Defending Press Freedom | Anti-press attitude of US government sharpened in 2019

In the United States, the anti-press attitude of the government increases the challenges of journalists and the media to gather and report the news, according to the report on press freedom presented during the 75th General Assembly of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) held earlier this month.

The report stated that the administration of US President Donald Trump remains openly antagonistic towards members of the news media, fostering an environment of hostility and distrust towards journalists. It added that Trump has shown favouritism toward social media personalities and media outlets that support him, while dramatically limiting press access to the White House and giving no press briefings since March 11.

President Trump’s disparagements on Twitter, at campaign rallies and in other public statements has continued. He calls the news media “corrupt” and have declared the press to be his “real opponent” in the 2020 national elections.

Some journalists have faced physical assaults by members of the public as well as by law enforcement.

In July, Trump hosted a ‘social media summit’ at the White House during which he proclaimed that social media has surpassed traditional media in importance and propagated an unsupported claim that online media giants—including Google, Twitter, and Facebook—demonstrate anti-conservative bias.

The IAPA meeting, which took place October 4-7 in Coral Gables, Florida, separately approved a resolution on stigmatisation, considered a common practice of leaders and politicians throughout the Americas, including President Trump, for discrediting journalists and media in social media.

Taken from sipiapa.org