The assault on America's free press is chilling, and I've been wondering when it would take a dangerous turn. I literally fear for the safety of journalists. 60 Minutes's reporting on the Trump administration's (criminal) constitutional overreach has been excellent and incredibly fair. I was happy to see that it continued last night with the alarming story of the catastrophic cuts to the NIH. We cannot stand for this assault on our institutions! WHY are there not a mere handful of GOP senators and representatives that are willing to put the fate of our democracy ahead of personal ambition??
The TRUTH is not "improper ideology" in a democratic society! So grateful for Substack.
For decades, Americans believed our greatest threats would come from abroad — from hostile nations, terrorist attacks, or economic collapse.
But today, it’s clear the real threat was homegrown: Fox News — a 24-hour propaganda machine that has done more damage to American democracy than any external enemy ever could.
Fox News was never a legitimate news organization. From the beginning, it functioned as a political infomercial, selling lies, hatred, and division under the fraudulent guise of “news.”
It operates not as journalism, but as a propaganda organ, dedicated to manipulating public opinion to serve authoritarian, plutocratic interests.
Even President Obama, cautious and diplomatic by nature, acknowledged Fox News as “destructive” to the country, comparing it to yellow journalism — a system not designed to inform but to inflame.
And yet — tragically — nothing was done.
No regulation.
No real public warning.
No executive action.
This was the original sin.
Had Obama treated Fox News as the domestic enemy it is — using the executive powers he absolutely had to regulate or even close down mass disinformation networks — we would not be living in this nightmare.
Instead, by failing to act, Obama allowed the cancer to spread:
Fox fueled the rise of Donald Trump.
Fox fueled election denialism, racism, COVID lies, climate denial, and political violence.
Fox created the environment where networks like Breitbart, OANN, and Newsmax could flourish.
Without Fox News, Donald Trump would never have become president.
Without Fox News, January 6th would never have happened.
Fox News is 90% responsible for the collapse of American political sanity.
And the responsibility for allowing it to metastasize without intervention lies squarely at the feet of leaders who refused to confront it early — especially President Obama.
The Constitution demands protection from enemies foreign and domestic.
Fox News is a domestic enemy of staggering proportions, more dangerous to the Republic than any external threat in modern history.
Had I been president, Fox News would have been shut down immediately — not for content censorship, but for systematic, provable, malicious lying that endangers national security and public health.
📺 The Cowardice of the Press
Recently, Bill Owens, the executive producer of 60 Minutes, resigned — citing political and corporate pressures from Paramount executives who may seek to manipulate the program's content in the Trump era.
While it's commendable that Owens chose to resign rather than bend to pressure, the reality is 60 Minutes and other mainstream outlets failed us too.
Had 60 Minutes used its vast reach 15 or 20 years ago to launch an all-out factual assault on Fox News — exposing its endless propaganda, its lies, its manipulation — Fox could have been delegitimized early.
The mainstream media's cowardice, their refusal to call Fox what it truly was — not "biased," but a domestic information terrorist network — enabled the monster to grow.
Today, we are paying the price.
📚 Best Books on Misinformation, Propaganda, and How to Spot Lies
"Manufacturing Consent" by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky
"The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread" by Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall
"Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics" by Yochai Benkler, Robert Faris, and Hal Roberts
"Post-Truth" by Lee McIntyre
"Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World" by Carl T. Bergstrom and Jevin D. West
"Propaganda" by Edward Bernays
"Republic of Lies" by Anna Merlan
"Weaponized Lies: How to Think Critically in the Post-Truth Era" by Daniel J. Levitin
"The Death of Expertise" by Tom Nichols
"How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them" by Jason Stanley
"Fake News, Propaganda, and Plain Old Lies" by Donald A. Barclay
"Why Trust Science?" by Naomi Oreskes
"A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy" by Nancy L. Rosenblum and Russell Muirhead
"How to Read a Book" by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren
"Disinformation: Former Spy Chief Reveals Secret Strategies for Undermining Freedom" by Ion Mihai Pacepa
🌐 Top Websites to Fact-Check and Detect Disinformation
Faux news sued in 2004 to not have to tell the truth! They take Excerpts from news articles and do not have to show the full comment, etc. Thereby misleading their audience. They won their lawsuit and weren't ever challenged again to my knowledge
Integrity. A dying attribute in a Country where a convicted felon is actively destroying anyone who shows that trait. Wake up America, we can all sleep after we save our Democracy. Sleepy Don is not in charge, he is the distraction. We need to reveal the traitors in the shadows.
