Sunday, December 29, 2024

Warnings From Abroad

Donald Trump makes a lot of threats, so many that it can be difficult to figure out which ones to take seriously, but among those we must are his repeated threats against journalists.

Whether or not he ever follows through on his vows to jail reporters, punish media companies he perceives as hostile, and sue press outlets he doesn’t like, the damage he’s already done by inciting his followers against the media is substantial.

And it’s worth remembering that he’s not even in office yet.

Trump’s oft-voiced dream of establishing himself as an autocratic will depend on somehow curtailing the free press, including prominent alternative voices who have the courage to stand up to him.

His apologists in the right-wing media often say he is only joking about instituting some form of state censorship but I’m not laughing.

Of course, the U.S. is not the only country going through a populist revolt that erodes democratic norms, including attacks on the media. In that context, I pulled up Ann Marie Lipinski’s recent piece in Nieman Reports on what advice foreign journalists have for those of us concerned about this issue in the U.S.

Here is an excerpt:

  • International journalists are hearing echoes. From countries around the world that have witnessed the rise of autocratic and populist leaders, they are watching the U.S. and warning of a characteristic of wounded democracies everywhere: an endangered free press.

  • When Donald Trump sued CBS News for $10 billion over its editing of a Kamala Harris interview, some viewed it as just another tantrum. When he threatened to revoke broadcast licenses for critical coverage, we were told it was beyond a president’s power. And when the president-elect’s insults escalated from cries of “fake news” to violent provocations, his defenders said not to take him literally.

  • But each of these developments and others are warning signs to those journalists who saw the improbable become reality in their countries as democratic norms were trampled.

  • “American colleagues, prepare for the worst,” writes Glenda Gloria, editor of Rappler, a news site in the Philippines whose staff endured years of personal attack and legal torment from the Rodrigo Duterte administration. “If it doesn’t happen, you’ll be happy to be proven wrong. If it happens, it could happen fast.”

  • “Dear American colleagues, do not have any illusions,” writes Bartosz Wieliński, deputy editor of Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza. “If an autocrat or dictator announces something, sooner or later they will act on it.”

Think about that — “If it happens, it could happen fast,” and “sooner or later they will act on it.” Our major media institutions are at weak point after decades of newspaper closings, corporate takeovers, and the disruptive impacts of technology.

The journalism profession has reached a low point in public esteem, established reporters at mainstream outlets fear for their jobs, and the CEOs of Facebook (Meta), Amazon, et.al. seem ready to bow at the feet of the would-be despot.

So at this juncture things look bad. But maybe this is just paranoia on my part. Maybe it will never come to pass. Maybe.

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