Eugene Robinson - We cannot abide Donald Trump's wish for a compliant news media
Anyone who doubts the incoming Trump administration poses a serious threat to independent journalism has not been paying attention. An attack is already underway — and we journalists must not allow ourselves to be intimidated.
President-elect Donald Trump has announced — and demonstrated — what is coming. “We have to straighten out the press,” he said last week. “Our press is very corrupt, almost as corrupt as our elections.” Trump says he wants “a fair media,” but what he means by fair is tame and compliant.
So far, the assault is being waged via litigation. This month, ABC News said it would pay $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit Trump filed over the way anchor George Stephanopoulos, in a broadcast, characterized the judgment in the E. Jean Carroll case that Trump was liable for sexual abuse. It is possible, perhaps likely, that ABC could have prevailed if the suit had gone to trial. But it is also possible that Trump would have appealed to the Supreme Court, where some justices are eager to weaken long-standing precedent that gives journalists broad protection against defamation suits filed by public figures.
Last week, Trump sued the Des Moines Register and respected pollster J. Ann Selzer for publishing a poll, days before the election, that showed Vice President Kamala Harris leading Trump in Iowa; Trump ended up winning the state by 13 points. Trump and his lawyers are not alleging defamation but instead suing under the novel theory that Selzer’s off-the-mark poll amounted to consumer fraud.
https://wapo.st/3ZPnJa4