Time to end the ‘dirty’ war on journalism By: Editorial Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018 Last Modified: 2:46 PM CDT Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018 Updates

It’s a war. Of this, there should be no doubt.

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It’s a war. Of this, there should be no doubt.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/08/2018 (2081 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s a war. Of this, there should be no doubt.

On Thursday, all over North America, newspapers of all sizes are publishing editorials calling attention to what Boston Globe deputy managing editor Marjorie Pritchard has called the “dirty war against the free press” being waged by U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration.

This concerted effort — of which this editorial is but one small contribution — is aimed at drawing attention to the continuing debasement of professional journalism to further the political interests of one segment of American society. Many reading this and other similar editorials may accuse of us of being alarmists. We contend that a degree of alarm is warranted.

U.S. President Donald Trump's anti-media rants at rallies, which have resulted in increasingly antagonistic behaviour toward working press members at the events, recently prompted the United Nations’ high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, to describe Mr. Trump’s exhortations as “very close to incitement to violence.” (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press files)

Mr. Trump and his administration have cavalierly identified journalists and the organizations they work for as “enemies of the people.” He has repeatedly accused those who criticize him and his policies of engaging in “fake news.” His anti-media rants at rallies, which have resulted in increasingly antagonistic behaviour toward working press members at the events, recently prompted the United Nations’ high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, to describe Mr. Trump’s exhortations as “very close to incitement to violence.”

Mr. Trump did not start the war on journalism. Long before his election, the pioneers of a concerted attack on the integrity of the news media had undertaken the important spade work that now provides Mr. Trump with his formidable vantage point. Fox News, the Tea Party movement and the rise of the mostly anonymous, unaccountable online information culture all promoted the idea that the news media are deliberately, systematically manipulating the citizenry.

Mr. Trump is, by all measurements, a polarizing figure. But remove him from the equation and ask yourself: can any leader be held accountable without the scrutiny of an independent news media? Of course not. But that has not stopped politicians from trying, even in Canada.

During Ontario’s election campaign, it was common for then-candidate Doug Ford to have paid staffers and volunteers applaud lustily during campaign news conferences to drown out reporters’ questions. This behaviour has continued now that Mr. Ford is in power.

In late July, Mr. Ford evaded questions about his government’s response to a recent spate of gun violence by having staffers drown out media questions with staged applause. At another news conference, Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod used the braying of paid political staff to drown out questions about why her government was ending a promising basic income pilot program, started under the previous Liberal government, which it had pledged during the election to maintain.

Later, during Question Period, the minister invoked the term “fake news” to dismiss media reports of the broken promise. She later apologized, but the intended damage had been done.

Journalists, and journalism in general, are not perfect. Every news organization has its biases and preconceived notions of what is right and wrong. But professional journalists have always relied on the fact that the commitment to fairness and transparency with readers provides the checks and balances on us, as we attempt to do the same with those who have their hands on the levers of power.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford evaded questions about his government’s response to a recent spate of gun violence by having staffers drown out media questions with staged applause. (Chris Young / Canadian Press files)

That delicate balance is under attack, and not just from politicians. The economics of news in a digital age has become precarious. Fewer people spend time consuming news, and even fewer try to balance their view of the world by reading multiple news sources.

The authors of the dirty war against a free press are fully aware of those trends and are seizing the moment in the hope of pushing news organizations into the abyss so they can go about their business without the bothersome scrutiny they currently face.

Critical news coverage is not fake and it is not unfair. It is one of the pillars of a functioning democracy. For those who seek to avoid such accountability by waging a desperate, relentless war on those who document what they say and do — and those who support them in this campaign — we have one question:

What, exactly, are you afraid of?

Excerpts from other editorials

The Boston Globe: Lies are antithetical to an informed citizenry, responsible for self-governance. The greatness of America is dependent on the role of a free press to speak the truth to the powerful. To label the press “the enemy of the people” is as un-American as it is dangerous to the civic compact we have shared for more than two centuries.

The Grand Forks Herald: Newspapers are the first to admit they are not perfect, but on all levels we are serious about what we see as our core roles: documenting the daily and weekly history of our towns and serving as watchdogs to protect the public’s interest.

The Mercury News and East Bay Times: Journalists are trying to do a job. We’re not trying to tear down our nation. We’re trying to strengthen it. For we believe in the foundational premise behind the First Amendment – that our nation is stronger if its people are informed.

Duluth News Tribune: Before anyone condemns or dismisses this as just more “Trump bashing,” consider it instead a respectful and urgent request of our President Donald Trump to stop belittling and insulting dedicated, hard-working reporters and to instead offer the same respect his office commands.

The Sun Chronicle: This newspaper at times has felt the sting of the president’s disdain. On one such occasion, a reporter covering a high school graduation was sitting with families in the grandstand and revealed her occupation. She was told, “Oh, we don’t like you.”

Chicago Tribune: Presidents play an outsize role in American life as elected leaders but also as caretakers of liberty. What a president says, how a president shows respect or disrespect, sends signals across the country and around the world. When Trump portrays journalists as saboteurs of truth, he’s not taking on critics or sparring with adversaries. He’s using the force of his office to embolden people who object to robust news coverage.

Miami Herald: We all — as citizens — have a stake in this fight, and the battle lines seem pretty clear. If one first comes successfully for the press as an “enemy of the American People,” what stops someone for coming next for your friends? Your family? Or you?

The Des Moines Register: The true enemies of the people — and democracy — are those who try to suffocate truth by vilifying and demonizing the messenger. The response to that cannot be silence.

The New York Times: If you haven’t already, please subscribe to your local papers. Praise them when you think they’ve done a good job and criticize them when you think they could do better. We’re all in this together.