I was "crushed" when I heard what happened. I worked for a college newspaper for 17 years and still believe in the freedoms this country holds dear. Those kids that worked there learned that they had to be non-biased and by all means truthful in everything they reported. Sometimes it got them a little bit of grief but most times it got awards. What they are trying to do to whitewash history in this country and control the freedom of speech is appalling!
For decades, Americans believed our greatest threats would come from abroad — from hostile nations, terrorist attacks, or economic collapse.
But today, it’s clear the real threat was homegrown: Fox News — a 24-hour propaganda machine that has done more damage to American democracy than any external enemy ever could.
Fox News was never a legitimate news organization. From the beginning, it functioned as a political infomercial, selling lies, hatred, and division under the fraudulent guise of “news.”
It operates not as journalism, but as a propaganda organ, dedicated to manipulating public opinion to serve authoritarian, plutocratic interests.
Even President Obama, cautious and diplomatic by nature, acknowledged Fox News as “destructive” to the country, comparing it to yellow journalism — a system not designed to inform but to inflame.
And yet — tragically — nothing was done.
No regulation.
No real public warning.
No executive action.
This was the original sin.
Had Obama treated Fox News as the domestic enemy it is — using the executive powers he absolutely had to regulate or even close down mass disinformation networks — we would not be living in this nightmare.
Instead, by failing to act, Obama allowed the cancer to spread:
Fox fueled the rise of Donald Trump.
Fox fueled election denialism, racism, COVID lies, climate denial, and political violence.
Fox created the environment where networks like Breitbart, OANN, and Newsmax could flourish.
Without Fox News, Donald Trump would never have become president.
Without Fox News, January 6th would never have happened.
Fox News is 90% responsible for the collapse of American political sanity.
And the responsibility for allowing it to metastasize without intervention lies squarely at the feet of leaders who refused to confront it early — especially President Obama.
The Constitution demands protection from enemies foreign and domestic.
Fox News is a domestic enemy of staggering proportions, more dangerous to the Republic than any external threat in modern history.
Had I been president, Fox News would have been shut down immediately — not for content censorship, but for systematic, provable, malicious lying that endangers national security and public health.
📺 The Cowardice of the Press
Recently, Bill Owens, the executive producer of 60 Minutes, resigned — citing political and corporate pressures from Paramount executives who may seek to manipulate the program's content in the Trump era.
While it's commendable that Owens chose to resign rather than bend to pressure, the reality is 60 Minutes and other mainstream outlets failed us too.
Had 60 Minutes used its vast reach 15 or 20 years ago to launch an all-out factual assault on Fox News — exposing its endless propaganda, its lies, its manipulation — Fox could have been delegitimized early.
The mainstream media's cowardice, their refusal to call Fox what it truly was — not "biased," but a domestic information terrorist network — enabled the monster to grow.
Today, we are paying the price.
