U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press before boarding Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, to attend the NATO’s Heads of State and Government summit in The Hague. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)
There is peace in knowing that there are many news outlets to pick from that vary political spectrum. It can be exhausting to know that there are some outlets pushing an agenda onto its viewers, but helpful nonetheless.
What if a leader could get rid of the media that opposes their views? Why would a leader do this?
The obvious answer is that this person is not a reasonable leader, or perhaps even a dictator.
Reporters and journalists play an important role in everyone’s lives, as they ask questions and dive deeper into situations we wouldn’t have known about without their help. There is a reason they go to school for what they do.
Anyone can make a report on anything, but journalists and reporters can turn those reports into something people want to read or listen to. In other words, they make us curious about the things we would not have thought about otherwise.
They have access to certain information and people that can give us insight on complex situations. We are then able to use our awareness of these situations as we see fit.
Political journalism is imperative to our society because people need to know what the current administration is doing to change the country. If the people find that they are not content with what’s happening with their government, they can make better decisions during midterm elections.
This may be why Donald Trump is trying his hardest to keep news outlets that oppose him from reporting from within the White House. His party cannot afford to lose in the quickly approaching midterm elections,, and with how he’s doing, failure will likely be the outcome.
Most Americans would agree that Trump is doing a horrible job as president. We can see it in our everyday lives with insane gas prices due to the unnecessary and unauthorized war in Iran.
Instead of trying to make things better, Trump’s solution is to get rid of the press that holds him accountable for the trouble he has caused many Americans. In what world is he an acceptable leader?
MS NOW, CNN, and Politico all happen to be left-leaning news sources that Trump claims spread “fake news” about him. His administration also claims that “White House access is a privilege—not a right.”
When defending his decision to a judge, he accused the news outlets of affecting national security, but that doesn’t seem to be the case since they are reporting factual information.
If the news outlets are not threatening national security or spreading false information, then why ban them?
The president should have some real, tangible reason to be denying these news outlets their freedom of speech and press. Without a reason, he is leaning into dictator territory.
Unfortunately for Trump, being president involves having rationale behind his actions, people saying things he doesn’t like does not count.
He’s like a child who has never been criticized or told no. He needs everyone around him to agree with what he’s doing, and if they don’t, then they are the problem.
The very existence of journalists makes him feel threatened, which is embarrassing considering his occupation and the power he has as president.
We need journalists in the White House at all times, no matter what their political affiliation may be. It allows viewers to have a wide variety of news sources to choose from, which leads them to develop their own opinions.
It’s dangerous for the president to decide who can report on him or not, because it defeats the purpose of the First Amendment.
We’ve seen this before when Trump punished pro-Palestinian speech, defended the unlawful actions committed by ICE, allowed the excessive violence toward protesters for both causes and so much more.
Throughout his time as president, Trump has not been a big fan of the First Amendment if it opposes his ideas, which should be alarming to the average citizen.
To some, the situation may not seem worth talking about, but how long do we have to wait until this directly affects us? What could our futures look like with this administration?
I’m someone who enjoys having an opinion and being able to speak freely about controversial things, and I know that without having this right, our ability to think critically will decrease rapidly. Without opinions coming from a place of fact, we will not be able to get the most out of journalism, reporting, or life.
The Trump administration is threatening our ability to gain the information that we need in order to think critically about what is happening in our country. They want us to trust that they will take care of things, but clearly that’s not the case.
If Trump lacks the intelligence to understand why journalists feel the need to speak up about what he is doing as president, then he should not be president at all. This is why expansive and responsible journalism is necessary, perhaps now more than ever.
About Post Author
