10 media moments and controversies that defined 2025

As 2025 ends, the media landscape stands as a mirror of a year marked by political upheaval, cultural flashpoints, and a rapid evolution in how Americans consume information. 

From headline-dominating controversies and feuds to viral moments that reshaped public narratives in real time, the press once again found itself at the center of the national conversation -- both reporting the story and, at times, becoming it. 

Here are 10 media moments and controversies that defined 2025, revealing how power, credibility and influence collided in an unprecedented era:

2025 LOOKBACK: MEDIA'S CREDIBILITY FRACTURES AGAIN AFTER BIDEN MENTAL DECLINE EXPOSED

Jury finds CNN committed defamation against Navy veteran, settlement reached on punitive damages

A jury found that CNN committed defamation against U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young and was responsible for punitive damages in January after more than eight hours of deliberation. 

Young successfully alleged that CNN smeared him by implying he illegally profited when helping people flee Afghanistan on the "black market" during the Biden administration's military withdrawal from the country in 2021. Young said CNN "destroyed his reputation and business" by branding him an illegal profiteer" who exploited "desperate Afghans" during a November 11, 2021, report by Alex Marquardt that first aired on CNN’s "The Lead with Jake Tapper." 

The six-person jury ruled Young was awarded $4 million in lost earnings, $1 million in personal damages such as pain and suffering and said that punitive damages are warranted against CNN. As the jury was gearing up to determine punitive damages, 14th Judicial Circuit Court Judge William S. Henry announced that Young and CNN reached a settlement for the amount that would be awarded to the Navy veteran. 

The jury foreman later told Fox News Digital they were prepared to make CNN pay "somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 million to $100 million." 

CNN said it would take "useful lessons" from the decision. 

"We remain proud of our journalists and are 100% committed to strong, fearless and fair-minded reporting at CNN, though we will of course take what useful lessons we can from this case," a CNN spokesperson told Fox News Digital at the time. 

Marquardt left CNN in June. 

Paramount, CBS forced to pay eight figures, change editorial policy in settlement with President Trump

Paramount Global and CBS agreed in July to pay President Donald Trump a sum that could reach north of $30 million to settle the president’s election interference lawsuit against the network. 

Trump was seeking $20 billion in his lawsuit against CBS over its handling of a "60 Minutes" interview last year with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing the network of election interference leading up to the 2024 contest. CBS did not acknowledge any journalistic wrongdoing with the settlement. 

The lawsuit alleged CBS News deceitfully edited an exchange Harris had with "60 Minutes" correspondent Bill Whitaker, who asked her why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn't "listening" to the Biden administration. Harris was widely mocked for the "word salad" answer that aired in a preview clip of the interview on CBS' "Face the Nation." 

However, when the same question aired during a primetime special on the network, Harris had a different, more concise response. Critics at the time accused CBS News of deceitfully editing Harris' "word salad" answer to shield the Democratic nominee from further backlash leading up to Election Day.

Trump received $16 million upfront. This covered legal fees, costs of the case, and contributions to his future presidential library or charitable causes, to be determined at Trump’s discretion. 

There was also an anticipation that there would be another allocation in the eight figures set aside for advertisements, public service announcements, or other similar transmissions, in support of conservative causes by the network in the future. 

Sources close to the situation told Fox News Digital that CBS has agreed to update its editorial standards to install a mandatory new rule. Going forward, the network will promptly release full, unedited transcripts of future presidential candidates’ interviews. People involved in the settlement talks have referred to this as the "Trump Rule." 

Trump yanks federal funding from NPR, PBS

NPR and PBS were long lambasted by President Trump and other Republicans as a left-leaning institution that didn’t deserve taxpayer money, but after years of banter, federal funding was finally cut in 2025. 

Trump said he "would love to" remove federal funding outlets NPR and PBS during a meeting at the White House in late March – and he fulfilled that goal in July when he signed into law his roughly $9 billion rescissions package. 

The package included over $1 billion in cuts from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the government-backed funding arm for NPR and PBS. The clawback package teed up cuts to "woke" spending on foreign aid programs and public media, as Republicans finally yanked federal money in a move advocates said was long overdue.

Once Trump returned to the White House, stripping public media of federal funding began to emerge as a realistic possibility after longtime NPR editor Uri Berliner spoke out about the public radio outlet in 2024 with a Free Press essay. Berliner, who detailed the "absence of viewpoint diversity" at the organization, criticized NPR’s coverage of Russiagate, the COVID lab leak theory and Hunter Biden’s scandalous laptop, among other issues.

