The Freedom Series

Guides to media law from a 501(c)(3) nonprofit association dedicated to assisting journalists since 1970

"“What now is frightening—for a free press and other freedoms we hold dear—is that the president is positioned to create a court that can interpret the Constitution in ways that undermine our liberty—even those that we thought to be inviolable,” writes Hatcher. “Unified ideological control of the three branches of government, plus many of the state governments, means that institutional checks and balances are more vulnerable than they have ever been.”"

"The modern First Amendment is very strong, and reporters count on its shelter. But the modern presidency is very strong, too, and the impact of the “bully pulpit” has never been greater. Who will prevail if the commander in chief, clothed in the immense power of a 21st-century president, sets his mind to whittling back the protections of the First Amendment?"

"In an interview with a Miami TV station Sunday, Trump reiterated his desire to weaken First Amendment protections, a position he staked out in February when he pledged to “open up” libel laws so that public figures, such as himself, can sue and win cases against media companies more easily."

"Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Sunday that he had no problems with the press.

"I've had some rather contentious times with the press. But no, the press, as far as I'm concerned are a constituency that we deal with," Mattis said when asked about Trump's criticism during a trip to the Middle East. "And I don't have any issues with the press, myself."

Arizona Sen. John McCain came out strongly against Trump's assertion during an interview with NBC's Meet the Press.

"That's how dictators get started," he said of Trump's tweet about the media. Later, McCain said a free press is "vital.""

"As hundreds of thousands of protesters shut down the streets of Washington, D.C., the day after Donald Trump's inauguration, and millions more marched all over the country and the world, America's new president sent his press secretary to attack the White House press corps and claim Trump's inauguration crowd was the "biggest ever." This strange and obvious lie was taken by some commentators to be a warning aimed at the press – a defiant statement that Trump intends to propagate his preferred reality and vilify reporters who contradict it."

"Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference Friday, President Trump took his anti-media rhetoric to a new level, doubling down on his description of journalists as “the enemy of the people” and calling for an end to the use of anonymous sources. This on a day when his press secretary Sean Spicer barred reporters from The New York Times, BBC, BuzzFeed News, CNN, Politico, The Los Angeles Times and The Huffington Post from his daily White House press briefing."

"Preserving the free press in the US
CPJ examines the challenges journalists face in a changing environment for the news media. Nine outlets are denied access to an informal White House press secretary briefing. Online trolls, emboldened by the president's anti-press rhetoric, harass reporters. As the debate over "fake news" in the U.S. and Europe continues, journalists are jailed and media outlets are closed around the world for publishing news autocratic governments deem "false" or "fake.""

"A new “First Amendment Report Card,” unveiled today by the First Amendment Center of the Newseum Institute, gives our First Amendment freedoms — religion, speech, press, assembly and petition — a barely passing grade.

The grades were assigned by 15 panelists from across the political spectrum, some of them experts on First Amendment issues overall, and some who focus on specific areas such as religion or press.

Assembly and petition — the rights to gather peaceably with like-minded people without government restriction or prosecution, and ask the government for changes in policies and practices — received the highest marks, at a B-. Religion and speech were graded at a C+, while press was given a C.

On press, for example, panelists pointed to President Trump’s campaign threat to “open up” libel laws in order to more easily sue media outlets; the administration blocking certain news organizations from attending White House briefings; the “fake news” phenomenon; and the president’s general enmity for the press."

"My thesis is simple. Trump is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the first president to wage war on the press. Yet the Republic has survived. In saying this, I am not justifying, defending, or approving of Trump’s propagandizing, shutting out the press, or lying. But barring actual sedition laws that legally silence the press, or the instatement of a monolithic government-run media that shuts out private voices, the greatest threat to freedom of the press is not a lying president spreading propaganda. It’s the subjectivity and moral relativism of the media itself."

"In lieu of attempting the impossible and predicting the future, we’ve gathered all of Trump’s stated positions on free speech and freedom of the press."

"Our democracy relies on a free, fair, and adversarial press to hold power accountable. But Donald Trump’s attacks on that principle just hit a new low -- now he’s blocked multiple news outlets from an off-camera press briefing with Sean Spicer."