📚 Best Books on Misinformation, Propaganda, and How to Spot Lies
"Manufacturing Consent" by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky
"The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread" by Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall
"Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics" by Yochai Benkler, Robert Faris, and Hal Roberts
"Post-Truth" by Lee McIntyre
"Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World" by Carl T. Bergstrom and Jevin D. West
"Propaganda" by Edward Bernays
"Republic of Lies" by Anna Merlan
"Weaponized Lies: How to Think Critically in the Post-Truth Era" by Daniel J. Levitin
"The Death of Expertise" by Tom Nichols
"How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them" by Jason Stanley
"Fake News, Propaganda, and Plain Old Lies" by Donald A. Barclay
"Why Trust Science?" by Naomi Oreskes
"A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy" by Nancy L. Rosenblum and Russell Muirhead
"How to Read a Book" by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren
"Disinformation: Former Spy Chief Reveals Secret Strategies for Undermining Freedom" by Ion Mihai Pacepa
🌐 Top Websites to Fact-Check and Detect Disinformation
Thank you, Olivia. I saw this on 60 Minutes last evening. Can you investigate more specifically what Paramount has said and done to stifle the independence of one of my alltime favorite shows? NO wonder Trump has never attended the White House Correspondents Dinner--he has no sense of humor, and no ability to take any form of critique.
Yes, I remember it well (Obama was so calm and cool and funny). So, Trump hasn't attended a Correspondents Dinner since he felt so insulted and humiliated--which is what he tries to do to others constantly!
That's the take-home point! Trump just lives to dish it out, but he doesn't have the character to take it. The "tough" guy is just a shrinking violet. And then we had Trump speaking to the UN General Assembly where they all laughed him out of the building.
Not only did Trump attend the 2011 dinner but Obama’s brutal takedown may have motivated Trump to run for President as described in this PBS Frontline excerpt.
The fact that there are NO Republicans and far too many Democrats staying silent on the orange man-baby’s attempts at silencing the media and the universities is as chilling as his brazen attempts. When did they (elected officials) and we, the citizens as a whole, become a nation of spineless jellyfish? Our pioneer ancestors settled this great country and we put the first human on the moon all hard, challenging endeavors, but yet we stand hapless in the face of buffoonery. Thank you, Olivia, for your clear, concise warning about what’s really going on.
It is ironic that the party that has been complaining about censorship and cancel culture, is now doing it themselves. Thanks for speaking out Olivia. When Trump called the press the "enemy of the people" I paid attention. I am not sure what it takes for other people.
The men who pledged their lives and "sacred honor" to each other would have never conceived of a United States where it would be illegal to criticize the government and the Supreme Leader, but it would be perfectly acceptable to lie shamelessly about a thousand other issues.
This is indeed chilling .. companies like CBS need to stand up to politicians .. not stand down. The push for profits over quality reporting is just another twist the greedy pursue for making more money. How much do the ultra wealthy need .. oh wait, it’s really about power over the rest of civilization.
The assault on America's free press is chilling, and I've been wondering when it would take a dangerous turn. I literally fear for the safety of journalists. 60 Minutes's reporting on the Trump administration's (criminal) constitutional overreach has been excellent and incredibly fair. I was happy to see that it continued last night with the alarming story of the catastrophic cuts to the NIH. We cannot stand for this assault on our institutions! WHY are there not a mere handful of GOP senators and representatives that are willing to put the fate of our democracy ahead of personal ambition??
The TRUTH is not "improper ideology" in a democratic society! So grateful for Substack.
thank you, Olivia, for the truth-telling, stating the facts, AND helping us *prepare* for the fight. we ARE the ones we've been waiting for.
So true.
Fox News: America's Most Dangerous Domestic Enemy
For decades, Americans believed our greatest threats would come from abroad — from hostile nations, terrorist attacks, or economic collapse.
But today, it’s clear the real threat was homegrown: Fox News — a 24-hour propaganda machine that has done more damage to American democracy than any external enemy ever could.
Fox News was never a legitimate news organization. From the beginning, it functioned as a political infomercial, selling lies, hatred, and division under the fraudulent guise of “news.”
It operates not as journalism, but as a propaganda organ, dedicated to manipulating public opinion to serve authoritarian, plutocratic interests.
