Jimmy Kimmel's suspension shows that dictators follow a playbook

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Filipino American journalist Maria Ressa with Jon Stewart compare the attack on free speech.

All this talk about free speech spurred by the Jimmy Kimmel suspension  is starting to look uncomfortably familiar.

One of the highlights of my journalism career is when I learned that I was among the journalists with an arrest warrant issued by the government of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos. I was so proud.

As managing editor of the San Francisco-based Philippine News my name was included along with PhilNews publisher Alex Esclamado and the other editors of the Filipino American weekly. The newspaper was noted for its strong anti-Marcos stance amid the coverage of Filipinos in the US, from baby births, weddings to discrimination against Filipino Americans and the Filipino-instigated Grape Strike.

But whatever we did at the newspaper, it was nothing when compared what our peers in the Philippines were experiencing under the strongman Marcos.

When Marcos declared martial law in 1972, he didn't just target political opponents. He went after something just as powerful: the free press. And he didn't do it quietly. He did it with a methodical, ruthless precision that left no room for dissent.

Here's the scary part, the stuff that should make you wake up at night because of what is happening in the US today under the Donald Trump dictatorship is uncomfortably similar.

In 1972, in Manila newsrooms, the lights went out.

It started in the dead of night, just as martial law was being declared. Marcos had his military forces shut down the biggest media outlets in the country: newspapers like the Manila Times, magazines like the Philippine Free Press, and even TV stations like ABS-CBN. Can you imagine? The Philippines press was noted as having one of the most vibrant journalism in Asia. One day, there was a vibrant, messy, free-wheeling, public conversation happening, and the next day, it's just gone. Poof.

The media void wasn't left empty for long. Marcos and his cronies—his buddies, his business partners—created their own media empire. Outlets like the Daily Express and the Bulletin Today popped up, and they all served the same master: Marcos. Their job wasn't to inform. It was to glorify. They sold the "New Society" myth, painting a picture of progress and peace while the reality was far, far darker. It was a lie, and they were the ones who made sure you believed i

Journalists who dared to question the narrative were rounded up and thrown in jail. Sometimes, they were tortured. Some of them never came back. Marcos wasn't just killing the message; he was killing the messenger. 

Some of the most influential media figures at the time were immediately taken into custody. These included:

• Teodoro Locsin Sr., publisher of the Philippines Free Press
• Chino Roces, publisher of the Manila Times
• Eugenio Lopez Jr., owner of ABS-CBN
• Prominent writers Luis Beltran, Maximo Soliven, Amando Doronila, and Juan Mercado.
•  Many journalists were held in military stockades for years.
• 34 Filiilpino journalists were killed during the Marcos regime.

This is the playbook of every authoritarian regime. When you can't win an argument, you make sure no one is allowed to present a counter argument. Hitler did it. Stalin did it. Putin and X are doing it. And, Trump wants to do it. 

Emergence of the "Mosquito" press

But here's the thing about a good story—it finds a way to get out. A small, underground "mosquito press" emerged despite the censorship and Marcos' strongarm tactics. These brave individuals published their stories in secret, and their whispers became a chorus of defiance.

At the Philippine News, visitors from the Philippines would smuggle out these stories which the PhilNews reprinted. Then, we mailed the newspaper to key members of Congress and open-minded members of the media.

The legacy of Marcos's attack on the press lingers to this day. We still see echoes of his tactics in the way the media is threatened and attacked. But we also see the spirit of the mosquito press in those who continue to fight for the truth, no matter the cost.

Most recently, disgraced President Rolando Duterte tried to silence Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa and Rappler, the online news outlet she helped found in Manila. Ressa was hit with several arrest warrants and convicted of cyberlibel. In 2021, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her defense of press freedom.

After ABC suspended Kimmel's show, Jon Stewart hosted Ressa on his Daily Show during which Ressa told Stewart, "I told you so."

In an earlier interview Ressa issued a warning that the US was in danger of following the Philippines during Duterte's rule including legal harassment, arrests, revoking licenses.

In that earlier interview, Stewart countered that the institutions in the US were more stable and the bullying of a free press could not possibly happen here. Sadly, he was wrong and that's why he invited Ressa back to his show. 

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel returned to his show Tuesday.

Kimmel reinstated

Although Disney CEO Bob Iger allowed Kimmel to return to ABC today, the Trump threat to media outlets remains. Sinclair and Nexstar, which together own about 20% of the ABC affiliates, said they would still not air Kimmel's show on their stations.