Amid the fallout, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., invited NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS News CEO Paula Kerger to testify in March about what Greene called their "blatantly ideological and partisan coverage" amid a debate over public funding.

In her opening remarks, Maher said NPR plays an essential role in "delivering unbiased, nonpartisan, fact-based reporting" to Americans. Maher eventually conceded during her congressional testimony that her organization missed the mark in its lack of serious coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop story. 

Once Trump signed the rescissions package into law, Republicans celebrated it as a victory for cutting off the flow of U.S. taxpayer dollars to what they called "woke" initiatives.

RURAL NPR STATIONS ‘DISAPPOINTED,’ DETERMINED TO SURVIVE AFTER RESCISSION PACKAGE ELIMINATES FEDERAL FUNDING

CBS pulls plug on Stephen Colbert's liberal late-night show

CBS shocked the entertainment industry in July by announcing "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" would be canceled and off the air in May 2026.

Colbert, who transformed CBS' long-running late-night show into #Resistance television, had dedicated monologue after monologue to attacking Trump, elevating Democrats and boosting their agenda. His far-left fans were undoubtedly upset that their beloved Trump foe was being pulled off the air, accusing Paramount of bending the knee to an authoritarian. Trump rubbed it in by celebrating the move, writing on Truth Social, "I absolutely love that Colbert got fired."

It was the timing, however, that turned the cancellation into a controversy.

Colbert had recently criticized parent company Paramount Global for settling Trump's lawsuit against the company over CBS' handling of the "60 Minutes" interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the run-up to the 2024 election.

The ordeal came as a long-planned merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media, which needed approval from Trump’s FCC chair, was in its final stages. On a summer Thursday, CBS announced it would cancel "The Late Show," insisting it had nothing to do with the looming ownership change.

CBS said it was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night," adding, "It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount."

Later that month, the FCC approved the merger, paving the way for the deal to become official. 

Many critics, including top Democrats, accused the network of political motivation ahead of the Skydance merger. However, Colbert's show was reportedly losing CBS $40 million a year and had been running on a whopping $100 million budget per season. 

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel briefly suspended by Disney after Charlie Kirk remarks

One of the most shocking moments of 2025 came in September when Disney announced that ABC’s "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" would be preempted "indefinitely," in what turned out to be a short-lived benching.

On the heels of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, host Jimmy Kimmel accused conservatives of reaching "new lows" for allegedly trying to pin a left-wing ideology on 22-year-old suspect Tyler Robinson — even though prosecutors later reaffirmed those ties in an indictment.

"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 said.

Appearing the next day on journalist Benny Johnson's "The Benny Show," Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr called Kimmel's comments "some of the sickest conduct" and suggested there were potential "avenues" the FCC could pursue.

"Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way," Carr said at the time. "These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or, you know, there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead."

Carr’s comments were denounced by lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, but a statement from Disney led many Americans to believe Kimmel’s time at the Mouse House was over.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live will be preempted indefinitely," a Disney spokesperson said in a vague statement. 

As a result, hundreds of protesters gathered outside Disney’s offices in Burbank, California, demanding that the network return "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" to the air. Protesters also assembled outside Kimmel’s Hollywood Boulevard studio, chanting, "ABC bent the knee! No to the FCC!"

Many believed Kimmel had been fired, but he was reinstated the following week. He has since signed a contract extension through 2027 and said he never intended to make light of Kirk’s assassination during an emotional monologue upon his return.

Bari Weiss joins CBS News as editor-in-chief, Paramount buys Free Press for $150 million

Polarizing journalist Bari Weiss announced in October that she was the new editor-in-chief of CBS News and her outlet, The Free Press, would join Paramount.

Weiss, who famously quit The New York Times in 2020 after detailing bullying by her colleagues, went on to launch the "Common Sense" newsletter in 2021 before rebranding it as The Free Press and expanding it into a full-fledged media company in 2022.  Weiss and The Free Press were long rumored to be coveted by Paramount's new owner David Ellison before she announced the news. 

"We’re a news organization, so I’ll get right to it: This morning, The Free Press is joining Paramount," Weiss wrote in an email to readers. 

"This move is a testament to many things: The Free Press team; the vision of Paramount’s new leaders; the luck of starting an independent media company at the right moment; and the courage of my colleagues to leave behind old worlds to build a new one," she continued. "But, above all, it’s a testament to you, our subscribers."

