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New report shows it's largely officials and organizations demanding books be banned

New report shows it's largely officials and organizations demanding books be banned

Independent07-04-2025

A new report reveals the vast majority of those demanding book bans are organizations or officials — not individual parents.
Seventy-two percent of demands to censor books in schools have come from organizations that include elected officials, board members and administrators, according to the American Library Association.
Parents only accounted for 16 percent of book ban demands, while individual library users made up five percent.
'The movement to ban books is not a movement of parents, but a movement of partisans who seek to limit our freedom to read and make different choices about things that matter,' Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the organization's office of intellectual freedom, said in a statement.
The American Library Association can 'trace many of the challenges to lists of books that have been distributed by Moms for Liberty and other groups," Caldwell-Stone told ABC News.
Moms for Liberty is a far-right group considered an extremist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The most common reasons cited for challenges include 'false claims of illegal obscenity for minors,' 'inclusion of LGBTQIA+ characters or themes,' and 'topics of race, racism, equity and social justice,' according to the American Library Association.
'As the organized attempts to censor materials in libraries persist, we must continue to unite and protect the freedom to read and support our library workers, especially at a time when our nation's libraries are facing threats to funding and library professionals are facing threats to their livelihood,' American Library Association President Cindy Hohl said in a statement.
More than 5,000 books were challenged in the U.S. last year, a sharp drop from 2023's 9,021 books.
However, the American Library Association attributes this drop to underreporting, rules prohibiting library workers from purchasing certain books requiring them to be placed in a certain area and legislative restrictions.
Several states — including Florida, Iowa, Texas, and Utah — have passed laws restricting what school librarians can acquire and provide to students in recent years.

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Terry Moran launches Substack to continue doing ‘important work' following ABC News ouster
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The Independent

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  • The Independent

Terry Moran launches Substack to continue doing ‘important work' following ABC News ouster

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Terry Moran's reveals new career move after being axed from ABC over criticism of Trump
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  • Daily Mail​

Terry Moran's reveals new career move after being axed from ABC over criticism of Trump

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ABC News insider reveals real reason Terry Moran was fired over anti-Trump post
ABC News insider reveals real reason Terry Moran was fired over anti-Trump post

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timea day ago

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ABC News was left with 'no alternative' but to fire veteran correspondent Terry Moran over his now-deleted social media post slamming President Trump and top White House staffer Stephen Miller. 'We f***ing took it seriously and dealt with it pretty g*d***mn quickly,' an ABC News staffer told Fox News following Moran's ouster. 'It's just sad honestly,' the source continued. 'It's sad for him, a long-time colleague, friend, a good person, family man. It's just unfortunate, but there was no alternative, especially in these times.' The source added that a drawn-out saga surrounding Moran's suspension would have been poor for viewership, forcing higher-ups' hands. The staffer insisted that Moran wasn't a 'psycho liberal' and that he often disagreed with left-leaning colleagues. 'It's like a waxing and waning, you know, type of, like, whimsical philosopher… that was his shtick,' the insider said. 'He was very folksy in the way that he did things like this... I kind of see maybe what he was trying to do. He used the wrong f***ing words, obviously. 'I can get maybe what he was trying to say, but like, dude, put the phone down and go to bed.' Moran, 65, who'd spent the past 28 years at the network, was a senior national correspondent and often offered commentary on current events. His post on X, written just after midnight Sunday, painted Trump and Miller as 'world-class' haters. 'The thing about Stephen Miller is not that he is the brains behind Trumpism,' Moran wrote in the post, which was quickly deleted but re-shared by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on her official X page. 'Yes, he is one of the people who conceptualizes the impulses of the Trumpist movement and translates them into policy,' Moran continued. 'But that's not what's interesting about Miller. It's not brains. It's bile." 'Miller is a man who is richly endowed with the capacity for hatred. He's a world-class hater. 'You can see this just by looking at him because you can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate.' Moran added that Trump was also a 'world-class hater' but that 'his hatred [is] only a means to an end, and that end [is] is own glorification.' Before becoming a senior national correspondent in 2018, Moran served as ABC's Chief Foreign Correspondent. He also co-anchored the network's news show Nightline for eight years and was ABC News' Chief White Correspondent from 1999 to 2005. He joined ABC in 1997, and in April made headlines when Trump mocked him during an interview in the Oval Office. 'They're giving you the big break of a lifetime,' Trump told Moran during the sit-down. 'I picked you because, frankly, I never heard of you.' The barb came after Moran asked the president about the case of deported El Salvador native and Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and the lack of evidence linking him to the MS-13 gang. 'That's OK. I picked you, Terry,' Trump told Moran. 'But you're not being very nice.' In weeks since, Moran continued to question Trump's moves on social media, prior to his suspension Sunday. In a statement, ABC News specifically cited Moran's post as a 'clear violation' of the network's policy. 'We are at the end of our agreement with Terry Moran and based on his recent post – which was a clear violation of ABC News policies – we have made the decision to not renew,' the statement read. 'At ABC News, we hold all of our reporters to the highest standards of objectivity, fairness and professionalism, and we remain committed to delivering straightforward, trusted journalism,' the rep added.

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