Commentary: One of the features that distinguishes our form of government from that of “less developed” countries is our press. While some authoritarian heads of states control or even abolish reporters, our press is protected. The first amendment of our Constitution states:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
We have never experienced operations like those carried out in Mexico, for example, where journalists are routinely rounded up by drug cartels and jailed, murdered, or disappeared. We hear as well how reporters in he Middle East have to go underground to report on the activities of their despotic rulers. If the reporter’s identity is unfortunately revealed, he or she risks imprisonment or death.
In contrast, reporters in the United States are at liberty to write whatever they want, even if the target is the highest office in the land. Our press has felt free, in the last few years, to report the most vile statements, untruths, and even downright lies, ever uttered by candidates running for public office. They have done so almost with impunity during the presidential campaign.
It appeared that Candidate Trump played the press masterfully. The press practically ignored Secretary Clinton, and when they did acknowledge her it seemed to be all negative. Secretary Clinton had to pay millions to get her message out, but her opponent had every word and every move picked up and disseminated--for free--by our free press. Occasionally, Candidate Trump bullied a reporter, or he bad-mouthed the press in general. For the most part, however, he was happy to have the press spotlight on himself.
Now that the free press likely factored significantly in Trump’s election, he seems ready to throw them under the bus. The President-elect has denied reporters access to his private plane, and for months has avoided press conferences. There are even rumors that a President Trump will eliminate the White House Press Corps. With all his potential conflicts of interest and apparent ignorance of protocol in foreign relations, Americans--and indeed the world--needs more press scrutiny, not less.
If the press thinks that it is being ignored now, will that make them double down in reporting the substantive things that are happening to and around Trump? Will there be more investigative reporting on what Trump is causing to happen? Or, will we be relegated only to Trump’s early morning tweets for our White House (or Trump Tower) news?
Out-of-control Candidate Trump will soon be out-of-control President Trump. If he is allowed to extinguish the light a free press can--must--shine on him, we the people are doomed.
However, we need not accept the muzzling of the press as if we are living under a third-world dictatorship. We can demand that newspaper editors include a sidebar when they report a Trump lie, half-truth, or ignorant rant. Editors in other media should also include disclaimers challenging questionable statements.
In cases where press passes have been revoked, or news organizations have been banished, unaffected entities should speak out because the next victim may be their news agency.
The free press is an important player in our team of checks and balances against government overreach. We cannot let power grabs by any branch of government be accepted as business as usual. In Donald Trump’s case, (for what it’s worth) he said he would be a “law and order” president. We must hold him to that promise. The Office of the President is not above the law. It should set the example in following the law.
For my part, I fear that he may be totally ignorant of the law and in contempt of the order that law-abiding citizens subscribe to. However, we must start somewhere. We have to simultaneously support our free press and demand that they keep the pressure on Trump to do the right thing--for example, showing his tax returns, having the press conference re: his wife’s immigration process (and not just her $150M defamation case), and putting his business interests in a blind trust.
We want to hold on to our free press and above all, we want to keep it free.