House of Strauss

House of Strauss

Trump, Skydance, FCC and the Free Press?

Free market success story or pressure from the feds?

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Ethan Strauss
Oct 08, 2025
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Subscriber Tom asked the following in response to my recent post, “I’m Not Saying The Free Press is Worth 150 Million, BUT...”:

How much do you think the need for the merger to get approved by the Trump administration played into this?

That question is difficult to fold into a post about how Bari Weiss addressed a real (And fairly Jewish American) market inefficiency, so I mulled this component but ultimately wasn’t sure how to incorporate. It’s tricky because I do happen to believe a)

The Free Press
gained a seven figure audience on its own by flouting prestige media norms, but also b) The overlap of current government and corporate goals factored into the lucrative FP acquisition by Paramount Skydance.

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