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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

I attended the No Kings protest near where I live, then checked my local corporate media newspapers and network TV stations. The stories were terrible. Really did not capture the spirit of the event. So thank you to all the Journalers and Archivists out there. What you're doing is important!

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

@mattgertz.bsky.social I worked pretty hard on this and thought you might be interested. I did it because I couldn't find it all laid out in one place anywhere else. Maybe this isn't the right way to present it but, like, the people need to know, ya know?

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Reposted by Survive the Tyrant!

Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

(Also, writing this feels like 88 lines about 44 billionaires) ...OK, /intermission, back to it... 33/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

I put a little effort into cataloguing the "vapid media" and naming names of who exactly they are. bsky.app/profile/surv...

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

I’m stepping away again, with one more thank you to the people who were kind to us as we tried to get our guide in people’s hands. Especially @mostlybree.kitrocha.com @courtneymilan.com and @theradr.bsky.social Please stay safe and do what you can

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

If you’re not sure what you can do, these are tremendous resources. Find your role, form your adventuring party, and go do whatever good you can. www.lifeisasacredtext.com/deck/ www.lifeisasacredtext.com/goodtrouble/

lifeisasacredtext.com

find your place on deck

another world is possible-- but we must start living into it today

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

It doesn’t really matter though. It had the effect it had. Every organizer we respect says the same thing: try and do stuff with other people. You don’t know what will work The only way we are getting through this, emotionally, is by doing what we can. bsky.app/profile/raha...

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

It’s hard to tell if our little zine was made for the right audience. I’m not sure the RPG community really embraced it. But we obviously don’t know how much it was passed around (we have seen people sharing the link some and printing them for little free libraries and the like).

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

If anything, we underestimated how much they control the media. As much as you are able, please try to stop supporting their businesses. Find alternatives the best you can. bsky.app/profile/surv...

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

One thing I think we got right was the focus on billionaires.

A quote from our zine Survive the Tyrant!

"The regime’s most loyal allies are the ultra-rich. Authoritarian regimes depend on the support of billionaire oligarchs and their businesses. Those businesses depend on all of us to be their customers. Many social media networks, newspapers, and other media organizations are owned and controlled by individual billionaires. As much as you can, avoid supporting billionaire-owned businesses. Be wary of anything you see
on a billionaire’s social network or newspaper. If you can, cancel your accounts with them entirely."

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Still, organizing people is hard, and we definitely did not mean to make it harder. I wish we’d said more clearly: “when someone you trust is trying to organize, please say YES and help however you can.” As @prisonculture.bsky.social says, “people are in motion everywhere.” Join them.

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Friends, it’s been a year since we published Survive the Tyrant! I started writing these reflections in December, and at that time it felt like our tone may have been too negative, too cautious. With ICE escalating, now it feels like our message of “first stay safe” was correct.

The back page of Survive the Tyrant! "Stay Safe / Help People / Boycott the Billionaires / When the Time Comes, Take to the Streets / Help Rebuild When This Is Over / Survive"

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

If you made it this far, consider taking a look at our zine. bsky.app/profile/surv... And please support and subscribe to: Your local NPR and PBS stations wikimediafoundation.org archive.org fallows.substack.com www.thehandbasket.co/p/independen... 43/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

There are of course countless dedicated journalists working at all of these organizations, billionaire-owned and not. And many more at smaller, independent publications. The courage it takes to practice real, ethical journalism in America today should not be lost on anyone. 42/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

There’s a tremendous opportunity for Disney/ABC, Netflix/CNN, and USA Today to separate from the pack by providing ethically sound journalism that is not warped by the worldview of a billionaire patron. They should market themselves as independent—and then prove it. 41/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

USA Today Co. operates many local newspapers along with USA Today. It is publicly traded and doesn’t seem to be controlled by minority shareholders. 40/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Netflix founder Reed Hastings owns a lot of shares, but maybe not enough to control the company. It’s possible that moving Warner Bros. Discovery and CNN to Netflix and out of billionaire John Malone’s control may be an improvement. 39/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

The Guardian is operated by a blind trust for the benefit of the heirs of founder C.P. Scott, but the Scott family does not appear to control its operations. So it may actually be run as a business, and in the interest of its subscribers. 38/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

The Associated Press is cooperatively owned by its members: other news organizations. It is not controlled by one billionaire, but its members are mostly the billionaire-owned businesses listed above. So the industry rot infects the AP too. 37/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Apple (streaming video, etc.) is also publicly traded and doesn’t seem to be controlled by minority shareholders. Tim Cook has steered them in a strongly pro-Trump direction, but they could be responsive to customers and the public. 36/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Disney/ABC is a publicly traded company that does not appear to be controlled by minority shareholders. Rivers of ink have been spilt describing the egos in charge at Disney, but to their credit they did ultimately respond to public pressure on Jimmy Kimmel. They may be reachable. 35/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

(Also, writing this feels like 88 lines about 44 billionaires) ...OK, /intermission, back to it... 33/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

How did we get here? I’m no expert, but @jfallows.bsky.social is. It’s been about 30 years since he wrote Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy. Here's a link to his current writings. 32/43 fallows.substack.com

fallows.substack.com

Breaking the News | James Fallows | Substack

Dispatches from a veteran reporter. Click to read Breaking the News, by James Fallows, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

