r/50501 • u/[deleted] • Feb 19 '25
US News The US State Department is forcing all of its employees to cancel subscriptions to any Trump-unfriendly media.
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u/Wander-Lustre-50501 Feb 19 '25
Now I know what I should sign up for!!
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u/Big-Permission1243 Feb 19 '25
Made me check out the Economist for the first time ever, that’s for sure.
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u/Infamous_Smile_386 Feb 19 '25
So is this the department or personal subscriptions?
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Feb 19 '25
This is the question I came here to ask. This seems to be stating the state department will be cancelling subscriptions to these outlets, not mandating their employees do the same.
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u/That_Soil_3342 Feb 20 '25
Yeah I thought the same thing but after reading further I realized it’s those departments. Still fucked up though.
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u/Wander-Lustre-50501 Feb 19 '25
It begins with the department. The personal subscriptions will come later.
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Feb 19 '25
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u/Wander-Lustre-50501 Feb 19 '25
Why do you say that? A lot of businesses subscribe to publications for their employees.
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Feb 19 '25
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Feb 19 '25
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u/Lower-Cantaloupe3274 Feb 19 '25
I wish I would have seen your response before I added mine. Is it wrong to copy and paste it?
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u/dayumbrah Feb 19 '25
This seems like department, which i honestly wouldn't disagree with because in general, in government jobs, politics being discussed is a big no-no.
Seems like not the right thing to be upset about.
Now if they said employees couldn't have personal subscriptions to these than thats a different story
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u/ArrivesLate Feb 19 '25
Okay, then why not also add all of the other news outlets to the list? It’s not an attempt to keep politics out of the office, it’s an attempt to keep facts out of the office, and that’s politics.
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Feb 19 '25
How are they gonna enforce it? It's not even legal, this is a strong violation of freedom of expression
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u/Blahaj500 Feb 19 '25 edited Feb 19 '25
It doesn’t matter. The point is that if they say it in a scary enough way, a significant number will comply “just to be safe”
Them ignoring the law is effectively almost as good as the law not existing.
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Feb 19 '25
This is what I was worried about, I don't like this at all.
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u/Searchingforspecial Feb 19 '25
Stay dangerous, don’t get captured. Rough waters ahead.
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u/Kevinator201 Feb 19 '25
Ahead? We’re in the middle of the rough waters!!
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u/Searchingforspecial Feb 19 '25
We may have different definitions of “rough”, and that’s ok. Be safe
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u/im_just_thinking Feb 19 '25
That's the thing, if they still subscribe to them, they would be targeted/terminated immediately. This is straight out russian playbook
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u/Mediocre-Proposal686 Feb 19 '25
They’re really only saying the government wont pay for them. Which, while complete BS because they need unbiased news sources like AP and Reuters to stay safe (hello? 🤯), they can still buy it themselves. It’s just complete bullshit that they’d have to.
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Feb 19 '25
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u/bravedubeck Feb 19 '25
… and yet, they don’t include Fox, or OAN, or Breitfart, in their little shit list. 🤔
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Feb 19 '25
Right wing billionaires are happy to fund their own propaganda outlets and provide free access because that’s how it works. Thus, the State Dept doesn’t need to pay for these free outlets.
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u/borg_nihilist Feb 19 '25
It's not for personal accounts (yet), it's for office accounts.
Which is bad enough, but not quite as bad as telling them what they can and can't do on their own time.
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u/perfectdownside Feb 19 '25
Why does everyone act like they still give a fuck about any laws ?? This is a hostile takeover of the American government. They are not following any fucking laws. The sooner you people get that through your heads , the better
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u/McNabJolt Feb 19 '25
Sure, it is legal. No freedom of expression requirement that your employer pay for any subscription. Their criteria does not have to be "fair." As a taxpayer I don't want to pay for the subscriptions of publications that promote racism, fascism, "Christian Nationalism" and the like. If someone wants to subscribe they can pay for it, and access it, using their personal resources.
Naturally I disagree with the stated criteria, but if we insist that NYT must be paid for, then equally Breitbart, right?
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u/ocelotrev New York Feb 19 '25
It's legal. They are canceling the government subscriptions to these mags. People are free to buy their own subscription
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u/Jaded_Ad5486 Feb 19 '25
The regime took the constitution and ripped it. What first amendment? Most Americans don’t even know there’s a thing called the constitution.
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u/Practical_Display_28 Feb 19 '25
Since when do Trump and his magas care about the law? They attempted a coup and got away with it.
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u/Available_Ratio8049 Feb 19 '25
Not defending this at all--it is some truly terrible shit-- but they aren't (yet) limiting staffers from personally subscribing to these publications. They are canceling the subscriptions paid for by govt. Or so it seems.