Although not well known by the general public, the Kimmel situation brought them into the spotlight exposing their undue influence in the information industry and disproves the GOP assertion of the so-called "liberal "leanings of mainstream media. If they are successful in having the FCC approve their expansion, the two corporations operate hundreds of television outlets and thus control the direction of news dissemination and our national conversation.

In his opening monologue Tuesday evening, an emotional Kimmel thanks his supporters in the entertainment industry and the thousands of ordinary Americans who were angry at Trump's attack on the First Amendment. 

"But I don't wanna make this about me because — and I know this is what people say when they make things about them — but I really, this show is not important," said Kimmel.

"What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this. I've had the opportunity to meet and spend time with comedians and talk show hosts from countries like Russia and countries in the Middle East who tell me they would get thrown in prison for making fun of those in power, and worse than being thrown in prison. They know how lucky we are here. Our freedom to speak is what they admire most about this country."

"We have to speak out against this bully," Kimmel warned. "He’s not stopping. And it’s not just comedy. He's gunning for our journalists, too. He's suing them, he's bullying them."

The intense outcry against ABC and the Disney Corporation saved Kimmel, this time. But Trump, Carr and his FCC said that this won't be the last attack against free speech.

The dismantling of America's free press is happening right before our eyes in real time. Yesterday they went after Steve Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel. Tomorrow it could be Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers or the all-woman panel of The View, all critics of the Trump regime.

"I think we're going to test ABC out on this. Let's see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million," Trump said in reference to the network settling his lawsuit over comments made by anchor George Stephanopoulos.

Trump, like dictator Marcos, systematically works to undermine public trust in journalists and media institutions that published critical reports. 

Trump popularized terms like "fake news" and repeatedly called the media "enemy of the people" to label unfavorable press coverage and outlets. What that constant barrage of negativity does is erode public trust in one of America's institutions and creates an environment of chaos. 

Democracy needs an informed citizenry in order for it to work. It is incumbent on us educate ourselves by continuing to demand and fight for a free press. As ABC and Disney has learned from the pressure they received in temporarily silencing Kimmel, the American public demands a free press, an essential weapon to fight corporate complicity. and authoritarianism.

So beware. The Jimmy Kimmel episode is only Round One.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. 

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accusations of “fake news” and flooding the information void with manufactured news, lies and their own twisted version of "fake news." 

 So, remember this: the freedom to speak is a muscle you have to exercise. If you let it atrophy, you'll find it's too late to use it when you need it most.

Jimmy Kimmel draws the ire of Trump, show suspended

EDITOR'S NOTE: Excuse me if I wander off my usual coverage of Asian Americana, but sometimes, events  impact our lives even if, on the surface, there is no apparent direct tie to the AANHIPI communities.

Jimmy Kimmel, left, was suspended after FCC head Brandon Carr, right, threatened ABC.

I had to watch "All The President’s Men” again just to remind myself of the idealism -- naive as they might be -- that attracted me to journalism as a career: Exposing corruption and coverups, offering new approaches to old problems, bringing attention to and giving a voice for  the powerless and, of course, seeking the truth.

If I had to make that decision in today's climate, I might not make the same choice because of what happened to Jimmy Kimmel. The hard truth: journalism is not a calling, its a business where the bottomline overrides principles.

Following direct and indirect pressure from the FCC, Disney which is the parent company of ABC, suspended "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" indefinitely on September 18, sparking a major debate over free speech, censorship and corporate ownership. 

ABC's decision to punish Kimmel came after he made comments concerning the recent killing of ultra-conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Most of the coverage on Kimmel's silencing has focused on the right of free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

During his opening monologue on Sept. 15, Kimmel suggested that conservative supporters of Donald Trump were politicizing the killing of activist Charlie Kirk. Kimmel mocked Trump's response to the killing and said the "MAGA gang" was "doing everything they can to score political points."

Who really owns US media

One might disagree with Kimmel's comments about Kirk's suspected killer. One might even say the monologue wasn't funny, but that's not what I'm focusing on. Here is the story behind the story.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr publicly condemned Kimmel, and suggested the agency could pursue "remedies" against the network, an apparent reference to ABC's broadcast license. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” he said.

The threatening message was loud and clear. Conservative-leaning affiliate owners, including Nexstar and Sinclair, announced they would preempt Kimmel's show on their stations. Sinclair Broadcast Group owns or operates 38 ABC affiliates, while Nexstar Media Group opeorates 28 ABC affiliates.   

