It's an understatement to say the Biden-Harris administration will face major challenges immediately that require a lot of attention (pandemic, economy, etc.), but I'm hopeful that press freedom will be a priority, too. A few of my thoughts ... (1/6)
For the last four years, the president has waged an illiberal rhetorical campaign -- at rallies and in speeches and on Twitter -- against the press as an institution. He has falsely accused journalists of fabricating sources and of being "fake news." (2/6)
He has called journalists the “enemy of the people” so many times I've lost count. His supporters, including other public officials, have parroted his rhetoric. And there's been a demonstrable increase in the number of journalists assaulted and arrested in the field. (3/6)
Generally, there's a variety of things any administration can do to shape press freedom and journalism practice (FOIA implementation, leak investigations, subpoenaing journalists, etc.), and they're all important. (4/6)
But what I really hope the Biden-Harris administration does, early on, is make a strong public commitment to journalism and press freedom -- to say emphatically that a free press, however imperfect, is the lifeblood of a healthy democracy. (5/6)
One in which journalists work in good faith to inform their communities and to enable democratic participation. This kind of commitment would go a long way toward helping to restore respect for the norms that underlie press freedom and its exercise. (6/6)
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