On February 6th, 2019, I attended a Ford Hall Forum event entitled “The Enemy of the People? Freedom of the Press and Democracy” in which Professor Bryan Trabold and Marjorie Pritchard, deputy managing editor for the editorial page at The Boston Globe, spoke about threats to journalists and the effect of press intimidation on democracy. Trabold and Pritchard’s commentary on the intimidation and discrediting of journalists by leaders explained the undemocratic nature of disparagement of the press.
On February 6th, 2019, I attended a Ford Hall Forum event entitled “The Enemy of the People? Freedom of the Press and Democracy” in which Professor Bryan Trabold and Marjorie Pritchard, deputy managing editor for the editorial page at The Boston Globe, spoke about threats to journalists and the effect of press intimidation on democracy. Trabold and Pritchard’s commentary on the intimidation and discrediting of journalists by leaders explained the undemocratic nature of disparagement of the press.
Bryan Trabold, an English professor at Suffolk University, spoke about his new book Rhetorics of Resistance: Opposition Journalism in Apartheid South Africa. Professor Trabold told a detailed history of opposition journalists in apartheid South Africa who were oppressed by the government because of their reporting. Throughout his speech, Trabold explains how leaders have weaponized distrust of the media in order to better control their base and the undemocratic nature of these actions.
Disparagement of the press has been a consistent trend among authoritarian and populist leaders. Levitsky and Ziblatt, in How Democracies Die, explain the four indicators of authoritarian behavior with one being described as a “readiness to curtail civil liberties of opponents, including media” (24). According to Levitsky and Ziblatt, autocrats, unlike democratic leaders, have a “readiness to use their power to punish those – in the opposition, the media, or civil society – who criticize them” (64). In the United States, President Donald Trump does not censor the media, but instead he punishes opposition journalists by creating public distrust in their reporting. Donald Trump does not have to directly censor or jail opposition journalists in order to damage their careers or act undemocratically. His disparagement of the media, and his declaration of them as the “enemy of the people” is an example of authoritarian behavior. His own harassment of the media has encouraged a nationwide mistrust of the media, and harassment of the press.
President Trump publicly displays disdain for the media and any negative portrayals of him in the press. Trabold uses the example of Donald Trump’s interview with Leslie Stahl in order to convey the truly undemocratic nature of the President’s relationship with the media. When asked why he criticizes the media so frequently, Stahl claims that Trump said, “I do it to discredit you all…so when you write negative stories about me, no one will believe you.” Trump frequently uses the expressions “Fake News” and “The Enemy of the People” to discredit the media in order to instill in his base that the media is reporting incorrectly and with malicious intent not only towards him, but towards the American people.
According to Pippa Norris in “Is Western Democracy Backsliding?”, for regime consolidation and democracy, “ all the major actors and organs of the state [must] reflect democratic norms and practices” (1). This means that the “institutions protecting political rights and civil liberties” must be respected by major actors in the state (Norris 3). The First Amendment of the Constitution describes some of the most fundamental rights and civil liberties of American democracy. Major actors targeting institutions such as the press, is evidence of democratic backsliding. When the President of the United States denounces independent news sources as “Fake News” and the “enemy”, he is acting undemocratically. Free press is a necessary component of a healthy democracy as it allows for citizens to have the opportunity to educate themselves about the actions of their government.
While the separate branches of government are meant to be the true checks and balances of our system, it can be said that the media plays one of the most important roles in placing checks upon those in positions of political authority. The media allows us to be well-informed citizens, and to criticize wrong-doings from those elected to represent us. When the President of the United States instills within his base that the media is not to be trusted, and is the “enemy of the people”, he is attacking those that seek to hold him accountable. Therefore, it does not matter if he lies publicly, because he has led his voters to believe that those who are intended to hold him accountable are the liars. A Gallup/Knight Foundation Survey, found that “four in ten Republicans consider accurate news stories that cast a politician or political group in a negative light to always be ‘fake news.’” Therefore, even when reporting is accurate and factual, roughly 40% of his base considers negative press to be invalid.
During the Ford Hall Forum Event, Marjorie Pritchard described her personal experiences within the media, which revealed the dangerous consequences of anti-press rhetoric. She shared the story of her and her colleagues at the Boston Globe receiving a phone call in which a man threatened to murder them. In his call he used President Trump’s language, calling them “the enemy of the people”. This is not an isolated incident of harassment and violence towards the media. In October, pipe bombs were sent to CNN and Democrats criticized by Trump. The President’s undemocratic labeling of the press as the “enemy” has emboldened some individuals to support violence and harassment towards the media and the President’s criticizers. The hostility the President has created towards the media has not only made the public distrust their reporting, but has also fostered a dangerous environment for journalists.
Trabold and Pritchard’s Ford Hall Forum revealed the undemocratic practices of Donald in regards to his anti-press rhetoric. Institutions such as the press are necessary for a well-functioning democracy, and serve to hold leaders accountable. When the President seeks to discredit a necessary element of democracy, and “when partisan hatred trumps politician’s commitment to the spirit of the Constitution, a system of checks and balances risks being subverted” (Levitsky and Ziblatt 126). Seeking to punish opposition journalists, through creating public distrust of the press, is an example of democratic backsliding as it targets an institution that serves as a check and balance upon those in positions of power within a democracy.
References
Gallup and Knight Foundation. “American Views: Trust, Media, and Democracy” (2018).
ghtFoundation_AmericansViews_Client_Report_010917_Final_Updated.pdf
Levitsky, Steven, and Daniel Ziblatt (2019). How Democracies Die. Broadway Books.
Norris, Pippa. 2017. “Is Western Democracy Backsliding? Diagnosing the Risks.” Harvard Kennedy School Faculty Research Working Paper Series.
“Pipe Bombs: A Timeline.” CNN, Cable NewsNetwork,www.cnn.com/interactive/2018/10/us/suspicious-packages-timeline/.
Ralston, Mark. “California Man Arrested on Charges of Threatening to Shoot Boston GlobeEmployees – The Boston Globe.” BostonGlobe.com, 30 Aug. 2018,www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/08/30/california-man-arrested-charges-threatening-shoot-boston-globe-employees/EejiWXLNscUR8AxDB3y7RL/story.html
Rosenberg, Eli. “Trump Admitted He Attacks Press to Shield Himself from Negative Coverage,Lesley Stahl Says.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 22 May 2018,www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/05/22/trump-admitted-he-attacks-pressto-shield-himself-from-negative-coverage-60-minutes-reporter-says/.
Photo by the Boston Globe.
0 Comments