Within hours of the affiliates' announcement, ABC's parent company, Disney headed by CEO Bob Iger, indefinitely suspended Kimmel's show.

On Wednesday Sinclair Broadcast Group, which has a reputation for a conservative viewpoint in its broadcasts, called on Kimmel to apologize to Kirk’s family and make a “meaningful personal donation” to the activist’s political organization, Turning Point USA. Sinclair said its ABC stations will air a tribute to Kirk on Friday in Kimmel’s time slot.

Nextstar, besides its ABC affiliates, owns or partners with more than 200 stations in 116 US markets, and owns broadcast networks the CW and NewsNation, as well as the political website The Hill and nearly a third of the Food Network.

Kissing up to the Trump government

It is not coincidence that all three media corporations, Nexstar, Sinclair and Disney, need FCC approval for expanding their influence.

• Last month, Nexstar announced a $6.2 billion deal to buy TEGNA Inc., which owns 64 other TV stations.In order to do that, Nextstar is asking Carr to bend the FCC rules that prevents an entity to own more than 39% of the market.

• Sinclair is also asking an exemption from the 39% rule because it seeks  a mixture of station acquisitions and sales — all of which require the approval of the FCC.

• Disney is paying $10 million to settle FCC allegations that the company allowed personal data to be collected from children who viewed kid-directed videos on YouTube without notifying parents or obtaining their consent as required by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA Rule). It also seeks FCC approval for the entertainment giant to purchase ESPN.

The actions of the FCC and media companies. alongside the billionaire owners of the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, both of which withdrew editorials endorsing Kamala Harris, and the always present Fox conglomerate, which also owns the Wall Street Journal and New York Post, and other conservative outlets should do away with the MAGA criticisms of the so-called "liberal" mainstream media.

Disney's decision was loudly criticized by journalists and First Amendment advocates. 

“Jimmy Kimmel is the latest target of the Trump administration’s unconstitutional plan to silence its critics and control what the American people watch and read. Cowering to threats, ABC and the biggest owner of its affiliate stations gave the Trump FCC chairman exactly what he wanted by suspending Kimmel indefinitely and dropping the show," said Christopher Anders, director of the Democracy and Technology Division at the American Civil Liberties Union, said:

Hollywood figures and unions, including the Writers Guild of America (WGA), condemned the move, organizing protests outside Disney Studios to defend free speech. Protestors held signs saying "ABC Bends the Knee to Fascism," and WGA president Meredith Stiehm called it a "frontal assault on basic First Amendment principles".

I strongly sympathize with all the altruistic journalists out there trying to do their job but are hindered by their higher ups more concerned about the bottom line and political motivations and abandon any journalistic principles and good intentions.

The results were all part of the plans of conservatives' Project 2026 battle plan. In fact, Carr was the author of that portion concerning the FCC and taking control of the media by silencing the critics and delivering only the Trump-approved messages, even if they are false or incorrect.

“This is beyond McCarthyism. Trump officials are repeatedly abusing their power to stop ideas they don’t like, deciding who can speak, write, and even joke," states the ACLU's Anders. "The Trump administration's actions, paired with ABC's capitulation, represent a grave threat to our First Amendment freedoms.”

Republicans are the majority of Congress, they dominate the Supreme Court and now they are seeking control of the Fourth Estate. Trump has shown he can order the military to do his bidding against Americans and ICE is acting like the Gestapo overriding peoples' Constitutional rights.   

America's freedom and rights are getting weaker not by a revolution, but slowly, a constant drip eroding the nation's democracy. Trump and billionaire enablers have the country closer to becoming a dictatorship and a possible Trump third term.

Even more troubling, in an interview with CNBC, FCC head Carr said, "We're not done yet."

Trump posted on Truth Social in response to the news about Kimmel, calling it "great news for America," as he threatened two other late night hosts.

"Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done," the post wrote. "Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy (Fallon) and Seth (Meyers), two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!"

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. 

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Jimmy Kimmel welcomes immigrants to America

MANY PEOPLE born as Americans often take their citizenship and country for granted. They have no idea what a big deal it is to become an American. 

Everyday hundreds of immigrants from around the globe -- including new Americans from India and the Philippines -- make the conscious choice and pledge their allegiance to the United States in ceremonies that are often humdrum and don't portray the momentous significance that life-changing event deserves.

Thursday night, (June 14) late night host Jimmy Kimmel welcomed immigrants the way the occasion should be celebrated. The results were amazing!
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