Journalism is dying. We already knew that. And no, I’m not talking about the receding number of people entering and staying in the field; I’m talking about the loss of ground the media has endured, courtesy of the Trump Administration’s crackdown on news coverage. We saw this phenomenon recently with the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s show and the temporary suspension of Jimmy Kimmel. The death of journalism and the media as a whole isn’t willful. It’s a result of government attacks on their claim to the right of free press.
More accurately, journalism is being assaulted — literally and figuratively.
For a country with established First Amendment rights, extending to the press, the protections are not sufficient. At least, not in the last few months. On Sept. 30, a video circulated of ICE agents pushing journalists Dean Moses, Olga Fedorova, and Vural Elibol to the ground on floor 12 at 26 Federal Plaza, New York, in between immigration courtrooms.
There’s more. Let’s talk numbers. Within the past six months, there have been 121 reports of assault and 27 arrests or criminal charges against journalists, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a nonpartisan news website and database created by the Freedom of the Press Foundation. The number of assaults is up by 81 compared to last year. According to The Center Square, “110 [assaults] were reported this summer in Los Angeles during anti-ICE protests. Nineteen assault incidents were each reported in Illinois and Washington, D.C., followed by 11 in New York, according to the data.” Many of these attacks weren’t the result of private individuals, but rather, government officers. If there hadn’t already been an exodus of gross exertions of power by the administration, these occurrences would contribute greatly to the tally.
Not only have journalists become targets for fulfilling their job, but they have also been barred from completing it. Sanctions for Pentagon press access have been suggested and are in the process of being implemented, effectively limiting points of interaction between government information sources and the press. CNN reported that “Last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s press office outlined new rules that would sharply restrict reporting, leveraging the fact that many military reporters have press credentials allowing physical access to the Pentagon complex.” As for newer updates, “On Monday [Oct. 6], the Pentagon circulated an updated draft and gave reporters one week to review and sign, raising the possibility that many news outlets would soon lose access to the Pentagon complex.” CNN, NBC, NPR, and The Washington Post have already been booted earlier this year. Pete Hegseth’s conditions will effectively curtail reporters’ access points of information that would be crucial to share with the general public.
All we can do is shudder at the slights to our First Amendment rights.
The Trump Administration needs to be held accountable — on multiple counts. Not just in the sense of facing repercussions for the physical assault of journalists and the figurative assault on the media, but in the sense that they need to have checks against them in which the Fourth Estate previously provided. Journalism is what holds (or, more accurately, held) the government accountable — in check. With the onset of censorship pressures from the current administration, the capacity of the media has greatly diminished. What will stop the government from writing its own narrative, manipulating the information distributed to the public, and ridiculing the intelligence of its citizens?
The damages to the freedoms and accessibility of the press are irreparable. Even with the possibility of future administrations reversing Trump’s encroachments on the rights of the press, the agency of the media will never be able to fully recover. A dangerous precedent for the treatment of journalists by the government has been set.
Is the state of journalism in peril? Yes. Is the possibility of “1984” becoming our reality steadily approaching? Arguably. Americans are falling into the pit of subservience, complacency, and ignorance, and it is a horrifying scenario. At the current rate of censorship, that hypothetical world is becoming increasingly actualized.
The Zeitgeist aims to publish ideas worth discussing. The views presented are solely those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board.
