Freedom of the Press

The book defines democracy as “a system of rule by the people, defines by the existence of popular sovereignty, political equality, and political liberty.” Since the U.S. is a democracy its citizens have the right to vote and elect representatives. Every citizen has equal say and basic rights. We live in a world of checks and balances. Americans are entitled to their own opinions and can publish those thoughts to the world. Freedom of the press is protected by the First Amendments in the United States Constitution. Newspapers have always been the media outlet to share stories and news about what is going on in America and around the world. However, these days with technology having a huge presence in America, is the press going too far?

President Donald Trump has expressed his anger toward the press which has been unlike other presidents in the past. President Trump thinks the liberals are trying to bring him down. But how much accountability does the press have? The media is known for being inaccurate in most stories or having lack of truth. President Trump said ABC News was “horrendously inaccurate and dishonest” while CNN was “the least trusted name in news” and said that a Washington Post reporter “should be fired.” These three media outlets are believed to be more skewed toward left-wing ideals. Some viewers have referred to CNN as the “Clinton News Network.” President Trump has been very public about his hatred for the media while other presidents remained less vocal because it was under the constitution for freedom of the press.

With so much coverage in news today because of technology, has the press gone too far? It has become increasing easier to capture and video or photo during new worthy events. President Trump believes that biasness in new media has gotten out of control. Information that is not true is being purposely published to readers without any kind of validation. The New York Times reported “The effect of the news media criticism remains debated. A Politico/Morning Consult poll found that 46 percent of Americans believe the news media makes up stories about the president. The partisan divide, however, has become pronounced. Among Democrats, nearly 75 percent expressed confidence in the news media compared with only 19 percent of Republicans.”

President Trump said “It’s frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write.”

The new movie “The Post” produced by Steven Spielberg tells the story of the Washington Post journalists and their efforts to publish the Pentagon Papers. Many believe that Spielberg produced this movie because he wanted to draw a parallel between what happened then with media versus now. In the end the journalist published the papers.

“The decision to publish the Papers becomes nothing less than an assertion of democracy, made all the more potent when newspapers across the land publish in solidarity. The press — the media — becomes greater than the sum of its parts. But that’s because it always was. The Pentagon Papers marked an iconic moment in American history: the press claiming its own freedom to call out the excesses of power. ‘The Post’ celebrates what that means, tapping into an enlightened nostalgia for the glory days of newspapers, but the film also takes you back to a time when the outcome was precarious, and the freedoms we thought we took for granted hung in the balance. Just as they do today.”

President Trump hasn’t made any actions but has threatened to revoke the broadcasting license for NBC. Can President Trump do this or it is their right? Has news media become more out of control? Is it still Freedom of press or should more limits be places on news media outlets?

Sources:

Baker, Peter, and Sydney Ember. “Trump Escalates His Criticism of the News Media, Fueling National Debate.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Dec. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/us/politics/trump-news-media-new-york-times.html.

Gleiberman, Owen. “Film Review: ‘The Post’.” Variety, 8 Dec. 2017, variety.com/2017/film/reviews/the-post-review-tom-hanks-meryl-streep-1202631640/.

5 Responses to "Freedom of the Press"

Kelly Gough says:

January 27, 2018 at 6:42 pm

Katherine,

I appreciated your in depth analysis about the Freedom of the Press. In response to your question “These days with technology having a huge presence in America, is the press going to far?” I believe yes, it is going too far. However, as you stated, freedom of the press is apart of the constitution.

While President Trump has been unique in expressing his anger towards the press, to some degree, his frustrations are warranted. Although the press is safeguarded in the constitution it does not mean that people are not allowed to have an opinion about it. President Trump expressing his public hatred for the press is wholly acceptable and constitutional.

While I do believe that the press has gone too far, I do not believe that it is fair of President Trump to claim that “CNN” is the problem. Fox, CNBC, and countless other news outlets are guilty of the same accusation. All of the news outlets spew incorrect information upon their innocent viewers. It is up to the people to verify the claims they see and evaluate the truthfulness based on the prerogative of the news outlet.

In conclusion, while the press does go too far, it is not an isolated nor unique offence. I agree with President Trump that the media should not be trusted fully and that facts should be taken with a grain of salt because each news outlet has its own objectives.

Thank you for the thought provoking and insightful post. I enjoyed reading it!

