Credit: PHOTO BY JAKE CLAPP

Donald Trump isn’t the first president who has attacked the press.

And the Trump supporters shouting insults at the media aren’t the first Americans to hurl their hatred at us. During the early days of this nation, attacks on the press were common. And violent.

But President Trump’s incendiary attacks on the press have become so frequent, and so severe, that they should disturb all Americans, whatever their political leaning. And so today, CITY is joining newspapers across the country who are publishing editorials on the importance of the press and press freedom.

Presidents throughout the country’s history have complained about newspapers’ treatment of them – often in colorful language – but they have also recognized the importance of the press as a cornerstone of democracy. President Trump’s attacks on the press, on the other hand, increasingly resemble the behavior of a dictator.

Most troubling: many Americans agree with him. In an Ipsos opinion poll earlier this month, 26 percent of respondents said the president “should have the authority to close news outlets engaged in bad behavior.” And 43 percent of Republicans thought presidents should have that power.

Without the press, however, an informed democracy is impossible.

Our journalists attend government meetings, interview elected officials, and search government records. We talk with citizen activists, neighborhood groups, business officials, union members, farmworkers, immigrants, teachers, police officers, developers, individual citizens. We interview political candidates during campaigns.

We inform people about the community they live in, writing about research scientists, rock musicians, artists, helping readers create a sense of community and enhance their community’s quality of life.

We try to shine a light on injustice. We write about the community’s shortcomings and the people who need help, and we try to help residents find ways to work together to build a stronger society.

And we provide a public forum, giving readers a place to share views on community issues. Parcel 5, voting rights, police oversight, affordable housing, racism, climate change, public transit, public education: all have been topics of our own coverage recently, and of readers’ comments.

None of us are perfect. Journalists and editors are human beings, and human beings make mistakes. But imperfect as we are, our aim is to seek the truth and share it with our readers, who are the sole group of people we’re committed to serving.

The need for a strong, free press is particularly acute right now, in this period of division, separateness, and anger in the United States. To get along with our neighbors, to seek tolerance and understanding, to prod elected officials, to work for a better Rochester, a better United States, a better planet requires education and communication. And that requires a strong, free press.

President Trump clearly enjoys calling the press The Enemy of the People. Does he believe what he says, or does he simply relish the response he gets? It hardly matters. Words can lead to action. Many news media outlets have received threats. Some have started hiring security guards for reporters. Some have installed security measures at their buildings. The murder of journalists at the Capital Gazette in Maryland in June is still on many journalists’ minds.

Physical violence aimed at journalists isn’t the only danger, though. The bigger threat is to the country’s democracy.

Imperfect as we are, the nation’s journalists are not enemies of the people. And when the president of the United States verbally attacks us, he is attacking something vital to the functioning of the country’s democracy.

This article appears in Aug 15-21, 2018.

Mary Anna Towler is a transplant from the Southern Appalachians and is editor, co-publisher, and co-founder of City. She is happy to have converted a shy but opinionated childhood into an adult job. She...

9 replies on “Trump, democracy, and freedom of the press”

  1. Thank you, Mary Towler for speaking in defense of a free press.
    But my question is: do we have an EFFECTIVE free press?

    I recently saw the license plate: MAKE WAVS, in Brighton.
    ————————————————————————
    I feel that when it comes to responding to Donald Trump, the press, in general, has not been effective in making waves, in protest.

    Sure, they post all kinds of shocking reports on the White House, but in most cases, the effect is minimal. Trump still nominates, daily, with his Tweets, period.

    Yes, the President still saturates the news, with his two thumps and his mouth!
    ————————————————————————————————-

    So, I suggest that you at City News, and elsewhere, seriously consider more effective ways to MAKE WAVS for the nation, and for the Rochester area…

    http://www.SavingSchools.org

  2. While I agree with you in principal Mary the fact of the matter is that journalism today has abandoned one of its principal values: Independence. Whereas before the opinion pages was home to reporters’ bias now it appears as though the main pages are littered with reporters opinions. Now, it has always been such, yet subtlety. Your medium has become more audience specific in your quest for readers/clicks. A quick look at the Huffington Post’s front page and it looks like Chicken Little left wing has written the headlines and the same can be said for the New York Post site and hard copy on the right wing. While that may not actually be the case, the President has been adept in pointing out bias and utilizing it as a weapon.
    Do I think that the President believes what he says about the press? I actually don’t, I think he enjoys and is propelled by the responses he receives. People are tired of negative stories and President bashing by what they perceive as a biased negative press. The President is merely taking advantage of the ‘Wild West’ social media environment and using it to his advantage. Perhaps if we adhere to some old age advice and merely ignore the bully they will go away.
    The Press and the people it reports on has always been a contentious relationship. But, isn’t that why reporters got into the field? It’s part of the fun and challenge of journalism. Stay tough and true to your core while not abandoning the principal ethics of your profession.

  4. as one of Japanese,
    Objection from Many US Media against their “Leader” look enviable movement.

    Also Japan is under similar situation but Japanese mainstream Media cannot do same thing.

    For example,
    Chairman or executives of Japanese Major Media often enjoy to dine with Prime Minister Abe.

    One of them,TV Asahi has weakened Criticism of Plural News Shows by self-censorship or hesitation to Abe Government and its Supporters.
    and,Government’s vindicater who justify even Anti-LGBT politicians become anchor of noon time weekday news show.

    Criticism against Abe Government has decreased from Japanese Major Media year by year.

  5. Because news can be almost immediate, there is an expectation by the public that the news should be immediate. Immediate reporting, specifically on Twitter and Facebook, is sometimes totally lacking verification. This should never happen. Maybe the media doesn’t care about their immediate inaccuracies because the follow up corrections just promote the need for viewers to stick around for the next Tweet and watch the story unfold, develop and change. When the public does not remain engaged until the end of the story, individuals are left with only a portion of the actual facts, depending on when the viewer dropped out from following the story. Bad or incomplete information is worse than no information at all.

    In my example above, the media and viewer both have equal responsibility. The media needs to report only verified information, not matter how long it takes to get the information verified. Media consumers need to demand accuracy from media outlets and they need follow stories until the end simply to have the true facts. Consumers also need to review numerous news outlets instead of relying only one or two. Knowing people depend just on Fox News or Rachel Maddow is a horrifying.

    Finally, media consumers need to use their critical and analytical thinking to determine whether stories are news or not and if news stories are important or not. Was the reporting of the reaction to a sleeveless Michelle Obama an important news story? Was it even news?

    With the popularity of the term “fake news”, media needs to be extremely careful not to present anything that can be considered fake news. News and opinion need to be clearly defined and separated. Do not tell me what to think. Tell media consumers who, what, where, when, why and how and I they can handle the rest.

  6. “Our journalists attend government meetings, interview elected officials, and search government records.”

    Mary Anna, your journalists don’t do much of this at all. When was the last time you filed a FOIL? I rest my case.

  9. Funny you didn’t mention once the abuse of the press that happened under Obama, why is that? If you are so concerned about both parties,and all Americans why do you continue to avoid criticisms of Obama, who actually jailed people in the press…guess you missed this column in the Times, eh?

    https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/opinion/sunday/if-donald-trump-targets-journalists-thank-obama.html

    Maybe if you took the time to understand the difference between a republic and a democracy, you might not hate Trump so much?

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