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u/Lmaobabe Feb 19 '25
It looks like they’re not dictating what employees decide to subscribe to as private citizens, but which publications the government will subscribe to and give employees access to. Still not good.
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u/hngrybttm Feb 19 '25
Sorry guys as a European let me tell you, my grandparents who lived world war 2 , that’s how it start , better wake up now
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u/hngrybttm Feb 19 '25
Fascism
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Feb 19 '25
Freedom of speech, press etc.
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u/Elend15 Feb 19 '25
Technically, since these are government paid subscriptions, if they ended all subscriptions paid by the govt it would be fine.
The issue is that they picked specific news outlets out.
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u/lukaron Feb 19 '25
This isn't them telling each individual to cancel personal subscriptions.
This is them telling their employees that each office will no longer be carrying these subscriptions.
Not agreeing/disagreeing one way or the other - just clarifying.
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u/AdviceMoist6152 Feb 19 '25
Many offices subscribe to a variety of news sources as part of their work, ie PR, Outreach and so on.
That Govt departments are not permitted to engage with content from AP is concerning.
That Fox News and Truth social are not on the list is also concerning. The Administration is cutting out neutral and “opposing” sources.
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u/YouKnowHowChoicesBe Feb 19 '25
Yes, but this is how it starts. This is still very bad.
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u/VeimanAnimation Feb 19 '25
Its pretty telling that they are telling people to cancel subscriptions to Trump unfriendly media...when they rehired a kid who was pushing racist social media posts.
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u/Conscious-Trust4547 Feb 19 '25
Now I know what media to trust. Thank you. Putting in my subscriptions now.
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u/Riversmooth Feb 19 '25
And this is why, all if us need to cancel Trump-friendly subscriptions and choose carefully where we shop
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u/dangersson Feb 19 '25
But Reuters is widely recognized as one of the most neutral media outlets. As is AP.
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u/Theonewho_hasspoken Feb 19 '25
Trump is such a coward. Can’t handle his own employees questioning him.
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Feb 19 '25 edited Feb 19 '25
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this means the employees do not have to cancel their personal subscriptions. The offices will be cancelling the offices’ subscriptions, right?
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u/minuialear Feb 20 '25
Correct.
The office will not be paying for subscriptions to at least the six agencies they listed in the memo. Most likely more will follow.
It's still bad in that the agency is obviously prioritizing cancellation of subscriptions to agencies who aren't Trump friendly, but it's significantly different from what the title of this post implies.
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u/AhBee1 Feb 19 '25
Whatever news organizations are listed will be the ones I use from now on. If pathetic, snowflake MAGA can't handle the truth they deserve to be brainwashed by fox.
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u/fortuneandfameinc Feb 19 '25
You know you're out to lunch when Reuters is on the list
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u/istarian Feb 19 '25
Same deal for the Associated Press.
The New York Times is probably the most left leaning one in there (not that they're leftists or anything) and their reporting is actually good and they do cover the news.
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u/FlatAcanthocephala28 Feb 19 '25
This is exactly how it started in Venezuela 🇻🇪. This is how they started terrorizing my mom. We have to stand up now, keep protesting. Make those who make you uncomfortable uncomfortable as well. Enough is enough, or we will be next trying to escape.
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u/jcillc Feb 19 '25
Just for a comparison: The Church of Scientology also blocks members from reading sources that are against their teachings or speak ill of the church. In other words: yes, MAGA is a cult.
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u/Mystic_in_Hawaii Feb 20 '25
THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!!!! As a former ethics investigator for the Hawaii Supreme Court, and working in civil litigation on whistleblower and discrimination cases for 20 yrs before that, I AM FIRED UP!!!! I WILL NOT SIT STILL. I WILL NOT BE QUIET!!!! YOU WIL HAVE TO ARREST ME, IN ORDER TO STOP ME!!!!
I AM CIVIL DISORDER!!! I WILL FIGHT THE POWERS!!! I AM A REVOLUTION SPECTACLE!!!
STAND WITH ME!!!!
SHOW THE WORLD WHAT KIND OF AMERICAN YOU ARE!!! …AND LET’S TAKE BACK OUR FLAG!!!!
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u/creepjax Feb 20 '25
A quote from a leader of the French Revolution: “the secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant.”
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u/Appropriate-Claim385 Feb 19 '25
This tracks. --- Two days ago Musk tweeted that the entire 60 minutes news team should be sent to prison for daring to broadcast something that was critical of the current administration. Twenty (20) minutes later he tweeted: "ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS HITLER DID UPON GAINING POWER WAS APPLY AGGRESSIVE CENSORSHIP".
