As an aspiring journalist, it’s important to know which news stations are owned by who. It’s reasonable to not want to work for a station that doesn’t tie into your beliefs. While personal opinions should have no real role in fact-based journalism, that’s just the world we live in. Every news station has its own agenda, usually determined by who owns it, which is then reflected in their reporting and coverage.  

Last semester, in my Critical Analysis of Journalism class, Professor Mark Kiyak showed us a chart of roughly five individuals who own different media conglomerates. Recently, in my Fake News & Dis/Misinformation class with Prof. Mike Igoe, we did a research project on the very influential and wealthy Ellison family. I learned that many of these media owners are friendly with President Donald Trump, and those who aren’t have been tested by him since his second inauguration. These experiences opened my eyes to media ownership, the government, and how the relationship between the two is affecting everyone.  

There might be five or six wealthy men out there that own the media, and less wealthy men who own media owned by other media. However, all of these powerful and wealthy men are under the watchful eye of the most powerful person in the United States: the president.  

In September 2025, entertainer Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show was briefly taken off the air after he made comments about the Trump administration and political commentator Charlie Kirk. Kimmel’s show airs on ABC, which is owned by Walt Disney Company, owned by Josh D’Amaro; he is now being tested by Trump over more jokes from Kimmel. 

Trump is pressuring D’Amaro to take Kimmel off the air for good, something he has no right to do since media censorship and speech regulation is something that the government itself cannot enforce thanks to the First Amendment, unless within the parameters of incitement to riot, fighting words, a matter of national security, etc. Yet, according to an article in The New York Times, Trump and federal regulators ordered a review of all station licenses owned by ABC. The FCC stated that this review was an investigation into ABC’s DEI policies. It came after Trump called for Kimmel to be fired by ABC. Kimmel made jokes about Charlie Kirk and the government, per his First Amendment right. He is now at risk of losing his job, because the Trump Administration is sticking its nose where it does not belong.  

Late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert is another victim of speech regulation. CBS, owned by Paramount, owned by National Amusements at the time, announced in July 2025 that Colbert’s show will end this May. At that time, Paramount had just settled a lawsuit with Trump for $16 million over a report aired on “60 Minutes.” Colbert, on The Late Show, said, “I believe that there is a name for that. And it would be: big fat bribe.” Colbert’s show was cancelled two days after he made this comment.  

While CBS was owned by National Amusements, in July 2024 David Ellison of Skydance Media had announced his intention to merge Skydance Media and Paramount Global. According to The Free Speech Project from Georgetown University, “many speculated that Colbert’s cancellation was a condition of the merger, given both Trump’s legal settlement with Paramount and his dislike for Colbert.” The Late Show’s final episode will air on May 21, 2026. 

David Ellison is the son of Larry Ellison, the owner of Oracle. Both of these businessmen are supporters and friends of Trump. In late April 2026, David Ellison hosted a dinner honoring Trump. According to an article by The New York Times, this dinner was hosted as David Ellison is seeking Justice Department approval for an $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN. Attendees of this dinner also include acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.  

According to The Washington Post, Larry Ellison, “participated in a call shortly after the 2020 election that focused on strategies for contesting the legitimacy of the vote, according to court documents and a participant.” This call also included Trump, Fox News host Sean Hannity, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). If the Ellison family ends up acquiring CNN, one of the biggest left-leaning media outlets, we don’t know what will happen. We can assume that CNN’s coverage and content will drastically change, and that the station will let go of reporters during this transition.  

The Ellisons and Trump also worked together to acquire TikTok, an app that Trump had a long battle with before it ultimately established an American version of the app. As part of this agreement, the new company in control of TikTok had to pay the Trump administration $10 billion. When TikTok’s service was restored in the United States in January 2025, every user was shown a message upon opening the app for the first time, that according to ABC News, stated, “Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!” 

In another statement, American TikTok wrote, “It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.” 

Since his first term that began in 2017, Trump has called out the media that he knows dislikes him. He’s been even more brutal to the media that openly criticizes him, going on to coin the term “fake news,” and using this term to describe every news outlet that criticizes, or even factually reports on Trump.  

The amount of involvement that the president currently holds over the media is frightening. No other president has been so involved in the media. It makes sense, seeing as he was a businessman before venturing into politics. He knows the right people, and has connections with them that work in his favor, at the expense of others.  

The president, as the leader of the executive branch, is in charge of conducting diplomacy, overseeing federal agencies, and enforcing federal laws passed by Congress. It is not the job of the president to control what talk-show hosts are saying, or who owns the biggest social media app. His influence on American media is outright concerning, and Trump should not be getting away with it.  

I don’t know where I’ll end up as a reporter. I know to avoid the biggest bad guys, such as Fox News, a station that brands itself as entertainment over news. I now know to avoid CBS, ABC, and will soon avoid CNN, depending on how the station changes its news coverage.  

However, what about all of the Americans who aren’t aware of the president meddling with the media? How can the public protect itself from engaging with media whose strings are being pulled by the president of the United States? 

We must continue to keep ourselves informed, no matter how painful or exhausting it can be. If the government won’t protect us, and if the media won’t protect us, it’s up to us to keep ourselves safe from misinformation and disinformation. We are past the point of trusting media owners and government officials. No one is going to hold your hand and tell you which news to trust. You have to do it yourself.  

Valeria Cruz is a junior broadcast journalism and public relations major.