Question Everything How Trump is Capturing America’s Media – Without a Coup
Oct 30, 2025
Join Natalia Antelava, Founder of Coda Story and seasoned foreign correspondent, as she delves into the unsettling parallels between media capture in autocratic nations and the growing trends in the U.S. She discusses how self-censorship plays a crucial role and highlights the influence of tech giants in manipulating narratives. Natalia reveals how noise and misinformation create an environment that benefits elites, raising urgent questions about the future of media and the potential need for regulation in Silicon Valley.
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Capture Creeps In Through Small Choices
- Media capture shows up as gradual self-censorship and small, justifiable choices that accumulate over time.
- Natalia argues the key sign is journalists altering decisions out of fear for their jobs or safety.
Russian Correspondent Forced To Push Kremlin Line
- Natalia describes a Russian TV correspondent forced to lie on air about troops in Crimea and later confessing his distress privately.
- He said he'd be fired if he contradicted the Kremlin line, showing individual coercion under capture.
Noise Has Replaced Traditional Censorship
- Noise, not direct bans, is the modern tool authoritarian regimes use to drown out truth.
- Natalia calls excessive conflicting information the new censorship because it buries reliable signals.