On the record · Updated October 1, 2026
chief of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation
12 things Seth Stern said, verbatim, from July 12, 2026 to September 20, 2026, each linked to where it ran. Grouped by the story each one belongs to.
More on the record
As printed
“It's almost impossible to contemplate all of the scenarios for market manipulation,”
on market manipulation risks from Trump Media's paid early access scheme
Reason.com Trump Media Is Selling Early Access to the President's Truth Social Posts for $100,000 a Month ›
As printed
“perverse incentives that this scheme sets up are endless.”
on perverse incentives from Trump Media's paid early access scheme
Reason.com Trump Media Is Selling Early Access to the President's Truth Social Posts for $100,000 a Month ›
As printed
“A president selling priority access to news he himself generates for the benefit of a private company he controls is so blatantly corrupt and unconstitutional that it would have been hard to even fathom just a few years ago”
on the lawsuit alleging Trump illegally profits from selling early access to his posts
Associated Press Lawsuit seeks to ban Trump Media from charging for early access to president's posts on US policy ›
As printed
“Trump doesn’t care about losing a lawsuit or about spending a little bit of money on legal fees,”
As printed
“These outrageous attacks only demonstrate how scared he is of an informed public.”
on Trump banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House
Truthout Trump Says He’s Banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico From the White House ›
As printed
“So there’s a chance he’ll do that and I’m sure it’ll give him a day or an hour of embarrassing headlines. But as we’ve seen countless times with Trump’s administration ... no one headline seems to stick for very long, and I suspect that one would be no different.”
on Trump's lawsuit against the BBC over his financial disclosures
Associated Press Trump gets reprieve from revealing finances to BBC, but it's temporary ›
As printed
“Trump has a history of filing lawsuits and then just dismissing them before they get to discovery,”
on Trump's pattern of dropping lawsuits before financial discovery, in the BBC case
Associated Press Trump gets reprieve from revealing finances to BBC, but it's temporary ›
As printed
“The administration’s own guidelines say pursuing journalists is a last resort,”
on the administration's own guidelines treating pursuit of journalists as a last resort
As printed
“But instead, it’s looking for any excuse to snoop on reporters and their relatives, because this has nothing to do with national security and everything to do with chilling journalism.”
on DOJ subpoenaing phone records of NYT reporters and their relatives
Truthout DOJ Subpoenaed Phone Records From NYT Reporters and Their Family Members ›
As printed
“The Times’ reporting actually bolstered national security by ensuring that Trump and those who travel with him, including journalists, aren’t flying on an unsafe plane to serve the president’s personal vanity. Trump’s hangers-on should be sending the Times thank-you cards, not subpoenas,”
on DOJ subpoenaing NYT reporters over their reporting on Trump's plane
Truthout DOJ Subpoenaed Phone Records From NYT Reporters and Their Family Members ›
As printed
“We’ve long said that when the government claims it needs to investigate journalists to protect national security, it really means its own reputational security. This is as clear an example as you can get.”
CNN Trump administration subpoenas New York Times journalists who reported security concerns around new Air Force One ›
As printed
“exactly why we need to protect journalists and whistleblowers — without them, we’d never know about this kind of waste and incompetence.”
CNN Trump administration subpoenas New York Times journalists who reported security concerns around new Air Force One ›
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