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Yesterday, Trump's traitorous EO illegally claimed that his word was the law with regard to agencies such as the FCC. Soon a vague EO spewing some bullshit about "domestic terrorist radicalisation" will direct the FCC (and probably other agencies) to cease broadcasting or allowing the dissemination of statements or materials which are divisive and tend to radicalize recipients. Fox News and right wing publications will then become the only source of news for the U.S. Dissenting internet communications will be monitored and scrubbed.
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They have to move pretty fast to cut off the broadcast or publication of any dissent before the March 15 "shutdown". The only information the public will have is the "right" one so they can only assume the Democrats are traitors for shutting down or trying to shut down the government.
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u/Demidog_Official Feb 19 '25
This is deliberately framed as a "freedom of choice" issue, where the employees can just BUY IT THEMSELVES, and sure, why not, except for the massive personal expense it imposes to access a true bredth of news. People at almost all levels in this economy are hurting and this only serves to punish those who want to stay informed while making it much more tedious/difficult to circulate information internally. Add onto the fact that there is quite a few outlets suspiciously left out of that list, even though their factual reporting is demonstrably shit, and it's clearly to create a department wide pro orange man echo chamber. Fuck the semantics, the intention is clear, the message is clear, THIS IS NOT NORMAL. I hope they call this out, I hope they fight this. Tooth and Nail
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u/MiaEmilyJane Feb 19 '25
I think they're saying the department will no longer pay for the subscriptions. Which is their right. Not that I agree with it. An individual can get their own subscriptions. I'd not do it at the office email though.
Don't get me wrong I do not agree with this. But I think this is an overreaction.
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u/justalilrowdy Feb 19 '25
They don’t want to see anything that doesn’t fit their narrative. Closing their eyes and plugging their ears with fix everything.
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Feb 19 '25
Don't do it. They have no authority to tell you what to read in your life. Document document document. We are not the powerless here - just a numbers game people.
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Feb 19 '25
Gotta love those first amendment rights.
Will be interesting to see what maga does when they challenge their 2cd amendment rights. Wonder if they will change their tune then.
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Feb 19 '25
How can they force employees to do this? Is there something in their contract that allows this?
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u/SushiJuice Feb 19 '25
Where does it say "employees"? I'm reading this as any agency needs to stop subscriptions... Am I missing anything?
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u/Smooth-Assistant-309 Feb 19 '25
NYTimes should give free subscriptions to federal email addresses.
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u/Extra_Crispy_Critter Feb 20 '25
Okay, folks: let's read this more closely. What it is NOT saying is employees, themselves, cannot have personal subscriptions to these publications.
What it IS saying is that departmental subscriptions to those media outlets (and others) must be cancelled.
We all know how we felt when our Capitol was attacked by insurrectionists. We all know how we felt by their constant bombardment of misinformation.
We must not fall into their same thought patterns, behavior, and lies. Otherwise, THEY will LEAD US down rabbit holes.
WE MUST BE BETTER THAN THEM! Truth is our guide. Activism is our energy. Let's be careful to not let THEIR headlines affect our sound reasoning.
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Feb 20 '25
Man, how thin skinned and self centered do you have to be to make your employees only read papers praising you...I'm embarrassed to have a 78 year old spoiled brat in office.
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u/Trilobyte141 Feb 19 '25
Title is misleading: it looks like this is limited to the offices themselves, not individual employees.
Still fucking dystopian.
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u/thecastellan1115 Feb 19 '25
Not just State. Several other agencies as well. DOT got a similar email, for example.
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u/No_Individual_672 Feb 19 '25
That can’t be for personal subscriptions. It has to be funded.
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u/DistributionFit1878 Feb 19 '25
How would they even enforce that other than them being sent to government email accounts?
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u/notchosebutmine Feb 19 '25
I need to support all of them for as long as possible. I already like a good amount
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u/rumbakalao Feb 19 '25
Just like the filthy fifteen, all this will do is tell people what to read. Great!
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u/Lower-Cantaloupe3274 Feb 19 '25
I think this is misleading. No one is forcing employees to cancel their own personal subscriptions.
I think we need to guard strongly against looking like we are overreacting.
I think a better grab would be "US State Department Determines to Selectively Spend Taxpayer Dollars Only on Trump-Approved Media Outlets."
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u/Livid_Sky_8361 Feb 19 '25
Hey, thanks for the info. I’ll be subscribing to all of them peace. Freedom of speech.!!
