The First Amendment Is Under Attack—and Greedy Companies Don’t Care–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: Sept. 18, 2025

Indy Digest: Sept. 18, 2025

If you’re not concerned about the state of free speech in the United States, well, you should be—and it doesn’t matter whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican, an independent or something else.

First came Paramount-owned CBS News’ capitulation to President Trump after he sued the network regarding an edited interview of Kamala Harris on 60 Minutes. CBS agreed to pay him $16 million and make various changes, even though most experts felt the lawsuit was baseless. This was followed by the CBS’ suspicious cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert—despite it being the most-watched late-night talk show. Next, CBS agreed to stop editing taped interviews on Face the Nation, after Homeland Security Kristi Noem complained that an interview with her, in which she lied repeatedly, was selectively edited.

As Variety put it: “CBS News is giving up the power it has to hold Face the Nation interviewees to account.”

But all of this pales in comparison to the mess involving Jimmy Kimmel.

Here’s what happened: On his Monday, Sept. 15, show, Kimmel discussed how President Trump was dealing with the murder of Charlie Kirk. People magazine, of all things, has a very comprehensive account of what Kimmel said and did:

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel began. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”

“On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this,” he continued.

A clip then cut into Kimmel’s broadcast, showing Trump, 79, taking questions from reporters after the shooting, one of which offered their condolences for the death of the president’s “friend” Kirk.

When asked how he was holding up, Trump replied, “I think very good, and by the way, right there where you see all the trucks, they just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House.”

Trump continued discussing the ballroom plans, saying the result would “be a beauty.”

The cameras then cut back to Kimmel. “Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief, construction,” the comedian said.

“Demolition, construction,” Kimmel added. “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish, okay?”

Kimmel then showed another clip and further discussed Trump’s remarks about the White House construction. People magazine said:

“There’s something wrong with him, there really is. Who thinks like that?” said Kimmel, who previously sent condolences to Kirk’s family while denouncing violence. “Why are we building a $200 million ballroom in the White House? Is it possible he’s doing it intentionally so we can be mad about that instead of the Epstein list? By the time he’s out of office, the White House will have slot machines and a water slide.”

That’s it. To recap: Kimmel said nothing about Kirk or his murder. He did engage in some speculation about the motives of the alleged killer, and he criticized Trump for his … odd remarks. But he said nothing bad at all about Kirk.

Two days later, this happened, according to Reuters:

Kimmel’s comments led to a response from Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, who urged local broadcasters to stop airing “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on ABC. Carr suggested the commission could open an investigation and that broadcasters could potentially be fined or lose their licenses if there was a pattern of distorted comment.

“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney. We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said in a podcast interview with conservative commentator Benny Johnson that aired Wednesday.

“Disney needs to see some change here, but the individual licensed stations that are taking their content, it’s time for them to step up and say this, you know, garbage to the extent that that’s what comes down the pipe in the future isn’t something that we think serves the needs of our local communities.”

After Carr spoke, Nexstar Media Group said it would stop airing the show on its 32 ABC affiliates, citing Kimmel’s comments. … Shortly after Nexstar announced its decision, ABC, which holds FCC-approved licenses for the local broadcast affiliates that it owns, also said Kimmel would be pulled from the air.

Why are Trump and Carr acting like this? Because they want to shut up critics. Why are these media companies going along with them? Money.

As Reuters reported: “Nexstar, which needs FCC approval for its $6.2 billion deal to acquire smaller rival Tegna, drew praise from Carr, who thanked Nexstar for ‘doing the right thing.’”

Why did Paramount bow down to Trump? As The New York Times reported: “Some … viewed the president’s lawsuit as a potential hurdle to completing a multibillion-dollar sale of the company to the Hollywood studio Skydance, which requires the Trump administration’s approval.”

The president wants power and to silence his critics. Greedy companies want more money—and if the First Amendment and freedom of speech have to be sacrificed to get that money, they don’t care.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• Social media outlets are spewing a lot of hateful, divisive rhetoric regarding the murder of Charlie Kirk and the aftermath—and many of those posts are coming from foreign powers that want to divide Americans. The Associated Press reports: “Russia moved to amplify online conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk’s killing just hours after it happened, seeding social media with the frightening claim that America is slipping into civil war. Chinese and pro-Iranian groups also spread disinformation about the shooting, with those loyal to Iran’s interests backing antisemitic conspiracy theories while bots linked to Beijing claimed that Kirk’s death shows that the United States is violent, polarized and dysfunctional. America’s adversaries have long used fake social media accounts, online bots and disinformation to depict the U.S. as a dangerous country beset with extremism and gun violence. Kirk’s killing has provided another opportunity for those overseas eager to shape public understanding while inflaming political polarization.”