The purchase price for The Free Press was $150 million in cash and Paramount stock, according to reports.

In December, Weiss caused headlines once again when she delayed a "60 Minutes" segment on CECOT, saying it was part of a broader mission to win back audience trust and suggesting the story wasn't yet "comprehensive and fair."

‘THE VIEW’ HAD 128 LIBERAL GUESTS BUT ONLY TWO CONSERVATIVES IN 2025, STUDY FINDS

Associated Press, Trump White House beef over Gulf of America 

Trump signed an executive order renaming the "Gulf of Mexico" to the "Gulf of America" on his first day in office for a second term. But the Associated Press parked an on-going feud by deciding to refer to the body of water by its original name while acknowledging the new moniker chosen by Trump.

Trump blocked AP reporters from the Oval Office and Air Force One for failing to comply with the name change, resulting in a significant First Amendment battle.

The AP is now fighting to have its access restored, and at stake is whether the president is allowed to dictate which reporters and news organizations are allowed to cover official events in places like the Oval Office based on viewpoint. 

Both sides returned to court in December for a critical hearing.

"If the president wants to invite particular people into the White House, because of their political views, I think the president is allowed to do that," Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Yaakov Roth argued on behalf of the administration. 

"The president routinely invites Republicans, and not Democrats, into the Oval Office for ceremonies," Roth continued. "Nobody thinks he has to extend those invitations on a view-point neutral basis."

Roth said that for the "same reasons," the president should be allowed to "invite favored reporters, and not disfavored reporters," to watch a ceremony in the Oval Office. 

Roth argued that the Oval Office and Air Force One are "invitation only," as opposed to the White House briefing room, which is a dedicated workplace for journalists. 

"When it is a matter of invitation, we don’t apply viewpoint neutrality principles," Roth said. 

The AP’s attorney, Charles Tobin, said the First Amendment "does not stop at the Oval Office door" when pushing for access to be restored. 

Associated Press senior vice president and executive editor Julie Pace told Fox News Digital ahead of the hearing that the decision to stick with the Gulf of Mexico is largely because the AP caters to a global audience, and consumers outside the United States don’t necessarily abide by Trump’s name change. She said coverage indicates the president has signed an executive order renaming that body of water. 

An order is expected in the coming weeks. 

Matthew Dowd fired by MSNBC after bizarre Charlie Kirk commentary

An unusual media saga unfolded when MSNBC fired political analyst Matthew Dowd in September for suggesting "hateful" rhetoric from Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk led to his own assassination.

Kirk, a leading conservative activist and top ally of President Trump, died at the age of 31 after he was shot while holding an event on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. In a stunning moment, Dowd suggested that Kirk’s assassination was caused by a chain reaction from his "hateful words" against various groups.

Dowd said Kirk has been "one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this, who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions."

"I think that’s the environment we’re in, that the people just — you can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have, and then saying these awful words, and not expect awful actions to take place. And that's the unfortunate environment we're in," he added.

Before the news that Kirk had died, Dowd also told host Katy Tur, "We don’t know any of the full details of this yet. We don’t know if this was a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration."

MSNBC, which has since been rebranded as MS NOW, publicly condemned Dowd's comments before he was officially terminated. 

"During our breaking news coverage of the shooting of Charlie Kirk, Matthew Dowd made comments that were inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable," MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler said in a statement. "We apologize for his statements, as has he. There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise."

Dowd, who joined MSNBC in 2022 after a long stint at ABC News, tried to backtrack on the liberal social media platform Bluesky.

"On an earlier appearance on MSNBC I was asked a question on the environment we are in. I apologize for my tone and words. Let me be clear, I in no way intended for my comments to blame Kirk for this horrendous attack. Let us all come together and condemn violence of any kind," Dowd wrote.

Right-wing infighting plagues AmericaFest 

The annual Turning Point USA conference in Phoenix revealed a significant rift within the MAGA movement in 2025, with conservative personalities like Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson engaging in a war of words during their time on the AmericaFest stage.

This emerging fracture within the conservative movement was touched upon by Erika Kirk at the outset of the event.

She recalled her husband being a "peacemaker" and a "coalition builder" and that, after his assassination in September, "we saw infighting. We've seen fractures. We've seen bridges being burned that shouldn't be burnt. We saw a lot on full display.

Shapiro opened his remarks by denouncing figures like Carlson and Candace Owens, accusing them of undermining conservative principles.