Even President Obama, cautious and diplomatic by nature, acknowledged Fox News as “destructive” to the country, comparing it to yellow journalism — a system not designed to inform but to inflame.
And yet — tragically — nothing was done.
No regulation.
No real public warning.
No executive action.
This was the original sin.
Had Obama treated Fox News as the domestic enemy it is — using the executive powers he absolutely had to regulate or even close down mass disinformation networks — we would not be living in this nightmare.
Instead, by failing to act, Obama allowed the cancer to spread:
Fox fueled the rise of Donald Trump.
Fox fueled election denialism, racism, COVID lies, climate denial, and political violence.
Fox created the environment where networks like Breitbart, OANN, and Newsmax could flourish.
Without Fox News, Donald Trump would never have become president.
Without Fox News, January 6th would never have happened.
Fox News is 90% responsible for the collapse of American political sanity.
And the responsibility for allowing it to metastasize without intervention lies squarely at the feet of leaders who refused to confront it early — especially President Obama.
The Constitution demands protection from enemies foreign and domestic.
Fox News is a domestic enemy of staggering proportions, more dangerous to the Republic than any external threat in modern history.
Had I been president, Fox News would have been shut down immediately — not for content censorship, but for systematic, provable, malicious lying that endangers national security and public health.
📺 The Cowardice of the Press
Recently, Bill Owens, the executive producer of 60 Minutes, resigned — citing political and corporate pressures from Paramount executives who may seek to manipulate the program's content in the Trump era.
While it's commendable that Owens chose to resign rather than bend to pressure, the reality is 60 Minutes and other mainstream outlets failed us too.
Had 60 Minutes used its vast reach 15 or 20 years ago to launch an all-out factual assault on Fox News — exposing its endless propaganda, its lies, its manipulation — Fox could have been delegitimized early.
The mainstream media's cowardice, their refusal to call Fox what it truly was — not "biased," but a domestic information terrorist network — enabled the monster to grow.
Today, we are paying the price.
📚 Best Books on Misinformation, Propaganda, and How to Spot Lies
"Manufacturing Consent" by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky
"The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread" by Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall
"Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics" by Yochai Benkler, Robert Faris, and Hal Roberts
"Post-Truth" by Lee McIntyre
"Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World" by Carl T. Bergstrom and Jevin D. West
"Propaganda" by Edward Bernays
"Republic of Lies" by Anna Merlan
"Weaponized Lies: How to Think Critically in the Post-Truth Era" by Daniel J. Levitin
"The Death of Expertise" by Tom Nichols
"How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them" by Jason Stanley
"Fake News, Propaganda, and Plain Old Lies" by Donald A. Barclay
"Why Trust Science?" by Naomi Oreskes
"A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy" by Nancy L. Rosenblum and Russell Muirhead
"How to Read a Book" by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren
"Disinformation: Former Spy Chief Reveals Secret Strategies for Undermining Freedom" by Ion Mihai Pacepa
🌐 Top Websites to Fact-Check and Detect Disinformation
Snopes
FactCheck.org
PolitiFact
Media Bias/Fact Check
NewsGuard
The News Literacy Project
Ad Fontes Media
OpenSecrets
ProPublica
The Center for Media Literacy
Poynter Institute
🧠 Final Thoughts
Fox News is not a news outlet.
It is a weapon of mass deception deliberately targeting the minds and hearts of the American public.
Its influence has crippled our institutions, corroded our discourse, and enabled authoritarianism.
We must stop pretending otherwise.
We must confront Fox News — and any future imitators — for what they are: enemies of truth and democracy.
There can be no liberty without truth.
And there can be no truth while Fox News remains on the air.
Faux news sued in 2004 to not have to tell the truth! They take Excerpts from news articles and do not have to show the full comment, etc. Thereby misleading their audience. They won their lawsuit and weren't ever challenged again to my knowledge
Integrity. A dying attribute in a Country where a convicted felon is actively destroying anyone who shows that trait. Wake up America, we can all sleep after we save our Democracy. Sleepy Don is not in charge, he is the distraction. We need to reveal the traitors in the shadows.
