HomeOPINIONTrump’s Attack on the Media is Dangerous

Trump’s Attack on the Media is Dangerous

By KYLE PRATT
Opinion Editor

The United States is currently at a crossroads, and it is possibly the most serious one in our history.

For hundreds of years, there has been one institution that consistently holds the American government accountable. From Watergate to the Pentagon papers, the news media have existed as the glue of democracy since their foundation.

But now, their job is at stake. The journalism industry that has been keeping government in check for centuries is now under attack. The current president is on a mission to discredit the organizations that bring down corruption and expose illegal activity.

He is doing this for one reason; he knows he is the most at risk from their efforts.

Four weeks in, and this administration is in the midst of an intense scandal. The President’s ties to Russia are now under a microscope, and his mission is to destroy eliminate that microscope.

The easiest way for him to fight journalists is to discredit their work. If people don’t believe what is printed in the New York Times or the Washington Post, then the dirt they dig up on him doesn’t matter.

The precedent his anti-media campaign is setting is one that could be detrimental to the fabric of American democracy.

Our founders wrote the freedom of the press into the Bill of Rights, at the top, because they were keenly aware of the importance of a vigilant watchdog.

The muzzling of the news media, through law or through propaganda, is step one in the journey toward dictatorship, and the American people must stop it here. We mustn’t take for granted the dedicated work of journalists, both in country and overseas.

Every president has intense limitations on their power. Journalists are part of these limitations. Their work is an integral part of American culture and democracy, and at this is point in history, it is among the most important work one can do.

The president may think journalists are the enemy of the American people, but he is wrong. Journalists are the defenders of democracy, and we all must be the defenders of journalists.

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