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2018-08-16 08:09:01
More than 300 news outlets have launched a campaign to counter President Donald
Trump's attacks and promote a free press.
The Boston Globe made the call last week for a nationwide denouncement of the
president's "dirty war" against the media, using the hashtag #EnemyOfNone.
Mr Trump has derided media reports as "fake news" and attacked journalists as
"enemies of the people".
UN experts have said this raises the risk of violence against journalists.
UN experts condemn Trump media attacks
Why Trump attacks the media
The Boston Globe had pledged to write an editorial "on the dangers of the
administration's assault on the press" on 16 August, and asked others to do the
same.
The initial positive response from 100 news organisations has grown closer to
350 with major US national newspapers and smaller local outlets answering the
call, along with international publications like the UK newspaper The Guardian.
What have the papers said?
Starting with the Boston Globe itself, the editorial there, headlined
Journalists Are Not The Enemy, argued that a free press had been a core
American principle for more than 200 years
The New York Times chose the headline A Free Press Needs You, calling Mr
Trump's attacks "dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy". It published
excerpts from dozens more publications beneath
The New York Post - hardly a left-leaning paper - answered the Globe's call by
saying "Who are we to disagree?" adding: "It may be frustrating to argue that
just because we print inconvenient truths doesn't mean that we're fake news,
but being a journalist isn't a popularity contest. All we can do is to keep
reporting." But it also said: "Will this make a difference? Not one whit"
The Philadelphia Inquirer said its city was the birthplace of US democracy,
writing: "If the press is not free from reprisal, punishment or suspicion for
unpopular views or information, neither is the country. Neither are its people"
Opinion writers at McClatchy put out an editorial for the 30 daily newspapers
it runs, including the Miami Herald, saying they hardly ever spoke with one
voice but were doing so now. It said "enemies of the people" was "what Nazis
called Jews. It's how Joseph Stalin's critics were marked for execution"
Another paper to join the campaign was the Topeka Capital-Journal which said of
Mr Trump's attack on the media: "It's sinister. It's destructive. And it must
end now." The paper was one of the few to endorse Mr Trump in 2016.
The fact that Mr Trump won without such media endorsements may cast doubt on
whether the Globe's campaign would actually dent his support.
How Trump 'enemies' remark echoes tyrants
There have been some dissenting voices to the Globe's campaign.
Tom Tradup at the conservative website Townhall.com panned the Globe's
"pathetic bid to pretend it is still relevant", writing: "I would not presume
to tell anyone else what to think or what to do. But as for me - and I suspect
many others - I won't be putting any coins in any newspaper box August 16th."
The Wall Street Journal declined to take part. An earlier piece by James
Freeman argued Mr Trump was entitled to free speech and the Globe's drive ran
counter to the very independence it was seeking.
What does the American public think?
A poll released on Tuesday by Quinnipiac University suggested that 51% of
Republican voters now believed the media to be "the enemy of the people rather
than an important part of democracy" and 52% of the Republican supporters
polled were not concerned the Mr Trump's criticism would lead to violence
against journalists.
Among all voters, 65% believe the news media to be an important part of
democracy, the poll suggests.
An Ipsos poll, also this month, gave similar figures. In addition it found that
23% of Republicans, and about one in eight Americans overall, believed Mr Trump
should close down mainstream news outlets like CNN, the Washington Post and the
New York Times.
Have journalists been under physical attack?
Mr Trump has certainly ramped up the pressure on mainstream media with numerous
tweets.
The Trump Twitter Archive says he has tweeted 281 times so far using the term
"fake news".
When he brings up the matter at his rallies, some journalists have felt uneasy
about their safety and have even avoided using designated reporter zones.
Are journalists increasingly under attack?
At a presidential rally in Florida in July, CNN filmed Mr Trump's supporters
yelling insults and swearing at reporters covering the event. CNN presenter Jim
Acosta tweeted a clip, which contained strong language.
Skip Twitter post by @Acosta
Just a sample of the sad scene we faced at the Trump rally in Tampa. I m very
worried that the hostility whipped up by Trump and some in conservative media
will result in somebody getting hurt. We should not treat our fellow Americans
this way. The press is not the enemy. pic.twitter.com/IhSRw5Ui3R
Jim Acosta (@Acosta) August 1, 2018
Report
End of Twitter post by @Acosta
A man was also arrested in January for making threats to CNN employees via
telephone calls that referred to "fake news".
The publisher of the New York Times, AG Sulzberger, told Mr Trump in a personal
meeting in July that the president's language was "contributing to a rise in
threats against journalists and will lead to violence".
But most of the Globe's campaign is about maintaining a free press and its own
editorial does not even touch on violence.
Some outlets do, however, refer to the recent killing of five people at the
offices of the Capital Gazette in Maryland.
This, and an incident in which two journalists were killed live on air in
Virginia in 2015, well before Mr Trump was elected, are used to highlight the
dangers of the profession, although both were allegedly carried out by people
with personal grievances.