Tag: free press

A history of the Trump War on Media — the obsession not even coronavirus could stop

Washington Post logoPresident Trump took the lectern in the White House press briefing room with a somber face on the afternoon of March 19, the day the tally of confirmed U.S. coronavirus cases was expected to pass the 10,000 mark.

But about an hour into a briefing filled with bleak data, a correspondent for conservative One America News Network known for her pro-Trump advocacy asked him a question, and a smile crossed his lips.

She was asking about the treachery of the “left-wing media.” One of his favorite subjects. Continue reading.

‘Current libel laws are a sham,’ Trump said. He clearly does not understand them.

The following article by Callum Borchers was posted on the Washington Post website January 10, 2018:

At his first cabinet meeting of 2018, President Trump promised to reexamine libel laws, saying that they aren’t strong enough. (Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

This post, originally published Oct. 11, 2017, has been updated with President Trump’s remarks  Wednesday.

President Trump displayed a fundamental misunderstanding of existing libel standards Jan. 10 when he said during a televised Cabinet meeting there should be “meaningful recourse in our courts” if a news outlet publishes “something that’s totally false and knowingly false.”

“He’s right — and that’s what the law is now,” said George Freeman, executive director of the Media Law Resource Center. Continue reading “‘Current libel laws are a sham,’ Trump said. He clearly does not understand them.”

Rebecca MacKinnon TED Talk: We can fight terror without sacrificing our rights

In June of 2016, Rebecca MacKinnon made the following TED Talk. As we move through the Trump years, we all need to revisit this and increase the focus to include our own country as the highest elected official in the country attacks the nation’s free press:

[ted id=2567]

Thomas Jefferson on the Importance of a Free Press

The following article by Warren Throckmorton was posted on the patheos.com website February 18, 2017

Yesterday, President Donald Trump called the media (singling out the New York Times, CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC) the “enemy of the American people.”

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!

Continue reading “Thomas Jefferson on the Importance of a Free Press”

McCain: We Need a Free Press

The following article was posted on the TrumpAccountable.org website February 19, 2017:


John McCain spoke with NBC’s Chuck Todd on Meet The Press about the importance of a free press in response to a tweet by the president that called out the press as “the enemy of the American people.” While he was careful not to call Donald Trump a dictator, McCain bluntly said that history shows that one of the first things that dictators do when taking power is to marginalize or suppress the free press. Continue reading “McCain: We Need a Free Press”