The Whole (Media) World Is Watching

Michael Hedges February 27, 2017 - Follow on Twitter

Anybody even vaguely associated with journalism and the news media is consummately aware that the month-old US presidential administration is hell-bent on discouraging any reporting less than fawning from appearing in print, on television, radio or online. To discourage is far too mild; try crush. A key advisor referred many times last week to the news media as an “opposition party” to be fought “every day,” without any sense of irony, at a far-right political conference. “Oh, this could be messy,” to quote Alanis Morissette.

So far, the Trump administration has administered only slaps on the cheeks of leading US news outlets. Some reporters deemed unfriendly were disinvited from a semi-official “gaggle” with the presidential press secretary as the president railed - on Twitter - about anonymous sources, otherwise known as leakers, spoiling the preferred message. But there have been no journalists arrested or beaten by security services, no newspapers or TV channels closed although BBC World Service reporter Ali Hamedani, UK citizen born in Iran, received “extreme vetting” on arrival in the US at the end of January, mobile phones and passwords demanded. BBC reporters were also disinvited from the aforementioned press gaggle.

Journalism and press freedom advocates fear bad things happening. “It is not the job of political leaders to determine how journalists should conduct their work, and sets a terrible example for the rest of the world, where sources often must remain anonymous to preserve their own lives," said Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Executive Director Joel Simon in a statement (February 24). "We are concerned by the decision to bar reporters from a press secretary briefing. The US should be promoting press freedom and access to information.”

Among the great and the good of the Washington DC press corps there has been palpable angst concerning the up-coming and so-tony White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. For 96 years American presidents have presented themselves, exceptions noted and excused, before the annual scholarship fund-raiser to face a light-hearted skewering, since 1983, from a comedian-host and return the favor in kind. Vanity Fair and New Yorker reporters and executives bailed early on the event. Bloomberg cancelled its after-party. CNN and MSNBC waffled. A-list Hollywood celebrities, always invited, have been ducking for cover. Some ventured that the event is anyway past its sell-by date anyway.

Alas, President Trump offered some relief - on Twitter, of course (February 25) - announcing he “will not be attending.” A spokesperson later illuminated that the president had better things to do, reported The Hill (February 26). “There’s no reason for him to go in and sit and pretend like this is going to be just another Saturday night.”

Still on is the big dinner, “which has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment (to the US Constitution) and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic,” said White House Correspondents' Association President Jeff Mason in a statement. “We look forward to shining a spotlight at the dinner on some of the best political journalism of the past year and recognizing the promising students who represent the next generation of our profession.”

Those who believe the news media - in the US and elsewhere - are having a hard time figuring out how to cover the nascent Trump administration are woefully misinformed. Right-wing outlets from Fox News to Breitbart will continue the fawning to the metaphysical joy of ardent followers. The rest are happy - “energized,” say some - to question, report and draw official ire.

Where this goes, nobody knows but evidence keeps pouring in. Trump “is not so far rhetorically from (Turkish president) Recep Tayyip Erdogan,” offered Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) conservative columnist Michael Hager (February 24). The CPJ’s Simon “put Erdogan and (Russian Federation president Vladimir) Putin and the late (Venezuelan dictator) Hugo Chavez clearly in this camp.” Amnesty International added (February 22) Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban and Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte. In each case, discrediting and disrupting the news media is strategy.

See also in ftm Knowledge

Press/Media Freedom - Challenges and Concerns

Press and media freedom worldwide is facing challenges from many corners. As authoritarian leaders impose strict control over traditional and new media with impunity, media watchers have concerns for democracy. This ftm Knowledge file accounts the troubles of this difficult decade. 88 pages. PDF (December 2011)

Order here