Kelly Gough
Holden Powers says:

January 27, 2018 at 6:50 pm

Katherine,

I find your points quite insightful about today’s press and the difference of coverage mainly due to the fact that each outlet is associated with a particular party (CNN: Democrats & Fox News: Republicans…etc). However, in regards to your comment regarding the press/media as becoming “greater than the sum of its parts,” I find this point to be harder to prove due to some of the evidence that you have mentioned.

Due to the fact that each source of media covers stories differently and sometimes skews information in order to side with a particular party, the sum of the media does not really tell the public the whole picture. It is still very hard to piece together what is true and what is false on what we read, hear, or see.

In America, being transparent and open is one of the best aspects of our government. We get to see when legislation gets put up for a vote and we have the ability to meet and hear from our representatives. However, when it comes to the news, there is not liability for the networks if they release false information. Everyone is entitled to free speech and opinion, however, the media should be liable if the information they release is not accurate. Americans are relying on the news outlets to tell them the truth, and it is doing a disservice to them if the information is not painting an accurate picture.

Thanks for the post!

Holden Powers
James Weakley says:

January 28, 2018 at 6:25 pm

Katherine,
Thanks for the engaging post on today’s media. Your post raised a lot of interesting points for debate regarding the actions of both President Trump and the mainstream media. Watching the saga between the President and Media this past year I have various critical views on both of their places in our democracy. As you mentioned above in your post, the freedom of press is protected by the first and arguably most important amendment. Thus, I firmly believe the media is at no fault. Yes, many news outlets attach themselves towards partisan lines, but I believe it is the responsibility of the American people to know how much faith to put in a news outlet. While, it is unethical for newspapers to purposely try and deceive the American public, the freedom of speech protects them. President Trump, on the other hand should be condemned if he takes action to censor the press in any way. I’m perfectly fine with the Present tweeting anything (within reason), that is on his mind. Where I draw the line, however is when he claims to take action against the mainstream media. Censoring the media, while not only unconstitutional, threatens to destroy our democracy and devolve into a fascist government. Without the freedom of speech and press the American people would have no check on the government and would fall victim to oppression
Thanks for posting an in depth blog on the unique relationship President trump shares with the media.
Kayla Corbin says:

January 28, 2018 at 9:58 pm

Katherine,

I believe that this blog post is definitely timely. Because there is so much going on in the media, it’s imperative to recognize that many Americans need to use their ability to discern and keep themselves educated on what is factual and what is not. With that being said, it is an obvious break of precedent and in my opinion, an unnecessary break away from tradition to openly attack the press.
The more people stray away from actual news networks and reporters, the more they look to social media, which is definitely filled with even more bias and is unrestricted. There is proof that Russia used social media postings to further contribute to the divide in the American political ideology. I do recognize that this bias runs rampant in media and it can seem as if all of the networks are extremely polarized. But there is a danger in Trump threatening to censor the media, and worse, make an enemy of the media. Once you cast something as an enemy, it easily discredits all their reporting. It’s scary when there is a mass of people who don’t use discernment when consuming media and instead, take Trump’s word via Twitter.

I agree with your point that media should be held more accountable, especially because there is a clear bias in reporting. But on the same note, the POTUS should be held to high standards as well and shouldn’t be allowed to tell blatant falsehoods on twitter. I’m okay with him giving his opinions, but the line should be drawn when he is able to use Twitter to say whatever comes to his mind and then get mad when the media covers him negatively. Limiting the press’ rights would only take us further away from a successful democracy, censorship doesn’t promote freedom.

Overall, this was a great blog post and it definitely got some discourse going around the press and the severe political polarization in America. Good job!
Santiago Rivas says:

January 30, 2018 at 10:50 pm

Katherine,
Throughout your post you mention the widespread of technology, and how it has enabled news to spread faster and wider throughout the world. You also touch upon how it allows newscasts to create biased and even “fake” stories. However, I think that maybe the spreading of technology might be a system of checks and balances for these news outlets since now everybody has a cell phone in hand and can actually check what the media is reporting, and even report stories themselves. I think the bigger problem that you addressed was the big divide that exists among the US population, and how because of this, news outlets tend to be leaning to either side of the political spectrum which, in my opinion, should not happen, because it allows for the creation, or at least the speculation, of fabricated news, and ultimately deepen the divide in the society, making it a vicious cycle. Hopefully, in the future, this can be solved by having more neutral news that can actually provide the public with information rather than push their own agendas.

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