Donald Trump won the popular vote, so lots of Americans will be very happy with this week's results.
One group of Americans who will be less happy is the press and mainstream media, who Trump has repeatedly described as the “enemy of the people” and its reporting as “fake news”.
According to RSF, “Since he entered the political arena, Trump has referred to any media that are critical of him as ‘fake news.’ He used the term as many as 2,000 times during his first presidency.”
The much cherished first amendment now looks vulnerable (unlike the second). Ian Millhiser, writing on Vox.com, noted that there are currently three justices on the Supreme Court who are willing to shrink the protections offered by the first amendment. Another Trump term could see that number swell to five, which would put the amendment in danger.
At various times, reports the Washington Post, Trump has called for the revoking of the broadcast licenses of NBC, ABC, and CBS when they have broadcast programmes he has not liked.
Clayton Weimers, executive director, RSF USA writes: “His election to a second term in office marks a dangerous moment for American journalism and global press freedom.”
Earlier in the election campaign, Weimers wrote: “After the United States fell to an unprecedented 55th place in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index in 2024, the next American president must work to strengthen the country’s press freedom record at home and abroad.”
And he called on the next US president, who we now know to be Trump, to adopt the ‘RSF’s 10-Point Plan for U.S. Press Freedom’, point # 1 being: ‘Consistently position the United States as a global leader in press freedom and speak out against press freedom violations wherever they occur.’
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the chances of Trump signing up to that are zero.
On a slightly more positive note, all those newspapers and magazines that saw a ‘Trump Bump’ in subscriptions first time around might reasonably expect the same again, with the possible exception of the Washington Post, whose readers are still seething over the saga of that paper’s non-endorsement.
Another media grouping that might, despite protestations to the contrary, welcome a second Trump term are all the late night talk show hosts and liberal podcasters and YouTubers who have built large and loyal followings with their anti-Trump commentary and gags. They will now have four more years of ready-to-go material to feast on.
I suppose every cloud has a silver lining...
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