Freedom of the press is about more than access
Two things are true about President Donald Trump’s relationship with the press: He takes a lot of questions from reporters, and he’s directing a wide-ranging and unnervingly effective effort to chill critical coverage by punishing news outlets and threatening journalists.
The Politico’s flagship Playbook newsletter opened on Wednesday with a beat-sweetening item lavishing Trump with praise for the former while soft-peddling the latter.
Jack Blanchard’s piece plugs Trump’s “remarkable record of public availability” in office, “especially when compared to his famously sheltered predecessor,” adding that he is “on course to being just about the most-accessible president in modern history.”
Related Knowledge Center: The White House vs. the press
Whether it’s the Des Moines Register’s publication of an unfavorable election poll, a routine edit of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, or the Associated Press’s decision in its authoritative stylebook to continue to use “Gulf of Mexico,” Donald Trump and the White House have used executive authority and legal reprisals in an effort to punish and suppress press coverage that runs contrary to the administration’s preferred narratives.
Democracy and politics | Signalgate | The CBS submission | Voiceless America
Related Knowledge Center: Democracy and politics
News organizations are scrambling to find a coverage approach that adequately informs the American public about the country’s slide from democracy to authoritarian rule.