"Today the conservative movement is in serious danger, not just from the left that all too frequently excuses everything up to and including murder," Shapiro said. "The conservative movement is also in danger from charlatans who claim to speak in the name of principle but actually traffic in conspiracism and dishonesty, who offer nothing but bile and despair, who seek to undermine fundamental principles of conservatism by championing aggravation and grievance. These people are frauds, and they are grifters, and they do not deserve your time."

While acknowledging that Carlson was also scheduled to speak at the conference later that night, The Daily Wire co-founder said commentators such as Carlson were "guilty of cowardice" for staying silent as Owens spread conspiracy theories regarding Kirk’s assassination. 

"The fact that they have said nothing while Candace has been vomiting all sorts of hideous and conspiratorial nonsense to the public square for years is just as cowardly," Shapiro said.

He also criticized Carlson's methods as "lazy, stupid and misleading" for implying insider knowledge but refusing to show evidence under the guise of asking questions.

Approximately an hour after Shapiro delivered his speech, Carlson took the stage and seemed to mock Shapiro's attempt to "deplatform and denounce" people who disagree with him. 

"I just got here, and I feel like I missed the first part of the program. Hope I didn't miss anything meaningful. But I just want to say I don't think I did," Carlson quipped. "No, I'm just kidding. I watched it. I laughed."

He added that he "laughed that kind of bitter sardonic laugh that emerges from you and, like, upside-down world arrives. When your dog starts doing your taxes, and you're like, 'Wait, it's not supposed to work this way.'"

While he didn't mention Shapiro by name, Carlson seemed to take multiple jabs at Shapiro's speech, saying it was "hilarious" to hear "calls for, like, deplatforming and denouncing people at a Charlie Kirk event."

The following day, conservative commentator Megyn Kelly took the stage for a conversation with TPUSA contributor Jack Posobiec, and she tore into Shapiro for acting as a gatekeeper of the conservative movement.

"[Shapiro] thinks he's in a position to decide who must say what to whom and when," Kelly said. "So, I don't think we are friends anymore. I've been a very good friend to Ben."

The infighting has continued in the wake of AmericaFest. 

Trump files $10 billion lawsuit against BBC over documentary editing his Jan 6 remarks

President Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit in December against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for its 2024 "Panorama" documentary that distorted his Jan. 6 remarks.

Trump sued the BBC for both defamation and for a violation of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act for $5 billion apiece, as the president is seeking $10 billion total. The suit, filed in the Southern District of Florida Federal Court, was filed in a personal capacity and names BBC and BBC studios productions as defendants. 

The BBC has come under intense scrutiny over the documentary about Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, speech delivered before the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Critics claim the documentary was wildly misleading because it omitted Trump's call for supporters to protest peacefully.

The lawsuit states: "The BBC, faced with overwhelming and justifiable outrage on both sides of the Atlantic, has publicly admitted its staggering breach of journalistic ethics, and apologized, but has made no showing of actual remorse for its wrongdoing nor meaningful institutional changes to prevent future journalistic abuses."

A BBC spokesperson told Fox News Digital: "As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case. We are not going to make further comment on ongoing legal proceedings."

The BBC previously issued an apology for the erroneous edit and said it had pulled the program from its platforms, but a spokesperson for the broadcaster added, "While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim."

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The controversy began with a bombshell report from The Telegraph that featured excerpts from a whistleblower dossier compiled by Michael Prescott, a communications advisor hired by the BBC to review its editorial standards.

The whistleblower revealed that a BBC Panorama documentary released last year had a misleading edit of comments Trump made during a rally speech given on Jan. 6, 2021, as he protested the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The documentary omitted Trump urging his supporters to protest "peacefully" and instead spliced two separate comments made nearly an hour apart, making him appear he was calling for violence.

"We're gonna walk down to the Capitol. And I'll be there with you. And we fight — we fight like hell," the documentary showed Trump saying.

In reality, Trump said, "We're gonna walk down to the Capitol. And we're gonna cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we're probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because you'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong."  It wasn't until 54 minutes later that Trump called on his supporters to "fight like hell" for election integrity.

The New York Times referred to the ordeal as "one of the worst crises in its 103-year history" of the BBC. The blunder led to the resignations of BBC News CEO Deborah Turness and BBC director-general Tim Davie.

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Fox News Digital’s Lindsay Kornick and Marc Tamasco contributed to this report.