“Journalism is the lifeblood of democracy“, our PM wrote in the Guardian last week, as he outlined his view on the importance he personally places on protecting this sector.
He spoke of two bills – The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act and The Online Safety Act – that he intends to introduce, hope to offer a legal shield for the so-called “Guardians of democratic values”.
Sir Keir has been an ally to journalists for far longer than his political career has lasted. As the Director of Public Prosecution, he spoke out against Tory backbenchers’ calls for Metropolitan Police investigations into various publications in 2013.
I personally feel reassured that my career writing for the Student will be safe, but many of our fortunate publication’s opposite numbers across the pond probably do not feel the same in light of Wednesday morning’s results.
Donald Trump, unfortunately, does not share our leader’s affinity for journalists. For Mr Trump, the war on journalism is as real as the war on pasty skin and comb overs. Since he first ran in 2016, President Elect Trump has been fighting the odd fight against many of the US’ major news publications, interestingly Fox News is not one of them.
Many might remember Trump’s infamous rant at his 2016 Texas rally where he expressed his very strong, and very selfless, concerns for the editorial intentions of the Washington Post and the New York Times, going on to call for an open look into Libel laws – a very real threat now that he has three of his own appointees on the Supreme court. Perhaps these threats are why both publications ‘conscientiously’ refused to endorse a presidential candidate.
Potentially even more worrying for the Student, who are sure to be top of Mr Trump’s list, is the soon to be knighted CIA chief, Kash Patel. Patel, who served as the Chief of Staff for Trump’s Defence Secretary Christopher C. Miller, has been, somehow, even more outspoken in his disdain for journalism. Patel has vowed to “come after people in the media” at a rally in 2023, and now might possess the ability to do so.
Finally, it is worth mentioning Project 2025 published by the Heritage foundation in 2023. This document contains many ideas that threaten journalistic freedom, looking at the White House’s own policy on their approved journalists and introducing new laws giving more of a voice to right wing outlets and limiting scrutiny from the left.
However, it is hard to echo Sir Keir’s concerns about the threat towards journalism and democracy as equivalent, since Project 2025 describes a governmental system that threatens the very existence of American democracy. This is about as reassuring as Mr Trump’s own assurances that he had not read Project 2025.
“Supreme Court” by skpy is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.