Such corporate restructuring isn’t unusual during normal transitions of political leadership. However, this White House is actively undermining American democracy to replace it with an authoritarian form of government.

As such, it’s incumbent on massive and massively influential phone and cable companies to refuse to cater to Trump’s whims. And yet many have already begun rolling back their diversity, equity and inclusion programs (see AT&T and Verizon), “dissolved” their  partnerships with several civil-rights organizations (see T-Mobile), and praised the Trump administration as “good for American competitiveness” (AT&T again).

Cable & Telecom Company Profiles

Follow each company link to learn more about its rating.

Rating Media’s Complicity with the Trump Administration

Free Press rates the degree — on a scale of one to five chicken heads (🐔) — to which each media company has compromised its commitment to independent news and information in exchange for political favors and higher profits, or simply to get the Trump administration off its back. In the rare instance where a company displays admirable independence from the political pressures of Washington, it earns a star (⚝), an ideal of autonomy to which all media must aspire if our democracy is to survive. 

In many cases, the question is not “who owns the media?” but “who owns the media owners?” This tracker provides readers with an often disturbing answer.

Legend

⚝ = Independent  
🐔 = Vulnerable
🐔🐔 = Compromising
🐔🐔🐔 = Capitulating 
🐔🐔🐔🐔 = Obeying
🐔🐔🐔🐔🐔 = Propaganda