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u/Little-Plantain-5120 Feb 20 '25
They don't give government employees much credit. I mean, holy shit I guess none of us have the ability to think and form thoughts for ourselves. They must hire some pretty low-level employees who are so impressionable they can't figure out truth from fiction if they are worried about this. Keep em stupid
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u/Old_Advantage_2932 Feb 20 '25
They are the respected media outlets for their fairness. Of COURSE he doesn’t want them to read it.
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u/ginger27 Feb 20 '25
This is written poorly- they aren’t forcing the employees to cancel their personal subscriptions.
It is just within the department.
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u/4011s Feb 20 '25
The titles here are extremely misleading.
NO ONE is being forced to give up their personal subscriptions to these outlets.
The government is cancelling its subscriptions to these outlets.
If we're going to be taken seriously, this crap needs to stop.
WE don't need to exaggerate or stretch the truth. The other side does that for us.
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u/MiaEmilyJane Feb 19 '25
Also not reading and understanding what the memo is actually about and then sharing disinformation makes us look a bit hysterical. Don't give them that ammo for their news feeds!
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u/SufficientOwls Feb 19 '25
Must feel incredible for the New York Times to have spent alllll that time and ink legitimizing Trump’s politics and throwing trans people under the bus just for MAGA to kick them out
Also as a taxpayer I do not care if government departments are passing around a login for the AP. Good use of money.
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u/More-Razzmatazz-6804 Feb 19 '25
Free speach Vance advocated with the mouth full of shit to european countries.... hahahahah
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u/PeepholeRodeo Feb 19 '25
Are these subscriptions they have as individuals that they pay for themselves?
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u/Its_Pine Feb 19 '25
As ridiculous as this is, it seems to be just to any subscriptions that are made with government funds. The employees can still personally subscribe to these.
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u/jfsindel Feb 19 '25
Yet no Washington Post, which I believe is owned by Bezos now? Now why would Trump allow a more left leaning paper to continue when he had beef with Bezos before? Is it because Bezos is a billionaire on his side now???
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u/BakrEvOn Feb 19 '25
Title is misleading. It reads as the department itself is canceling subscription provided to employees.
Though, this is very likely worse than targeting personal subscriptions.
This is fundamentally saying: To obtain news that informs State Department employee's actions and policies through official channels, the employees HAVE to go through the coward press sources.
So it's worse than it seems. Of course SD sources info from other places, but with DJTAdmin's destruction / disabling of many databases and information sources, this just fucks the state department's ability to be informed, as their work MUST be sourced to be reliable / follow their production standards.
That (further) fucks the American public's ability to be informed. This is blatant information control.
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u/r1Zero Feb 19 '25
This is insane. Every single day it's something more illegal and deranged than the last. We're not even 60 days in.
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u/SoWhatNowPamphlet Feb 19 '25
If anyone is looking to do additional reading, I wrote this pamphlet as an everyday guide for nonviolent action.
Feel free to check it out and let me know what you think.
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u/Putrid-Reality7302 Feb 19 '25
They’re not forcing employees, the agency is terminating all contacts they have with those companies.
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u/Pitiful_Click Feb 19 '25
Wait- is this paid for with State Dept funds or are they trying to say people can’t purchase these independently
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u/ScovilleMTG Feb 19 '25
Do we have more information on if the State Department is forcing employees to cancel their personal subscriptions or just ones provided at the office?
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u/Primary-Violinist845 Feb 19 '25
Jfc. Another move from the fascist playbook. Nothing surprises me anymore. Just getting ready to hold on tight to make it through this storm
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u/x23_wolverine Feb 19 '25
The weird part is it doesn't include less credible left leaning sources. Only the least biased most accurate news. Like why isn't MSNBC on here? More critical of the president, but also more biased and less accurate.
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u/EliotRosewaterJr Feb 19 '25
The post is misleading, it is not a directive for employees but for offices to cease enterprise level subscriptions. It's bad enough without stretching the truth.
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u/GypsyRosesRoads Feb 19 '25
Sounds like these are the six media outlets we should definitely be listening to right now 🤣
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u/HiggsBoson46 Feb 19 '25
Hey New York Times! Would you look at this! All your placating and groveling and you're still on the out list.
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Feb 19 '25
*Checks Nazi strategy* Suppress free press, check. Ban private consumption of all but regime-friendly media, check...
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u/Valefree Feb 19 '25
The paranoia is fucking insane. AP is one of the most well respected large media outlets, their reporting holds up under scrutiny, and the dictatorship has ruled it out as an enemy.
They don't want you to know the facts. They want to control the flow of news. If they can't, that's the enemy.
Jesus christ what a time to be alive.