Source: Fortune
Summary
On the 250th anniversary of America’s founding, the First Amendment is under attack. The Trump Administration has launched numerous assaults on the media, including secret DOJ subpoenas targeting reporters at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, and threats of lawsuits against ABC for its coverage of the Reflecting Pool fiasco. However, media leaders are standing up for each other and for the First Amendment, with ABC launching a campaign to push back against the FCC’s threats to free speech. This level of solidarity across media is a departure from the past, when media outlets often failed to stand together in defense of free expression.
Our Reading
The numbers tell one story. The Trump Administration’s attacks on the media are relentless, with secret subpoenas, lawsuits, and threats of censorship. But the media is fighting back, with ABC’s campaign against the FCC’s threats to free speech and the solidarity shown by media leaders in standing up for each other.
The strategy enters a familiar phase. The Trump Administration’s use of “divide and conquer” tactics to weaken its targets is well-documented. But the media’s collective action and solidarity are a powerful antidote to these tactics.
The announcement sounds familiar. The Trump Administration’s attacks on the media are nothing new, but the media’s response is. The level of solidarity and collective action shown by media leaders is a departure from the past and a sign of a newfound commitment to defending the First Amendment.
The media’s defense of freedom of expression is not limited to the Trump Administration’s attacks. The industry has a long history of standing up for the First Amendment, from the landmark New York Times Co. v. Sullivan Supreme Court ruling to the Wall Street Journal’s courageous reporting on Russia’s economic implosion.
But the media’s unity is not just about defending the First Amendment; it’s also about defending democracy itself. As Washington warned in his Newburgh Address, “if Americans are intimidated or punished for expressing their opinions on vital matters, reason is of no use to us; the freedom of Speech may be taken away, and, dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the Slaughter.”
Author: Evan Null
