The freedom of the press is a value of great importance to our country; it’s enshrined in our nation’s First Amendment, but in recent years, the sensationalization of news and politics has caused tensions between both parties.
Long before President Donald Trump held elected office, he was a prominent media and business figure. His hit show, “The Apprentice,” drew in millions of viewers each season, while his knack for self-promotion landed the Trump name on monopoly boards, magazines and skyscrapers.
Communications High School (CHS) journalism teacher Wayne Woolley characterized Trump’s relationship with the media as generally amicable.
“He likes the media. If you watch his individual interactions with reporters, most of the time they are pretty good,” Woolley said. “He likes to be in the news, and he’s really good at driving the news cycle.”
Trump’s relationship with the media took a turn, however, during his first term as president, when he used the phrase “fake news” to describe the network CNN after it had misreported that Trump would continue involvement with The Apprentice by taking an executive producer role. The president would respond by calling the claim fake news.
Also during his first term, he filed lawsuits against the Washington Post and The New York Times over their reporting of his involvement with the Russian government. Both were later dismissed.
Throughout his term, Trump engaged in a pattern of conflicts with the media, even on occasion declaring that journalists were the enemy of the people. He labelled negative coverage of his administration’s policies as misinformation and insulted those who offered professional or personal criticism, such as when he called CNN’s Weija Jiang “nasty” after she asked a question about his COVID 19 rhetoric.
Entering his second term, Trump continued to file lawsuits against many major networks, including CNN, ABC and CBS, alleging false coverage related to election claims and accusations of racism. Many of the cases were settled out of court with substantial payments.
He also quickly began a campaign against the media.
He appointed the Federal Communications Commission chairman, Brendan Carr, who has used regulatory power to target private and public broadcasters. Carr asserted that public broadcasters may be committing crimes by airing ads, which would violate regulations around designated underwriting spots. Trump used these claims as justification for the executive order “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media.” The order directed the Corporation of Public Broadcasting to cut funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, two organizations Trump views as unfairly biased towards left-leaning agendas.
In addition to Trump’s squabbles with media organizations, he has also instituted new rules regarding the press’s access to the administration.
The White House Press Pool is a small rotating group of 13 to 20 journalists who follow the president’s daily actions. The group had previously been chosen by the White House Correspondents’ Association, a membership organization for all White House reporters, but is now directly controlled by the president’s press office. The decision has drawn criticism from journalists and free-speech organizations.
The free speech-focused non-profit PEN America stated on the PEN America website that, “These changes to the White House press apparatus aren’t simply about who gets a seat on Air Force One. They’re about whether a free press, and the public’s right to know, can withstand sustained, systemic pressure from those who would rather rule without scrutiny or checks on their power.”
Similarly, the Pentagon released new press rules that restricted what and where information can be obtained and shared, as well as whom journalists may talk to when covering the nation’s armed forces. Organizations such as the National Broadcasting Company, Fox News and the New York Times have all refused to agree to the terms and were removed from their workspaces at the Pentagon. These vacancies were then filled by mainly conservative outlets.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed that the policies were common sense and necessary to prevent high-profile media leaks, such as the leak regarding a strike on the Houthis militia groups, according to the Associated Press.
In response, the New York Times filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon alleging infringement on the constitutional rights of journalists. This suit is currently ongoing.
CHS senior Spencer Nunez of Lincroft believes these new rules place unfair impositions on journalists.
“He’s disregarding the press and treating them like people who can be there and not people who deserve to be there,” Nunez said.
The Trump Administration has long had a tumultuous relationship with the media. These conflicts are caused by a mismatch in how both parties perceive the role of the media, which allows for bilateral distrust and an escalation of retaliatory actions that harm the ability to maintain a well-informed public.
When commenting on this relationship, Nunez said, “I think that it’s really harmful to the field of journalism and the people that pay attention to the news.”
