Nus Braka takes control of the media: An obvious parallel to the present – Paramount and the White House
Vernari Ral News Network
– Breaking News: The Federation is Compromised. Leaders and civilians alike are trying to flee Federation space, signaling Federation weakness
– Breaking News: The Federation is on Trial! Nus Braka hosts the trial of the century aboard the Athena, a gaudy treasure of the pompous Federation (with a ticker beneath it that reads) Tyrant-In-Chief Vance threatens military junta if Federation President Rillak fails to approve his naval aggression
-Breaking News: Federation oppression has been cut off from the rest of the quadrant as Venarai Ral heroes block Starfleet occupation (with ticker beneath that reads) […] joins Venari Ral free state as dozens of former Federation worlds rally around leadership of visionary Nus Braka
– Breaking News: Venari Ral leader Nus Barak hailed as “hero” as he holds the Federation on trial for crimes against the galaxy (with ticker beneath that reads) Terrorist or freedom fighter? Learn the true Nus Braka story – More at 2100
In the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season one finale, “Rubincon” (March 12, 2026) Nus Braka (Paul Giamatti) has contained all of Federation space with mines of a synthetic form of the Omega particle, which we previously saw in Star Trek: Voyager’s “The Omega Directive” (1998). What is clearly a tribute all the previous courtroom and/or trial Star Trek episodes that came before it, Nus Braka puts Captain Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter) on “trial” for what he views as the crimes of the Federation. The Vernari Ral televise the trial with very specific graphical overlays that has become the staple of modern new services, even with a ticker scrolling across the bottom, and in doing so, we see the tyrant has taken over the media, which refers to him as a freedom fighter and a “hero” (not his own words, apparently).
The question is this: Is this commentary on how Paramount (the parent of CBS) has bowed down for the Trump administration? Or is this gaslighting or catering to a fandom that would clearly not approve of Paramount’s actions all the while still continuing to appease the government anyways?
First Paramount appeased Trump by settling a lawsuit and paying $16 million towards his presidential library over a 60 Minutes episode. It was known the Paramount / Skydance deal needed to be approved. Just the kind of thing that Nus Braka would exploit. And now that Paramount Skydance is so close to taking over Warner Bros Discovery (the deal just needs to be approved), David Ellison, CEO of Paramount, is the administration’s golden hawk. This, to such an extent that sitting U.S. Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, was recently quoted as saying “the sooner David Ellison takes over CNN […] the better” so that news organizations would not report the truth over the Trump administration’s bombing of Iran, and instead only air propaganda.
I don’t know if Paramount is gaslighting us. What we do get is a great Star Trek two-part episode that is meaningful and comments on issues of the day. However, if all this was to conceal the rotten interior of Paramount Skydance, they have taken something sacred and are further using it to exploit the tendencies of the audience, which in itself, is also taking control of the media.