Don Lemon says journalists at CNN, CBS and other news organization need to grow a spine and push back against corporate influences that want to skew news coverage to curry favor with President Trump.

A defiant Don made the call to action Friday on his online show ... admitting he was late after having a busy day fighting federal charges for covering a recent protest.

Don thanked all his friends in the media for reaching out and having his back, but he went a step further and said they need to stand up to corporations that are putting their paws on the news and trying to exert influence and bend the knee to Trump.

Frankly, that's a lot easier said than done ... but we'll see if Don starts a wave here.