The article “America Is No Longer the Standard Bearer for a Free Press” by Bruce D. Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, addresses the current state of our first amendment right to a free press.
As a member of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), Brown has a unique perspective of the United States press and the way it shapes up to other countries in our hemisphere. While it was just a few years ago when IAPA journalists from the United States would meet with government officials from other countries where the media was under attack, now journalists from Venezuela, Argentina, Peru and Mexico are convening in Washington, D.C. to discuss the diminishing press protections in the United States.
How did the state of the American press change so rapidly? Brown suggests that President Trump is changing how the government interacts with the press. The Trump administration is degrading the freedom of the press in subtle ways. Instead of the blatant effort made by President Nixon in suppressing the Pentagon Papers, President Trump simply calls any negative coverage “fake news”. If a society cannot agree on basic facts, it creates a wide distrust in the media and government.
Brown points out that the Internet has made it impossible for democratic governments to directly censor the press. The press is still protected by the judges and juries in the United States. However, President Trump has reportedly asked then FBI Director Hames Comey to jail journalists for publishing classified information. He has campaigned to reopen libel laws when Bob Woodward published “Fear: Trump in the White House”. Brown is optimistic that freedom of the press can be preserved. I am less confident.
It is clear that President Trump is making every attempt to censor or discredit the press. By calling landmark newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post “fake news”, President Trump is slowly dismantling a cornerstone of American democracy. When studying any dictatorship, it is evident that dismantling free press is a necessary first step. The way to control collective thought is to limit access to the truth. Setting up a state-controlled news source is also a necessity, one that ignores any negative actions taken by the government and spins coverage in a positive light. Some may argue that some late-night hosts on Fox News tend to gloss over opposition to the president, and emerging news sources like Breitbart and OAN have severe biases. Despite this, one look at President Trump’s twitter feed would reveal that these are his most trusted news sources.
American democracy cannot work unless we have complete freedom of the press, as guaranteed by the first amendment. Under our current administration, it is questionable whether this American ideal is being upheld.
Read the inspiration for this blog post, published in TIME magazine: https://time.com/5133507/press-freedom-united-states/
Sofia Rubinson 