I like you wrote and shared this regarding integrity. Integrity is everything yet becoming extinct
Thank you, Olivia, for your courage in standing up to this regime bent on destroying our country.
I was "crushed" when I heard what happened. I worked for a college newspaper for 17 years and still believe in the freedoms this country holds dear. Those kids that worked there learned that they had to be non-biased and by all means truthful in everything they reported. Sometimes it got them a little bit of grief but most times it got awards. What they are trying to do to whitewash history in this country and control the freedom of speech is appalling!
This is another stark example that the TRUTH is the most feared enemy of Trump and the MAGAts. They can't handle it.
Fox News: America's Most Dangerous Domestic Enemy
For decades, Americans believed our greatest threats would come from abroad — from hostile nations, terrorist attacks, or economic collapse.
But today, it’s clear the real threat was homegrown: Fox News — a 24-hour propaganda machine that has done more damage to American democracy than any external enemy ever could.
Fox News was never a legitimate news organization. From the beginning, it functioned as a political infomercial, selling lies, hatred, and division under the fraudulent guise of “news.”
It operates not as journalism, but as a propaganda organ, dedicated to manipulating public opinion to serve authoritarian, plutocratic interests.
Even President Obama, cautious and diplomatic by nature, acknowledged Fox News as “destructive” to the country, comparing it to yellow journalism — a system not designed to inform but to inflame.
And yet — tragically — nothing was done.
No regulation.
No real public warning.
No executive action.
This was the original sin.
Had Obama treated Fox News as the domestic enemy it is — using the executive powers he absolutely had to regulate or even close down mass disinformation networks — we would not be living in this nightmare.
Instead, by failing to act, Obama allowed the cancer to spread:
Fox fueled the rise of Donald Trump.
Fox fueled election denialism, racism, COVID lies, climate denial, and political violence.
Fox created the environment where networks like Breitbart, OANN, and Newsmax could flourish.
Without Fox News, Donald Trump would never have become president.
Without Fox News, January 6th would never have happened.
Fox News is 90% responsible for the collapse of American political sanity.
And the responsibility for allowing it to metastasize without intervention lies squarely at the feet of leaders who refused to confront it early — especially President Obama.
The Constitution demands protection from enemies foreign and domestic.
Fox News is a domestic enemy of staggering proportions, more dangerous to the Republic than any external threat in modern history.
Had I been president, Fox News would have been shut down immediately — not for content censorship, but for systematic, provable, malicious lying that endangers national security and public health.
📺 The Cowardice of the Press
Recently, Bill Owens, the executive producer of 60 Minutes, resigned — citing political and corporate pressures from Paramount executives who may seek to manipulate the program's content in the Trump era.
While it's commendable that Owens chose to resign rather than bend to pressure, the reality is 60 Minutes and other mainstream outlets failed us too.
Had 60 Minutes used its vast reach 15 or 20 years ago to launch an all-out factual assault on Fox News — exposing its endless propaganda, its lies, its manipulation — Fox could have been delegitimized early.
The mainstream media's cowardice, their refusal to call Fox what it truly was — not "biased," but a domestic information terrorist network — enabled the monster to grow.
Today, we are paying the price.
