Across America, the free press is capitulating to the most corrupt administration this nation has ever seen. The irony? The man CNN pushed out for speaking truth to power is now more free — and powerful — than ever. And he won’t stop no matter how hard Trump tries to silence him.
That’s why COURIER CEO and founder Tara McGowan wanted to sit down with Don Lemon, former CNN anchor and current host of The Don Lemon Show, for an honest conversation on the state of media right now. What does it really mean to be an independent journalist in 2026? Why is legacy media giving into Trump? Why should everyone be concerned for the First Amendment? Tara and Don get into all of it.
They talk about the Elon Musk deal that fell apart just because Don sat him down for an interview and actually challenged him. They get into Don’s arrest by federal agents while covering the ICE protests in Minnesota and why he no longer trusts Trump’s DOJ. They get into how the Ellisons buying CBS and destroying everything the network has worked for is the same playbook coming for CNN. Once they tell you what to report, how to report and what to leave out, freedom of the press is over.
The silver lining is how Don leaving CNN and going fully independent was the best thing that could have happened to him. He can report on important stories at length, like the Nolan Wells case, without anyone telling him it’s time to move on. He’s actually encouraging every journalist out there whose newsrooms are being bought up to go independent. Build something of your own. Because the state of media as we’ve known it is over.
If you care about media, politics, free speech and the 2026 midterms, this episode is for you.
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