Masuk Free Press

Journalism is the practice of gathering, producing and distributing news and information. Our founding fathers considered this discipline important enough to protect it in our Constitution, specifically within our First Amendment, stating that “Congress shall make no law… prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of the press.” 

In a democracy, the press holds people and institutions accountable for their actions, informs constituents, and checks the power of elected representatives. Journalists act as watchdogs, and without those watchdogs, corruption and abuses of power within an entity can occur freely. The people would be at the complete mercy of unchecked power.

Some well-known examples of countries that lack a free press are North Korea and Russia, both difficult places to live due to extreme government censorship and dictatorships. Due to the criminalization of the free press and media, the citizens are entirely in the dark when it comes to the happenings of their government. All media is state-controlled, which allows the government, or regime, to remain in power by obstructing the information that their citizens can access. In turn, these governments are extreme, and corrupt, and have made it a criminal offense to speak out or disagree with them.

It’s easy to take for granted the privileges we enjoy in the United States, especially when we look at places like those two countries. Rights that would be considered radical to citizens of North Korea are ones that we have had safeguarded in our First Amendment since 1791. Our Constitutional rights are what makes America a country of freedom, and are so ingrained in our society that we rarely consider them. But what happens when this fundamental right is threatened?

On the 26th of February, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt took to the podium during a press briefing to announce that the White House press office will now dictate which outlets and reporters will get to cover President Donald Trump.

They stripped this responsibility from the White House Correspondents Association, an organization established in 1914 that had been directly managing the White House press pool since 1950. The organization is independent, with over 800 members and consisting of representatives from almost 300 news outlets, from major television stations to smaller religious outlets.

Leavitt posed this as a motion for change, stating that “the White House Correspondents Association has long dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the president of the United States,” and called the Association a “monopoly.”

In an attempt to repair this “monopoly,” the Trump administration has removed the job from the non-partisan, free-press-promoting organization, and placed it into the hands of the White House Press Office, composed of staff hand-picked by the president and his administration.

By taking control of the press pool, the Trump administration has made it clear that they want full control, or a monopoly, over the information that reaches the public. This raises concerns over the integrity of our free press.

As put by the President of the White House Correspondents Association, Eugene Daniels, “it suggests that the government will choose the journalists who cover the president. In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.”

When leaders are in control over which media outlets or journalists get to cover them, they have a strong semblance of control over what information gets put out to the public. Logically, media agencies would strive to stay on the Executive Office’s good side to retain access to Presidential coverage. This compromises their commitment to getting honest, accurate information to the public, and their crucial role as a government watchdog. 

Reporting could become compliant, with outlets only sharing the administration’s preferred narrative while leaving out any government controversy or corruption. In extreme cases, the media could shift from a service to the public to a tool for the government, similar to the state-controlled press in Russia or North Korea.

The Executive office controlling which outlets and reporters can access the briefing room sets a dangerous precedent in the United States, and tears at the fabric of the free press that is crucial to the survival of our democracy. As founding Father Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1786, “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”