• President Trump and his allies have been claiming left-wing violence is at the root of many of the country’s biggest problems. However, some researchers, writing for The Conversation, have the receipts showing that right-wing violence is a far bigger and widespread problem: “After the Sept. 10, 2025, assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, President Donald Trump claimed that radical leftist groups foment political violence in the U.S., and ‘they should be put in jail.’ ‘The radical left causes tremendous violence,’ he said, asserting that ‘they seem to do it in a bigger way’ than groups on the right. … But policymakers and the public need reliable evidence and actual data to understand the reality of politically motivated violence. From our research on extremism, it’s clear that the president’s … assertions about political violence from the left are not based on actual facts. Based on our own research and a review of related work, we can confidently say that most domestic terrorists in the U.S. are politically on the right, and right-wing attacks account for the vast majority of fatalities from domestic terrorism.”

Vote Now!

• Our partners at Calmatters take a look at legal wrangling over proposed lithium mining at the Salton Sea: “Critics of a proposed lithium mine near the Salton Sea entered round two of their fight to force stricter environmental review of the project. It’s the latest stage in a legal impasse over the massive lithium project. Environmental groups are trying to make sure nearby residents get the benefits of lithium production, while guarding against harmful impacts. The company says critics are using court challenges to stall an important energy project. The nonprofits Comite Civico del Valle and Earthworks filed arguments with the Fourth District Court of Appeal last week, asking the court to reconsider a claim they filed in 2024, which a superior court judge dismissed earlier this year. In their appeal filed Sept. 11, the groups argue that the environmental impact report for the Hell’s Kitchen lithium mine neglects potential problems with air quality, water use, hazardous materials and tribal cultural resources.”

• Beef is more expensive than ever. NPR explains why: ““(The price of beef is) up 51% since February 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It’s the law of supply and demand. America’s beef cattle herd is the smallest in 75 years, in part because of drought. But Americans’ love of hamburgers and steaks has kept demand strong—until recently. In July, the U.S. Department of Agriculture continued to record a shrinking number of U.S. cattle and calves, forecasting that beef production would decline 4% over this year and another 2% in 2026. Meanwhile, foreign imports are also down. Brazilian beef faces a 76% tariff. Fears about the screwworm parasite have led the USDA to block livestock from crossing from Mexico to the U.S. to safeguard the nation’s food supply.”

• Today’s recall news involves … power banks! The Verge reports: “The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (USCPSC) has issued a formal notice with more details about the five power banks that Anker voluntarily recalled earlier this year. The agency has received 33 reports of incidents involving fires and explosions caused by the power banks, with four of them causing ‘minor burn injuries’ and one resulting in ‘substantial property damage.’ In total about 481,000 Anker power banks are part of the recall. The recalled units are all external batteries that can be used to charge devices like smartphones and tablets when connected with a USB cable, while one also features a wireless charging pad. … The model numbers can be located on the back or side of the recalled power banks which were sold through Best Buy, Target, Amazon, AliExpress, Walmart, eBay, and TikTok between August 2023 and June 2025.”

• And finally … the Coachella 2026 lineup is out! Here’s what Rolling Stone has to say about it: “Get out your wallets, the Coachella 2026 lineup has just been announced! On Monday, the music festival shared the full lineup for next year’s edition, scheduled for April 10-12 and 17-19. Sabrina Carpenter, Karol G, Anyma, and Justin Bieber will be the headliners for the 2026 edition. Carpenter … will lead Friday with XX, Disclosure, Ethel Cain, Teddy Swims, Devo, Sexyy Red, Central Cee, and girl groups BINI and Katseye performing earlier in the day among a packed slate of top artists. Bieber shared the lineup on Instagram alongside a lyric from the Swag II track ‘Yukon.’ On Saturday, he’ll be joined by the likes of … Addison Rae, Sombr, David Byrne, and PinkPantheress. Sunday with Karol will see the Colombian superstar cap each week with Anyma presenting his Æden project, while Young Thug, Kaskade, Laufey, Iggy Pop, FKA Twigs, and a slew of other major performers will also take the stage.”

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