📚 Best Books on Misinformation, Propaganda, and How to Spot Lies
"Manufacturing Consent" by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky
"The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread" by Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall
"Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics" by Yochai Benkler, Robert Faris, and Hal Roberts
"Post-Truth" by Lee McIntyre
"Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World" by Carl T. Bergstrom and Jevin D. West
"Propaganda" by Edward Bernays
"Republic of Lies" by Anna Merlan
"Weaponized Lies: How to Think Critically in the Post-Truth Era" by Daniel J. Levitin
"The Death of Expertise" by Tom Nichols
"How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them" by Jason Stanley
"Fake News, Propaganda, and Plain Old Lies" by Donald A. Barclay
"Why Trust Science?" by Naomi Oreskes
"A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy" by Nancy L. Rosenblum and Russell Muirhead
"How to Read a Book" by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren
"Disinformation: Former Spy Chief Reveals Secret Strategies for Undermining Freedom" by Ion Mihai Pacepa
🌐 Top Websites to Fact-Check and Detect Disinformation
Snopes
FactCheck.org
PolitiFact
Media Bias/Fact Check
NewsGuard
The News Literacy Project
Ad Fontes Media
OpenSecrets
ProPublica
The Center for Media Literacy
Poynter Institute
🧠 Final Thoughts
Fox News is not a news outlet.
It is a weapon of mass deception deliberately targeting the minds and hearts of the American public.
Its influence has crippled our institutions, corroded our discourse, and enabled authoritarianism.
We must stop pretending otherwise.
We must confront Fox News — and any future imitators — for what they are: enemies of truth and democracy.
There can be no liberty without truth.
And there can be no truth while Fox News remains on the air.
Thank you, Olivia. I saw this on 60 Minutes last evening. Can you investigate more specifically what Paramount has said and done to stifle the independence of one of my alltime favorite shows? NO wonder Trump has never attended the White House Correspondents Dinner--he has no sense of humor, and no ability to take any form of critique.
Trump did go to one during Obama's presidency. Obama eviscerated Trump for his stupid, stupid "birtherism" BS.
Yes, I remember it well (Obama was so calm and cool and funny). So, Trump hasn't attended a Correspondents Dinner since he felt so insulted and humiliated--which is what he tries to do to others constantly!
That's the take-home point! Trump just lives to dish it out, but he doesn't have the character to take it. The "tough" guy is just a shrinking violet. And then we had Trump speaking to the UN General Assembly where they all laughed him out of the building.
Not only did Trump attend the 2011 dinner but Obama’s brutal takedown may have motivated Trump to run for President as described in this PBS Frontline excerpt.
https://youtu.be/Htt91G2qDwM?si=7j8n9QVcaDehzdGM
Yes, I've read that's is where Trump decided on his fever dream.
The fact that there are NO Republicans and far too many Democrats staying silent on the orange man-baby’s attempts at silencing the media and the universities is as chilling as his brazen attempts. When did they (elected officials) and we, the citizens as a whole, become a nation of spineless jellyfish? Our pioneer ancestors settled this great country and we put the first human on the moon all hard, challenging endeavors, but yet we stand hapless in the face of buffoonery. Thank you, Olivia, for your clear, concise warning about what’s really going on.
I have always wanted to go to “Nerd Prom!”
Olivia, you looked happy and motivated in all your recent photo posts :) Joy is fuel for the fight ~Cada Día La Lucha
🫶 In this together. Not backing down!
It is ironic that the party that has been complaining about censorship and cancel culture, is now doing it themselves. Thanks for speaking out Olivia. When Trump called the press the "enemy of the people" I paid attention. I am not sure what it takes for other people.
Dan Rather and his Team Steady provided great detail and insight on the 60 Minutes situation.
https://open.substack.com/pub/steady/p/meet-the-hero-of-60-minutes?r=1pvmiz&utm_medium=ios
People will slit the very throat of democracy to line their own pockets. Extreme wealth is a mental illness.
We have to stay the course and fight. The Nazis got theirs and these Magots will to. He will not live forever and justice will be served!
The men who pledged their lives and "sacred honor" to each other would have never conceived of a United States where it would be illegal to criticize the government and the Supreme Leader, but it would be perfectly acceptable to lie shamelessly about a thousand other issues.
This is indeed chilling .. companies like CBS need to stand up to politicians .. not stand down. The push for profits over quality reporting is just another twist the greedy pursue for making more money. How much do the ultra wealthy need .. oh wait, it’s really about power over the rest of civilization.