Both Rachel Maddow and Brian Stelter have shared in recent days concern from both themselves and news media leaders about what a second term for President Donald Trump would bring for the industry. WMAL host Chris Plante believes the concerns are asinine.

Earlier this week, Rachel Maddow said she was “worried about the country broadly,” should Trump be re-elected. Stating that ” He’s not joking,” when he talks about the media being the enemy of the people. “We’ve seen what happens when people take power proclaiming that kind of agenda,” she stated.

Former CNN media reporter Brian Stelter said on his former cable news home that he has spoken with news media leaders who are concerned “because they want to know what could Trump do to use his power in the second term to punish the media.”

During The Chris Plante Show, the Washington D.C.-based host argued that comments from Maddow and Stelter were preposterous in nature and should be treated as such.

He pointed to decisions by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to fail to call on Newsmax’s James Rosen or African reporter Simon Ateba for questions during press briefings as evidence that the media is already being treated poorly.

“They’re punishing the media now,” Plante said of the White House. “(Liberal media members are) always projecting on other people what they themselves are doing or will be doing. It’s the Soviet playbook. These are very, very corrupt people. Dishonest people. Mentally limited people. Self-important people. And let’s be honest, not very attractive people.”

Cumulus Nashville has announced it is elevating Paul Mason to Talk Programming Operations Manager of its cluster, including oversight of SuperTalk 99.7 WTN.

Mason joined the cluster in May 2020 as Program Director of sports sister station 104.5 The Zone. He previously served as the leader of news/talk brand 850 WFTL and FOX Sports 640 in West Palm Beach. He also has news/talk experience from his time as the Executive Producer and Assistant Program Director of 700 WLW in Cincinnati.

In addition to leading 104.5 The Zone, Paul Mason has also overseen the NFL’s Tennessee Titans Radio Network since 2021 after Cumulus inked a multi-year extension to remain the flagship home of the franchise.

Previously, Dan Mandis served as the Program Director of SuperTalk 99.7 WTN. He will continue as the host of Nashville’s Morning News, but will no longer be leading the day-to-day operations of the brand.

“WTN’s reputation in the News Talk format is among the elite. Dan Mandis has built a strong brand, and I look forward to working alongside not only Dan but with the entire on-air staff (Chris Hand, Matt Murphy, and Brian Wilson), and our Producers,” said Mason. “The recent launch of SuperTalk TV has positioned WWTN to continue to be a leader in News Talk.  WWTN has loyal clients and listeners, and we are committed to bringing stories, news and opinions in a meaningful and engaging way. I’m humbled and thankful for the trust Allison Warren, Brian Phillips, and John Dimick have in me to lead Spoken Word at Cumulus Nashville.”

“Paul Mason, a visionary leader who has successfully guided our Sports station for the past four years, is now poised to bring the same focus, passion, and energy to our News Talk station – 99.7 SuperTalk,” added Cumulus Nashville Vice President Allison Warren. “With an exciting blend of local hosts delivering both local and national stories in an informative and engaging manner, Paul is ready to lead this station to new heights. As we recently launched the SuperTalk YouTube channel, we anticipate continued dominance in spoken word content under Paul’s steady guidance.” 

Warren also thanked Mandis for his years of leadership of the brand.

“I would remiss if I did not at the same time thank Dan Mandis for his outstanding leadership of the station over the last 10 years. Dan has successfully managed both the station, especially through challenging times, breaking news while maintaining hosting duties and we look forward to letting him settle into his weekday Morning Show.”

Liberal radio host and content creator David Pakman has announced he is ending his nationally syndicated radio show and subsequent TV simulcast.

Pakman — who had been hosting the program since 2005 — said the juice was no longer worth the squeeze.

“When this show started, it started as a radio show. And it started on community radio stations. It expanded to community television stations. It expanded to satellite TV,” he stated. “Over the years, the importance of those platforms has diminished. The amount of staff time required to service those platforms has not diminished. In fact, it’s probably gone up. And the interference that being on those platforms causes for our online platforms has become more and more significant.”

The longtime host will focus on the digital aspects of his endeavors. Currently, he has nearly 2.2 million subscribers on YouTube. Additionally, Chartable.com ranks The David Pakman Show as the 45th most popular political podcast in its most recent rankings.

He shared that the nature of the program — which was syndicated for just a one-hour timeslot — made producing content more difficult.

“If I got a good 80 or 90 minutes one day because of a great interview, we have to chop the interview up and divide it into two shows, and only put the interview online. We get a lot of complaints about that,” he shared. “In addition to this, we often have to curtail language — bleep things. Sometimes we forget to bleep and then that becomes a problem for affiliate stations.

“There’s a lot of little things … to be honest, there’s also a financial component where we’ve been producing the show for radio and TV at our cost. And it generates essentially zero revenue for us. So this is a business decision as well as a decision about the future of media. I believe the future especially for shows like this is on digital platforms.”

David Pakman shared that there are changes to his digital aspects that he hasn’t been able to announce yet, but is excited for the future of his program.

The David Pakman Show will end “effective at the start of August,” the host shared when making the announcement.