The free press in the United States is quickly losing an essential element of its personality. It may soon cease to be free at all. As President Donald J. Trump’s administration carefully weighs who to bar from asking questions and how to pack press pools, it is important to understand that, at the present time, the media faces an overwhelming threat from the government. Before threatening an erasure of objective reporting, the media must attempt assert their own rights by being willing to stand up for themselves. The window of time to escape government intervention is closing.
This story begins nine years ago, with Trump’s first campaign for the presidency. It was unlike anything the media had seen. He was loud, brash, instigating and attention-consuming, all in an era when politics had become known for following a calm, measured style. Trump was a master at forcing attention onto himself and absorbing an outsized amount of press coverage. It was a keystone in helping the household name that brought America ‘The Apprentice’ become cemented as the Republican candidate for the presidency in 2016.
In the span of four years, the ability of the press to effectively hold government to account was significantly eroded. As coined by Trump’s press aide Kelly Anne Conway, the promotion of “alternative facts” was a central feature within the administration. Trump and his press aides became adept at spinning the failures of the administration into a narrative that pointed the finger at others.
There was also an inherent antagonism of mainstream media outlets, undercutting articles and broadcasts that held them accountable and espousing that they were sources of ‘fake news,’ created a climate of distrust around factual reporting about the president and his team. This was one of the first instances where attacks on the media had become more overt. MSNBC, CNN and ABC News were all casualties of the president’s bellicosity towards journalists and deep dislike of any negative media portrayal.
In Trump’s second administration, he has learned from his first. The administration has sought to frame media outlets as enemies of a public good since the president took office for the second time on the Jan. 20. Any media outlets that the president has a dislike for now find themselves banned from the White House press pools. An unfortunate test case, AP News found themselves barred from covering the president as they had refused to affirm that the Gulf of Mexico is now the Gulf of America, per his request.
This is the beginning of something much bigger. By creating a media environment that is completely malleable to Trump’s agenda, it removes the idea of unbiased factual reporting. Filling the White House with media sources aligned with Trump creates an echo chamber for the president’s views while removing the hard-hitting factual journalism that is particularly needed in this moment. In February, the administration shifted responsibility of the selection and rotation of the press pool from the White House Correspondents Association directly to themselves.
The President is removing voices that are politically dissident and setting up a media ecosystem that repeats the views of the administration. In the same breath, corporate media are side-lining the views of journalists that are trying to hold the administration to greater account.
At the beginning of April, one of the Washington Post’s columnists, Eugene Robinson, made the decision to leave the publication as a result of billionaire owner Jeff Bezos’ editorial policy. Bezos advocated to review the opinion section of the publication and focus it exclusively around the free market and ideas of individual freedom. Robinson cited that there had been a “significant shift” in the Post’s tone since Trump’s second administration, prompting him to retire after 20 years as one of the publication’s most successful columnists.
Removing journalists and creating a climate that is more antagonistic to free expression are not consequences. They are inherent goals of the President’s administration. If news outlets lose their power to be a voice — free from government — that tells people the truth, then there will be far fewer checks on presidential power going forward. In the past century, the media has been the primary conduit for information between the halls of government and the American people. With the spray of information about politics and government from a litany of sources that social media has borne — one where disinformation spreads quickly — it is important to maintain honest reporting as much as possible.
If journalists are going to continue to have real agency in America, they must face the climate and circumstances of today, irrespective of how they have worked in the past. Pens, keyboards, microphones and cameras must be equipped to report on what goes on in this government with an honest hand. One of the biggest legacies of the media will be telling the truth in an age where the government tries to present fact as fiction.