to extract maximum profit.
These owners don’t answer to readers. They answer to shareholders, advertisers, and political allies. The consequences are visible: Pulitzer‑winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes left The Washington Post on January 3, 2025, citing management’s censorship of her Trump‑critical cartoons. Back on June 14, 2018, Rob Rogers was fired from the Pittsburgh Post‑Gazette after leadership deemed his anti‑Trump cartoons unacceptable. These are just the visible tip of a much larger pattern, a culture of self‑censorship and quiet compliance taking hold under billionaire control.
See our previous reporting on attacks on the media here:
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How We Got Here
The collapse of print journalism was decades in the making.
First came the tech giants: Craigslist decimated classifieds, while Facebook and Google devoured display advertising. Then came leveraged buyouts in the 1990s and 2000s, saddling newspapers with crushing debt. Hedge funds like Alden Global Capital moved in to strip‑mine the carcasses, buying papers on the cheap, slashing costs, and selling off real estate.
Not even powerhouse papers were spared. In January 2024, The Washington Post’s core news research unit collapsed after senior staff accepted buyouts, leaving just two full-time researchers. Later that month, the Los Angeles Times shed more than 20% of its editorial staff, including investigative roles. These cuts don’t just reduce hours; they signal a retreat from journalism that holds power accountable.
Since 2005, more than 3,200 newspapers have closed, and over 55 million Americans now live in “news deserts” — communities with no local news coverage at all. Surviving papers have gutted investigative desks and resorted to wire‑service copy and press releases to fill pages. Paywalls, once seen as salvation, have made quality reporting inaccessible to many. Libraries, though present in 96% of communities, can’t fill the gap when the papers themselves disappear.
As local papers folded, the void was swiftly filled by social media platforms designed to promote sensational or viral content, rather than civic accountability. The UNC-CITAP report warns that, “In the vacuum left by the disappearance of local news sources, users are increasingly reliant on information sources that are incomplete, and may in fact be misleading or deceptive.”
Once a public good, news has become a luxury product.
Why Print Still Matters
Yet print remains vital.
Investigative journalism, from the Pentagon Papers to ProPublica’s Supreme Court exposés, often begins on a reporter’s notepad, not a TikTok feed. Local papers continue to scrutinize school boards, city halls, and police departments, covering stories that national outlets often overlook.
Print also created civic spaces. You could walk into a library or café, pick up a paper, and stay informed, no paywall, no login, no broadband required. As that vanishes, so too does the idea that news belongs to everyone.
The Legal War on Journalism
Those who cannot buy the press, sue it.
Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) have become routine. In February 2025, Trump banned AP reporters from the Oval Office after a semantic dispute, and later barred wire-service journalists from the White House press pool. At the local level, police raided the offices of the Marion County Record in Kansas simply for doing their jobs.
Legal threats drain resources, chill reporting, and force smaller outlets to back down, eroding accountability further.
See our earlier reporting on the AP here:
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What Remains: The Holdouts of Integrity
Amid the wreckage, some newsrooms still fight, proving that journalism’s spirit endures even where its infrastructure has crumbled.
At the national level, ProPublica has demonstrated how nonprofit investigative reporting can still hold the powerful accountable. Funded by foundations and readers, it has exposed Supreme Court corruption, billionaire tax evasion, and abuses of power too risky for many legacy outlets to touch.
In Texas, The Texas Tribune offers another path. Founded in 2009, it is a nonprofit sustained not by shareholders but by readers, sponsors, foundations, and its own creativity, from membership drives to its annual TribFest festival. Its diversified funding shields it from undue influence and enables it to focus on state politics with rigor and independence.
At the local level, a wave of community‑driven outlets has risen to fill the void left by corporate chains. In Chicago, Block Club Chicago sends reporters into neighborhoods that have long been ignored, covering housing, policing, and resilience. In California, Berkeleyside, a reader-owned cooperative, delivers grassroots reporting rooted in its city. And in Baltimore, after the collapse of the Sun, The Baltimore Banner emerged — nonprofit and fearless — already breaking major stories on city contracts and misconduct.
These organizations operate without the deep pockets or glossy brands of the old guard. They’re lean, dependent on donations, staffed by tireless teams, and yet they persist. What they lack in scale, they make up for in independence, rooted in their communities and accountable only to readers.
They are what journalism was always meant to be: fearless, public‑spirited, and embedded in the lives of those they serve.
They’re not just surviving. They are quietly redefining what journalism can look like in the 21st century.
Call to Action
Support nonprofit and independent outlets through subscriptions and donations.
Share their reporting widely to amplify their reach.
Demand accountability from the billionaires and politicians undermining the press.
Advocate for the return to journalistic independence.
We can mourn what we’ve lost, but we also have to fight for what remains.
Coming Next — Muted: The Silencing of Cable News
After network TV, public broadcasting, and print, the next frontier is cable news, the very stage where political narratives are shaped nightly. In the next installment, we'll examine how CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News are bending under the pressure of politics and corporate interests, sidelining critical voices, recalibrating editorial lines, and risking public trust.
Stay Informed. Stay Loud.
Subscribe to The Coffman Chronicle for no-BS political analysis, action guides, and weekly truth bombs you won’t get from corporate media.
Bibliography:
“Donald Trump Sues Wall Street Journal Reporters, Rupert Murdoch for $10 Billion Over ‘FAKE’ Epstein Letter.” Vanity Fair, July 19, 2025.
“Trump Sued Wall Street Journal Over Epstein Report, Seeks $10 Billion.” Reuters, July 19, 2025.
“Trump files lawsuit against WSJ, Rupert Murdoch over Epstein story.” The Washington Post, July 19, 2025.
“Trump sues Wall Street Journal over alleged Epstein letter.” Politico, July 18, 2025.
Marwick, Alice E., Robyn K. Kuo, Cameron Weigel, and the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life. “Addressing the decline of local news, rise of platforms, and spread of mis- and disinformation online.” Chapel Hill, NC: CITAP, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, March 20, 2023.
“Washington Post Newsroom Is Rattled by Buyouts.” Vanity Fair, January 2024.
“Los Angeles Times.” Wikipedia. Last modified July 2025.
“Ann Telnaes.” Wikipedia. Last modified July 2025.
“Rob Rogers (cartoonist).” Wikipedia. Last modified July 2025.
State of Local News Report, 2024. Northwestern University Local News Initiative.
Public Libraries Survey (PLS), Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Marie, I so appreciate you! This gives me hope! I was a newspaper editor many years...
I miss the smell of newsprint!