The Assault On A Free Press Threatens Every American

Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League

 "The people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare with the press." - Ida B. Wells
 
If you placed me in a time machine and took me back to grade school when I first learned about World War II -- specifically, the portion of history where I learned how the far-right came to power in 1930s Germany -- I would have told you it was unimaginable that those tactics would ever be accepting in America. I’m sure many of you who learned heralded stories of our troop’s bravery fighting tyranny on the shores of France and deep into Germany would agree.
 
But decades later, I witnessed the sitting President of the United States expel three of our largest media outlets from the White House Press Pool. The same day, ABC, CBS, and NBC joined CNN, MS NOW, and Politico in solidarity to share their disdain for the decision. 
 
The result is effectively a media blackout from the White House as the nation is in the midst of seven-month war that has cost the American people over $50 billion and counting. The blackout also overlaps with the United Nations General Assembly, the first state visit from China this decade, and growing lawsuits to stop the administration from deploying troops to the polls this midterm election.
 
As outlets filed lawsuits to block the President’s outrageous abuse of power and violation of the First Amendment, his behavior drifted further toward the authoritarian tactics we’ve seen in regimes in Germany and Russia; he launched his own, filtered news outlet, “Trump TV.”
 
In many ways, the “channel” functions like many propaganda machines we see around the world: discrediting the free press while disseminating unchecked accounts of government actions. 
 
It is clear that we have crossed a red line and entered a danger zone. And a zone that threatens to further divide the American people and disproportionately impact Black and other marginalized people who need access to information most. But this isn’t the first time the administration has targeted information flow to Black communities. 
 
In his first term, President Trump threatened to revoke the press credentials of April Ryan, who was then with American Urban Radio Networks,  the only Black-owned broadcaster with a bureau in the White House press room. He’s also called CNN anchor Abby Phillip, “stupid,” and former PBS correspondent Yamiche Alcindor of asking “racist” questions about his administration’s decisions. 
 
To be clear, these are all forms of censorship and violations of our Constitutional right to a free press. It is also a massive distraction from major issues facing the American people including the skyrocketing cost of living, dangerous cuts to programs like Medicare and SNAP,  and investigations into the administration’s endless cycle of corruption.
 
The American people deserve to know the truth about what is going on in this country. Instead, the White House is setting the stage for mass indoctrination through its own media outlets controlled by a President and cabinet that have as much respect for the truth as they do the mainstream media.
 
We are standing in solidarity with these outlets as they go to court and fight this injustice. 
 

 
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