A chicken for The New York Times, a star for Bloomberg: A new “Media Capitulation Index” ranks large media and tech companies

​Why Is So Much of Corporate Media Caving to Trump?

Free Press' new Media Capitulation Index shows how America's largest media companies are caving to authoritarian pressure. A better media is possible.

Shamed: The media companies deemed most willing to capitulate to Trump

Media advocacy organization Free Press on Tuesday unveiled an index that documents and rates major media organizations' reactions to the coercive demands being made by U.S. President Donald Trump.As Free Press explained in a press release, its Media Capitulation Index tracks actions being taken by 35 major media conglomerates who are facing pressure from Trump and his allies to curb critical reporting and commentary on his administration."In thi…

A chicken for The New York Times, a star for Bloomberg: A new “Media Capitulation Index” ranks large media and tech companies

What’s the best scale for measuring independence — or lack thereof — in 2025? The media advocacy group Free Press (not to be confused with the Bari Weiss publication by the same name) decided the answer was “chickens.” The organization’s pointed new “Media Capitulation Index,” out Tuesday, ranks the 35 largest commercial media and tech companies on a scale from one to five chickens, from “vulnerable” (Comcast; Microsoft) to “propaganda” (X/Space…

There's Now a Report Card for Media Capitulation, and It's Full of Chickens

Over at Margaret Sullivan's always-excellent newsletter, she's got an exclusive on something called the Media Capitulation Index. Free Press, the media advocacy group (not to be confused with Bari Weiss’ thing), basically created a report card for how badly major media companies are caving to Trump administration pressure. Their rating system? Stars for independence, chickens for capitulation.Out of 35 major media and tech companies they evaluat…