Demagogues, Democracy and the News: Come to the Cabaret

Like resorting to profanity in polite company comparing politics these days to the era that led to the Third Reich is frowned upon and mostly rightly so But personifying current problems in the Fuehrer39s trappings is one thing analyzing their antecedents another and today39s parallels with Weimar Germany are striking As the pandemic upends the economy as well as daily life and a divided country approaches an election the kind of extraordinary uncertainties that faced average Germans in the 1920s seem all too relevant as well as realA shorthand description of their world and travails makes the point A country tired of war its traditional political establishment discredited the economy devastated by a global upheaval mass unemployment growing social divisions and deepening grievances a mediasavvy personality39s rise an election unexpectedly bringing him to power his demagogic rants at rallies disdaining decorum playing to the mood in the streets attacking opponents their parties and unfailingly the pressFriedrich von Schlegel coincidentally a German philosopher once wrote that a historian is a prophet looking backwards As Americans worry about their health livelihood and future they would do well to consider the past as they read a study released this month by the Committee to Protect Journalists CPJ The Trump Administration and the Media examines the impact on democracy at home and abroad when a president without scruples or values attacks the press For anyone concerned about important issues their choices in the November election and why only a free press can provide what they need to know the CPJ39s study is a must readThat attacking the news is a permanent part of President Trump39s repertoire isn39t a matter of debate To be sure more than a few of his predecessors have fallen out of love with the press Richard Nixon railed against reporters as Watergate engulfed him President Obama used an antique espionage law to lay on nearly a dozen prosecutions trying to curb leaks But in a constitutional democracy where freedom of the press figures prominently Len Downie the author of the CPJ study makes clear that a president lip syncing Josef Stalin39s attack on journalists as quotenemies of the peoplequot is breaking new groundThe former executive editor of the Washington Post Downie examines what Trump has done in his multifront offensive against the media The attacks are impressive for their breadth alone Take hampering reporters who are simply trying to do their jobs While the COVID19 Task Force has revived daily White House press conferences it took a pandemic to bring an end to their unprecedented yearlong disappearance The shutdown also isn39t over Daily press briefings at State Defense and other departments have all but disappeared as has ontherecord access to officials As for Freedom of Information Act queries a key tool of investigative reporters their retirement checks are likely to arrive before the administration39s responsesTrump39s daily displays of vitriol aren39t accidental Downie lets him explain in his own words Asked in 2016 by CBS News correspondent Leslie Stahl why he incessantly attacked the news media Trump replied quotYou know why I do it I do it to discredit you all and demean you all so that when you write negative stories about me no one will believe youquot The effects go beyond stymying reporters or cuing others such as Secretary of State Pompeo ever ready to rave at reporters on command They are eroding the media39s credibility the government39s transparency and the public39s right to knowIf that were all the damage done it would be bad enough Unfortunately the study details Trump39s even more troubling use of presidential powers not only against journalistsamp8212for example the failed attempt in 2018 to strip CNN39s senior White House reporter of his credentials amp8212 but also their news organizations The efforts speak for themselves From pushing postal rate increases to hurt Amazon amp8212 its founder Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post amp8212 to challenging broadcasting licenses of major networks where journalists have taken him on Trump39s threats successful or not have a caudillolike rather than presidential ringThe CPJ study ranges widely making valuable recommendations for changes in how the press as well as the President behave For example it suggests what print broadcast and online media can do to end comingling of opinionating and straight news Downie also advocates more vigorous efforts by news organizations to counter now nearconstant Goebbelslike attacks on quotfake newsquot The proposals for the Trump and his administration are no less specific including a call to return to civil behavior Sadly that39s the recommendation most certain to remain beyond reachTo its credit the analysis in The Trump Administration and the Media doesn39t stop at water39s edge although its good work notwithstanding there should be more The report documents the influence abroad of Trump39s fouryearlong attack on the media For example some 26 countries since 2017 have sought to restrict online media and journalistic access in the name of quotfake newsquot Unlike previous administrations Washington has barely peeped as jailing of journalists by US allies in the Middle East has spiked even more egregiously despite Saudi Arabia39s murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Kashoggi the White House has turned a blind eyeBut the fact that Trump39s words and actions are finding an audience abroad reflects more than his implicit influence on wouldbe authoritarians or antidemocratic regimes His war on the news media suggests an administration willing to assent to their actions Examples of its silence abound Victor Orban in Hungary and Andrzej Duda in Poland are studies of rightwing leaders who have brought the media to heel In Russia Kremlinbacked corporate takeovers and bogus prosecutions not to mention assassinations of two dozen reporters since Vladimir Putin took power have gutted the independent press As for China39s president for life Xi Jinping reporters who a decade ago had occasional latitude now sport choke collars as well as a leashIn the final analysis a president who seeks to muzzle news organizations or intimidate their ownership is not only attacking the media but also the democratic process where the press as the founding fathers made clear plays a vital role The tactics are straight from the authoritarians39 playbook The Committee to Protect Journalists is spotlighting Trump39s effort and its consequences Given his professed admiration for Putin Xi and other strongmen the facts call for a much harder lookClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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Demagogues, Democracy and the News: Come to the Cabaret

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Kent M. Harrington

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