Joan Esposito is joined by Lisa Stark, former ABC News reporter who recently penned a letter to Disney CEO Bob Iger calling on him to defend free press and protect ABC journalists from political pressure. The letter garnered over 100 signatures from former ABC journalists, and received no official response.

"For us, it wasn't even necessarily about getting a response but drawing a line in the sand, if you will. We needed to speak out, we needed to be heard, as former journalists, to speak out on behalf of our colleagues and a free press. And I will tell you, after we put the letter out, we've had dozens, nearly 50 other reporters, correspondents, editors, producers, sound people, camera people from ABC come to us and say we're signing on to that letter. So it definitely resonated with people who wanted to find a way to express their concern about what's happening right now."

Stark described recent developments at CBS News as "very troublesome," particularly the appointment of Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief. The inexperienced Weiss, Stark noted, will report not to the chief of CBS News but to Donald Trump-friendly David Ellison, the chairman and chief executive officer of CBS parent company Paramount Skydance.

"Look, the media isn't anti-Trump or pro-Trump, the traditional media," Stark told WCPT. "They are not cheerleaders for an administration. They are watchdogs. That's their job: speak truth to power. It's a trite saying, but it's a true saying. And I think what we're seeing there will raise some concerns about whether that is really, truly going to be the case."

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

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