• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, April 1, 2025

With a wide range of public U.S. companies -- especially direct-first companies and some law firms -- now bending the knee to the Trump Administration, one wonders what’s next -- especially for the media.

Currently, there is rising TV news interest in the number of eye-opening "executive order" moves by the Trump Administration.

The results show that in February, MSNBC was up 53% in prime time versus the month before (to 1.1 million viewers), while Fox News Channel grew 11% (3.1 million) and CNN rose 6% (553,000).

As a result of this and general opinionated support, some news networks have seen growing ad business. For example, Fox News Channel now claims more major brand advertisers being added to prime-time and daytime schedules since the new White House took over in late January.

At the same time, other networks -- perhaps not always in line with the Trump Administration's messaging and goals -- are also continuing to offer up critical and insightful new programming.

This comes from all areas -- everything from boisterous Congressional town hall meetings of concerned citizens to CEOs' worries about how to survive the new wave of coming tariffs -- especially when the details keep changing. Perhaps those tariffs might be viewed as a new wave of corporate “taxes.”

In speaking with media-focused publication Status, Carl Quintanilla, a CNBC anchor, mused a bit when asked about possible political retribution toward the media with regard to core news content gathering and broadcast decisions.

This came in the wake of the decision by the Trump Administration to go after some law firms by stripping away some security clearances, and some firms deciding to “settle” with the Administration by offering to do some Administration-approving pro-bono work.

“The pressure on law firms, in particular, this week really hit a nerve,” he said. “It was one of the first times I heard folks who advise companies express fear, at least privately.”

He adds: “From a news standpoint, no one has told us ‘You can’t do that story’ or ‘You shouldn’t have said that on-air.’ I don’t believe CNBC bosses would ever say anything like that to us.”

Over the last few years, pundits could be found saying things like “we have never seen this before” with regard to legal, impeachment, White House, congressional or Supreme Court decisions.

What might come next for TV news networks might be a bigger move if government threats result in specific news stories being dropped or held back.

Journalism business and jobs have already been dramatically cut back over the years. Who will then look to separate truth from fiction, as well as others bravely looking to un-bend their knees and stand up?