These are the billionaires who directed the media to obsess about Biden’s age (but not Trump’s) and disavow Trump’s connections to Project 2025. These are the people to blame for where we find ourselves. 31/43 armoxon.substack.com/p/we-cant-af...

armoxon.substack.com

We Can't Afford Billionaires

Fighting back against a grotesque perversion of our shared humanity; doing so by building community in a nation built to accommodate community-destroying narcissists. Read to the end for an invitation

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

...Intermission... Can we just take a moment to reflect here on the ego, the hubris of the people listed above. Their goal is to try to control reality by controlling how it is observed. To alter actual truth by bending our perception of it. But they themselves know they’re selling lies! 30/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

X/Twitter is the most obvious example of a billionaire with no prior media experience buying something just for the megaphone. For all its flaws, Twitter was a crucial public space. Elon Musk brought it to silence voices he doesn’t like, and effectively destroyed it. 29/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Warner Bros. Discovery operates CNN, along with many other channels and HBO Max. Billionaire John Malone orchestrated CNN’s rightward shift over the last few years. Netflix is in the process of purchasing Warner Bros. Discovery. 28/43 www.vox.com/2022/8/26/23...

vox.com

Billionaire John Malone loves Fox News. But he owns a piece of CNN.

One of the world’s most powerful news outlets has a new mandate.

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

US News and World Report was the third of the “big three” magazines, and well known for its college rankings. It is owned by Mortimer Zuckerman. 27/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Truth Social is the social network Donald Trump founded in 2022. 26/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Time Magazine was another of the “big three” and a very trusted news source, known for its annual person of the year. It was purchased by Marc Benioff of Salesforce in 2018. 25/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

The Reuters wire service is part of Thomson Reuters, which is controlled by David Thomson and the Thomson family of Canada. Thomson Reuters also aggregates financial and legal news and provides services to the legal industry. 24/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Politico and Business Insider are published by right-wing German publisher Axel Springer (Bild and Welt), which is controlled by Friede Springer and Mathias Döpfner. Döpfner is the billionaire who urged Elon Musk to buy Twitter. 23/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

People Inc. publishes the Daily Beast, People, and Entertainment Weekly. It is part of billionaire Barry Diller’s IAC. People and the Daily Beast have been reporting on Donald Trump’s health when many others are avoiding that topic. 22/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Nexstar (billionaire Perry A. Sook) and Sinclair (the Sinclair Smith family) own hundreds of local television stations. They refused to air Jimmy Kimmel’s return on their ABC affiliates. 21/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Newsweek was once of the “big three” news magazines. Effectively destroyed by vulture capitalists, it is now owned by two businessmen. 20/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

The New York Times is controlled by the Ochs-Sulzberger family. Once the gold standard in journalism, a clear bias has been obvious for many years. 19/43 bsky.app/profile/tran...

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

NBC is owned by Comcast, which is controlled by Brian L. Roberts. MS NOW (previously MSNBC), CNBC, and the USA Network were spun off to Versant, which Roberts also controls. 18/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

McClatchy Media operates many local newspapers including the Miami Herald, Charlotte Observer, Kansas City Star, and Sacramento Bee. It is run by Anthony Melchiorre’s A360 Media and Chatham Asset Management. Melchiorre is known for close ties with the Republican Party. 17/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

The Los Angeles Times is owned by medical researcher and investor Patrick Soon-Shiong. He has repeatedly directed the Times to change what it was publishing to match his views and to kill articles that were critical of Donald Trump. 16/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

The Hearst Corporation is run by the heirs of William Randolph Hearst, and operates newspapers including the Albany Times-Union, Houston Chronicle, and San Francisco Chronicle along with magazines like Cosmopolitan and Esquire. 15/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Google/Alphabet doesn’t just do search and email. Android runs on most phones and YouTube is a vital source of news, especially for younger people. Millions use news aggregator Google News. The company is controlled by Sergey Brin and Larry Page. 14/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Fox News’s Rupert Murdoch taught all the rest of the modern billionaires the power of owning a media empire. His newspapers (including the WSJ) also advance his worldview. Has anyone in history done more damage to the principles of ethical journalism? 13/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Facebook and Instagram are primary news sources for huge numbers of people. Marc Zuckerberg has been open about Meta’s practices of adjusting algorithms to amplify or silence certain viewpoints. 12/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Echostar/Dish is controlled by billionaire Charles Ergen. In some parts of the country, that satellite network is a crucial communications lifeline. 11/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

The Cox Family runs the cable company Cox Communications, the news site Axios, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and several newspapers in Ohio. 10/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Conde Nast, the magazine publisher, is controlled by billionaire Donald Newhouse. Teen Vogue was a crucial progressive voice until it was gutted this year. Wired, the New Yorker, and Vanity Fair have done valuable unbiased reporting. How long will that last? 9/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

CBS in the Walter Cronkite era was the most trusted network. Now controlled by Oracle’s Larry Ellison, it is a mouthpiece for the Trump Administration. And Ellison’s corrupt acquisition of TikTok may be even worse for free and open speech in America. 8/43

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Survive the Tyrant! @survivethetyrant.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Michael Bloomberg embodies his media brand. He served as mayor of New York as a Democrat but recently poured millions into Andrew Cuomo’s independent campaign to prevent Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani from becoming mayor. 7/43

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