IS AMERICA LOSING ITS DEMOCRACY?

…The Post’s Jamal Khashoggi, whose brutal murder was ordered by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia

A University study finds that fake stories spread faster and more widely than does the truth.

It is pretty disgusting that our president calls the “real” American free press “fake news”, only because it is telling us the truth about his presidency.  It’s even more disgusting when this president says that the real free press is the “enemy of the American people”.

The United States is only free because we have a free press with brave reporters that many times, put themselves in harm’s way, and some of them have, or are still paying the ultimate price.

As an example, a Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian was arrested and held inside Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison for 544 days, even though he had committed no crime.  For the past seven years, Austin Tice, a freelance journalist whose work has been published in The Post, has been held captive in Syria. The Post says they will not rest until he is released and returned safely to the United States.

We also can’t forget that on Oct. 2, there was a memorial service in Istanbul for Jamal Khashoggi, The Post’s contributing columnist who was brutally murdered one year ago by an attack squad dispatched by the crown prince, MBS, of Saudi Arabia.

Unfortunately, our president has shown that the authoritarian leaders like MBS in the Middle East are not the only threat to independent journalism.

We are now witnessing, that today’s technology presents another threat.  Digital innovations have opened up incredible opportunities for journalists.  But, the same technology is also being used to undermine public trust in legitimate news.  This is done by sowing confusion about what is real, and what is not.  One must remember that the Russians got into the nation’s social media machines and helped Trump become president.

The speed at which information now races across the Internet enables that “fake news” can be “weaponized”, or strategically targeted to achieve the desired negative effects.  Be it for moving financial markets, damaging reputations, inflaming regional tensions or influencing political campaigns.

An MIT University Study has found that fictitious stories spread faster and more widely on Twitter than does the truth.  Some reports have suggested that with the current Trump administration, we have now moved into a world devoid of facts, or where there are those so called, “alternative facts.”  But we must be insistent that: “Facts matter, and the truth matters.”

Historically, those reporters dedicated to factual, independent journalism, those committed to telling the truth, no matter where it leads, they could be counted on to receive support from the government of the United States.  America had previously always set the standard for the “freedom of the press” around the world. However, due to President Trump, that is sadly no longer the case.

Today we are witnessing purposeful, calculated attacks meant to discredit the very integrity of our journalism. The attacks are conducted by people such as Donald Trump who would prefer to wield power free from accountability and sometimes outside of the public eye.

The president has threatened to take away reporter’s credentials, or his administration has intentionally spread misinformation.  This is part of a deliberate effort to undermine our independent press and other institutions absolutely essential to our democracy.

Fair and honest reporting by respected news organizations that contradicts the political leader’s narrative, while poking holes in his claims, today this gets dismissed by the president, and his cronies as “fake news.”

That truth might not always be what the political leader wants to hear.  But there is an enormous difference between “unfavorable news” and “fake news.”  It is wrong to think they are both the same.  Doing so is an attack on the truth and that is extremely destructive to our democracy.

As long as there have been presidents, and the reporters covering them, there have been institutional and, at times, personal tensions between them.

Throughout US history, these tensions have been a healthy and important part of our democracy.

But in today’s environment, it is entirely different.  And they are in ways that should concern all of us, regardless of our political views. 

When the president of the United States publicly attacks the press as “enemies of the people,” it crosses a line that has never been crossed before.

After all, “enemy” is a word to describe those we might use military or political force against.  For vulnerable and misguided individuals, these are more than just words, they can be a call to serious violence or even war.

When the president uses these words, it is dangerous and reckless. He should stop labeling his fellow citizens and reporters as “enemies” immediately,  before it leads to physical harm to innocent Americans.

The president and those political leaders across the globe, must understand that free press journalists are not “enemies of the people.”  They are the servants of the people, and of the democratic principles that empower the people.

These are challenges faced by journalists around the world, and they are difficult.  The work journalists do has never been more difficult than it is today.  But it has also never been more necessary.

Every day, journalists are courageously putting their lives at risk because of the conflict zones that they cover.  But the powerful people they cover and challenge, or the wrongdoing they reveal, they are refusing to be intimidated into silence.  They are still asking that next important question, digging into the corruption, and demanding responsibility for crimes and those abuses of power.

It is our duty to stand up for these men and women. 

Their safety must be protected. Their questions to the powerful must be answered. They must be supported and defended as they go about the work that safeguards our freedoms.

To have our free press become what the president accuses it of, is the first or perhaps even the latest signal that our great country is losing its democracy.

Copyright G. Ater 2019