FACE OUR FEARS: Who controls the media controls us all
For more than a century, the independent White House Correspondents’ Association has overseen the rotating group of news outlets that cover the president both in Washington and on travels.
But, like everything else that has happened in the past month, Trump has decided to upend that and the White House has stripped the WHCA’s ability to manage the White House Press Pool. He boasted from the Oval Office on Tuesday that “we’re going to be calling those shots.”
This press pool includes hundreds of representatives from television, print, radio, wire services and still photography outlets that travel with the president on Air Force One and other small settings like the Roosevelt Room or Oval Office.
Most recently, a Reuters wire reporter was cut from the Wednesday rotation. Staffers from two pro-Trump outlets, Newsmax and The Blaze, were added in their place. And perhaps most tellingly, HuffPost was taken out of its planned Wednesday spot, as well.
Backlash been swift. Journalists and media critics are sounding the alarm that this threatens the foundations of a free press and could allow the administration to block reporters that they simply don’t like.
New York Times chief White House correspondent Peter Baker tweeted that “having served as a Moscow correspondent in the early days of Putin's reign, this reminds me of how the Kremlin took over its own press pool and made sure that only compliant journalists were given access."
And of course, Press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded as expected on X stating: 'Give me a break, Peter,' she wrote. 'Moments after you tweeted this, the President invited journalists into the Oval and took questions for nearly an hour.
'Your hysterical reaction to our long overdue and much needed change to an outdated organization is precisely why we made it.'
She also made it personal, adding:
'Gone are the days where left-wing stenographers posing as journalists, such as yourself, dictate who gets to ask what.’
But, even FOX News disagreed, with Senior White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich posting this on X:
REALITY CHECK: So who benefits from this?
Trump-friendly outlets like Newsmax or OAN won’t push him on the tough questions or call out his lies. And controlling the narrative has far reaching implications, as some reporters onsite at the Pentagon were booted, including NBC News, NPR and Politico from their physical workspaces. Even CNN was ousted.
Trump isn’t just limiting access, however, he is also using lawsuits to silence media, threatening their corporate owners and insisting tha reporters back off from chasing the facts in pursuit of justice.
His move has also emboldened others in the billionaire class, like Jeff Bezos, owner of the Washington Post. Bezos shared this post today which led to today’s resignation of WaPo editorial page editor, David Shiply:
Ibrahm X. Kendi, American author, professor, anti-racist activist, and historian of race and discriminatory policy in the U.S., had this to say about Bezos’ announcement, responding on X:
“Super-wealthy enslavers wrote everyday in support and defense of their ‘personal liberty’ to enslave my ancestors.”
While our media continues to be weaponized to support the nefarious ambitions of the uber rich, I can’t help but worry how it will continue to distract us, as well.
Take, for instance, this video of a “future” Gaza which was shared on Trump’s Truth Social account and caused a flurry of backlash — rightfully so. But what it also did was allow Trump and his fascist regime to control not just this bizarre, dystopian narrative, but our response to said narrative.
When they do that, then they can occupy our time, our resources and our energy while they do things like cut Medicaid. (Remember that from yesterday?)
Because who’s going to stop them if there’s no free press left to call them out?
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