Trump administration continues to suppress media
Of the many efforts by the Trump administration to undermine our democracy, one of the most concerning is its suppression of the media. We should not be surprised. As early as 2017, Trump referred to the media as “the enemy of the people.” In the first year of his second term, he forced the government and legal system to punish media organizations he felt were biased against him. Senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller has said that the administration will “disrupt, identify, defund, de-bank, arrest, and prosecute” those deemed to incite political violence.
So, it happens: The Presidential Memorandum, signed by Trump in September, designated leftists’ viewpoints on race, gender, immigration, and other topics as “indicators” of domestic terrorism; journalists have been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury under the guise of “national security,” which affected reporters’ ability to gather information; reporters from national outlets have found that sources are afraid to speak to them fearing retaliation from the federal government.
This administration’s efforts to curb dissent of adverse views are being abetted by current owners of significant media organizations. These involve pro-Trump billionaires who currently own Fox News, CBS News, CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Roku, the Washington Post, and a huge swath of local television and radio stations in addition to platforms that distribute news, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, and TikTok.
In our digital age, developing an information system void of disinformation, hate, and polarization is a major civic problem. Failure to address this will shift us away from democratic, truth-telling media and create distrust and confusion in the public mind. Theologian Martin Niemoller reminds us of the cost of silence and indifference: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”