Caption
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with business leaders at the US Ambassador’s Residence on October 28, 2025, in Tokyo, Japan. (Getty Images)
Caption
(Swell Media/Getty Images)
Is It Time to Rein in Kleptocrats Who Seek to Dominate the World's Information?
It’s an increasingly prevalent phenomenon across the globe: media companies are being taken over by business tycoons and kleptocrats less concerned with honest journalism than with their own political and financial self-interest. Their wealth itself isn’t necessarily a problem. There are genuine philanthropists now sustaining serious news publications and opinion outlets, and serious investors seeking new revenue streams to pay for high-quality news. But the overall trend is disturbing.
What to do? Are there safeguards that governments can put in place? Does that even make sense in a digital age? How might governmental responses be squared with Western faith in free economic competition? Does that still offer a path forward, or is the global erosion of media freedom best described as a market failure?
On Thursday, December 1, Hudson Institute’s Kleptocracy Initiative hosted the first in a series of debates on kleptocracy and democracy. Featuring Hudson Visiting Fellow Martha Bayles of Boston College and Megan McArdle of Bloomberg View, this event was held at the 5th & K Busboys and Poets.
Related Events
20
January 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
A Conversation with Former METI Minister Nishimura on the Takaichi Government’s Economic Strategy
Featured Speakers:
Yasutoshi Nishimura
Kenneth R. Weinstein
20
January 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
A Conversation with Former METI Minister Nishimura on the Takaichi Government’s Economic Strategy
On January 20, Hudson Japan Chair Kenneth R. Weinstein will host Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, former head of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), for remarks on the Takaichi government’s economic security strategy.
Featured Speakers:
Yasutoshi Nishimura
Kenneth R. Weinstein
10
February 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Assistant Secretary of War Michael Cadenazzi on Rebooting America’s Defense Industrial Base
Featured Speakers:
Michael Cadenazzi
Nadia Schadlow
10
February 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Assistant Secretary of War Michael Cadenazzi on Rebooting America’s Defense Industrial Base
Join Hudson for a conversation with Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy Michael Cadenazzi, who leads the DoW’s efforts to develop and maintain the US defense industrial base to secure critical national security supply chains.
Featured Speakers:
Michael Cadenazzi
Nadia Schadlow
15
December 2025
Past Event
Supreme Court Weighs Liability of ISPs for Subscribers’ Copyright Infringement
Featured Speakers:
Zvi Rosen
Ben Sheffner
Jake Tracer
Moderator:
Devlin Hartline
15
December 2025
Past Event
Supreme Court Weighs Liability of ISPs for Subscribers’ Copyright Infringement
Hudson Institute’s Devlin Hartline will host copyright law experts Zvi Rosen, Ben Sheffner, and Jake Tracer for a discussion on what the Supreme Court may decide and why it matters for the creative industries.
Featured Speakers:
Zvi Rosen
Ben Sheffner
Jake Tracer
Moderator:
Devlin Hartline
12
December 2025
Past Event
Antisemitism as a National Security Threat
Featured Speakers:
Cole Bunzel
Sebastian Gorka
Adam Hadley
Derek Harvey
Ludovic Hood
Scott Jennings
Ambassador (ret.) Deborah E. Lipstadt, PhD
Park MacDougald
Congressman Brian Mast
Walter Russell Mead
Zineb Riboua
Judd Rosenblatt
Joel Scanlon
Michael Sobolik
Matt Spalding
John P. Walters
Moderators:
Michael Doran
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
Liel Leibovitz
Aaron MacLean
12
December 2025
Past Event
Antisemitism as a National Security Threat
Hudson’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East will convene policymakers, experts, and private sector leaders to examine how antisemitism, both foreign and domestic, threatens American security and Western civilization.
Featured Speakers:
Cole Bunzel
Sebastian Gorka
Adam Hadley
Derek Harvey
Ludovic Hood
Scott Jennings
Ambassador (ret.) Deborah E. Lipstadt, PhD
Park MacDougald
Congressman Brian Mast
Walter Russell Mead
Zineb Riboua
Judd Rosenblatt
Joel Scanlon
Michael Sobolik
Matt Spalding
John P. Walters
Moderators:
Michael Doran
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
Liel Leibovitz
Aaron MacLean
Related Research
Caption
Jimmy Lai arrives at the Court of Final Appeal ahead of a bail hearing on February 9, 2021, in Hong Kong, China. (Getty Images)
Caption
(Screenshot via YouTube)
Caption
Teresa Lai and Lai Shun-yan, the respective wife and son of Jimmy Lai, and Cardinal Joseph Zen, the former bishop of Hong Kong, arrive at the West Kowloon Law Courts building in Hong Kong on December 15, 2025. (Getty Images)
