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Voting technology firm Smartmatic accuses Fox News, Rupert Murdoch of destroying evidence in 2020 election defamation case (LINK) 13 May 2025.

— Rupert Murdoch was chairman of Fox Corporation during the 2020 election, and his son was CEO. The elder Murdoch stepped down in 2023 and his son became Fox Corp. chairman. A Fox spokesperson said the latest allegations from Smartmatic were a "desperate attempt to distract" from a recent evidentiary ruling that was decided in the network's favour.

— Smartmatic claimed the deleted texts were from November and December 2020, when numerous Fox hosts promoted the debunked lie that Smartmatic machines rigged that year's presidential election against President Donald Trump.

Daily Beast: Washington Post staff sound alarm at Bezos's CEO's drinking: CEO Will Lewis has seen a mass exodus among staff — but staffers can't even find him. (LINK) 13 May 2025.

Mexico is suing Google over 'Gulf of America' name change for US users: says name change only applies to the US portion of the oceanic basin (LINK) 10 May 2025.

Heavy social media use linked to believing and spreading fake news: first-of-its-kind study (LINK) 10 May 2025.

— "Individuals with signs of problematic social media use may also be more susceptible to health-related misinformation, so clinicians specializing in different fields may benefit from awareness of their patients' degree of social media use," said a researcher. "By identifying people who are more likely to believe fake news, we can help reduce its spread."

Journalist Ekaterina Barabash after escaping Russia: Russians have "always been taught that Ukraine is just a part of Russia. But this belief is a kind of poison. It's something that every Russian grows up with, often without even realizing it." (LINK) 10 May 2025.

— "I often hear [...] 'Everyone lies.' They're willing to accept the lies from Russian propaganda, but they won't even consider competing narratives from other sources. 'Everyone lies,' they say. It's an awful argument — a foolish one, really."

Scientists who studied Fox News: 11 findings (LINK) 8 May 2025.

— Trump's public attacks on Fox News correlated with dips in the network's ratings: Democrats responded by viewing Fox News as more moderate and were more open to watching it.

— Fox News viewers who watched Dr. Anthony Fauci were more likely to adopt COVID-19 mitigation behaviors, such as using disinfectant and social distancing, compared to those who saw him on other platforms like CNBC. Although watching Fauci didn't change beliefs about hydroxychloroquine, it did lead to increased commitment to health behaviour, but only when he appeared on Fox News. This suggests that scientists may be more persuasive when speaking directly to skeptical audiences through trusted channels.

— Using Fox News website correlated with reduced knowledge of societal issues, such as climate change, unemployment, and economic trends.

Nicaragua withdraws from UNESCO in protest over press freedom award to Nicaraguan newspaper, La Prensa (LINK) 4 May 2025.

Voice of America could be back on air next week: the broadcaster fell silent in March after an executive order by US President Donald Trump (LINK) 3 May 2025.

US federal court halts ruling ordering Voice of America to allow employees back to work and restore funding for Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks (LINK).

— The appeals court in a 2-1 decision suggested earlier judge lacked jurisdiction to order the employees to return to work and to require the restoration of $15 million in grants for Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks.

Radio Free Asia announces mass layoffs amid funding fight with Trump administration: about 90 percent of staff, and shutting down many of its language services (LINK) 2 May 2025.

— Since 1996, RFA has broadcast in languages like Burmese, Cambodian and Mandarin to a weekly audience of around 60 million listeners.

President Trump orders Corporation for Public Broadcasting to end federal funding for NPR and PBS (LINK) 1 May 2025.

whitehouse.gov: "Ending Taxpayer Subsidization Of Biased Media" (LINK) — 1 May 2025.

2025 media headlines