Freedom of the press is under fire from the top in the “land of the free”… and the country’s top paper is on the job.
The final lines of the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ echo somewhat hollowly, with regulatory agencies using their powers to pressure media organisations over their content.
Nothing new here perhaps, but a new article in the New York Times (above) by ‘writer at large’ Jim Rutenberg and Times’ White House correspondent Maggie Haberman brings home its extent.
They say president Donald Trump’s long-running media clashes have grown into a sweeping campaign to control speech in America “that stands out for applying so many levers, so fast, all at once.
“Driven by personal pique, fury over leaks and a determination to shape the political narrative to his advantage, Mr. Trump is deploying the might of the federal government and filing personal lawsuits – targeting not just journalists and liberal critics, but also comedians and talk show hosts, and the corporate entities behind them.”
Action against what the president sees as “biased, unfair and sometimes inaccurate coverage and criticism” is being welcomed by longtime conservative press critics such as those at the Media Research Center.
Meanwhile aides have noted an “expanded” list of who gets invited to cover events, with White House communications director Steven Cheung criticising what it calls “biased reporting” as “a disservice to the American people”.
Meanwhile, the writers say, the president’s intent “is apparent: to punish, intimidate and silence dissenters”.
Although the president and the administration have frequently lost legal challenges, there are “severe financial and reputational costs” to a list of publishers that includes the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the BBC.
“And each time the president assails what has long been considered protected speech, media analysts say, he is eroding norms and undercutting the role of an independent press,” they say, quoting the country’s fall from grace on the Reporters Without Borders index – down to a lowest-ever 64th, “just above Panama and just below Botswana”.
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