President Donald Trump banned employees of the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on January 24 from providing updates to social media and reporters. Trump has increased his assault on media in his effort to control the narrative given to the public, which adds onto his “fake news” tirades. This is all while Trump and his team continue to contradict themselves and report falsehoods to the American public.
In one of many in a series of executive orders during his first week in office, Trump has barred the EPA and USDA from reporting any updates or giving information to media. This is at the same time as the signing for the revival of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline projects en route to undercutting the environmental legacy of the Obama administration. This may be no coincidence, as employees of these agencies cannot give environmental or agricultural updates or effects that the pipelines will certainly have.
This is concerning as it seems the Trump administration is on its way to censoring the media and the ultimate message conveyed towards the American public.
The media-blackouts that have been imposed or advised by the Trump administration calls into question whether this is directly against the First Amendment, and more directly, freedom of the press. In a series of tweets throughout the first week of the Trump, he and his team made statements that suggest shunning the media and journalists from politics completely. He even went as far as to criticize Obama for the clemency of Chelsea Manning, a move that most Americans saw as an act of justice, calling Manning a “traitor.”
Trump’s executive order for the media ban on the EPA and USDA add onto his attempt to control the message of the media through his “fake news” accusations. Just because the reporting doesn’t fit the President’s false narrative doesn’t make it “fake.” He is setting a dangerous precedent and is pushing citizens to consume media from outlets that only push his narrative and never question his assertions. Trump has sent out tweets making these accusations on many occasions.
But all Manning wanted to do was help Americans by giving them information. Shunning media from providing the public with updates is alarming, and Trump deeming various media outlets “fake news” was the clear beginning of his want to control the message as he and his team continue to tell flat-out lies.
Trump’s attempt to discredit various media organizations after reporting negatively on the President is a serious problem, as he wants people to think that he alone is the only credible source in this country. He has gone on to discredit CNN and NBC on numerous occasions recently, while giving praise to others.
Every person, Anti-Trump, or Pro-Trump, must be able to be critical of Trump without the threat of being hurt by the President (yes, the President of the United States tweets actually do make a difference on viewership and consumption choices).
I will tell you what is FAKE NEWS: the insistent notion that Mexico will pay to build a wall that persecutes their own people. Everybody is familiar with these claims, as Trump signed an executive order fast-tracking the process.
However, there is again no credible evidence to suggest that Mexico will pay for a wall to keep their own people out of our great country while, at the same time, accepting major trade reform that will also negatively affect them. Actually, the exact opposite will happen and we, as taxpayers, will pay for the wall and hope for “some type of reimbursement,” said Trump. One former Mexican President also has strong feelings about this.
What is actually factual, is that the cost of the wall, according to various publications, will be at least $10 billion and could be as high as $20 billion. With the money Trump plans to take from taxpayers to build this wall, we could cover tuition for many, many unprivileged college students, which could potentially help America infinitely more than any wall ever could. That is the America that I dream about living in, a true land of opportunity, not one that criminalizes being from a different country or having certain religious beliefs.
This is just scratching the surface on the lies told by the new administrations thus far and includes erroneous claims of the inauguration crowd size and use of ‘alternative facts’.
So, how can Trump continue to claim that organizations, which have been working for decades to gain valuable credibility in reporting the truth to the American people, are “fake news” when he has already told so many lies himself?
It is not only our right as citizens to obtain information that effects so many people in our country, it is clearly written in the First Amendment of the Constitution. If the media is not allowed to be critical and accurate throughout Trump’s four years, we may never know what it truly going on and he will eventually control the message portrayed and we will truly have a BIASED media.
This further proves the claim that Trump does not want citizens to be able to obtain information that may be sensitive or compromise him in any way, whether that be personally or politically. Chelsea Manning simply wanted people to be informed, she gave truth. Trump is clearly aiming to shoot down any potential whistle-blowers, media outlets, or others there may be throughout the duration of his stay in office, but it is the right of the American citizens and the public alike to be given information about government actions.
The press must be able to report on all Presidential actions and those of his new administration, they must be allowed the access to information to provide citizens with the facts that we need to know. We need to know what is going on inside of the EPA, we need environmental updates, and we need agricultural updates, especially as these extremely controversial and potentially harmful pipelines are being pushed ahead in their processes. This will soon grow into a much larger problem, in which we live in a George Orwell ‘1984’ inspired world where people are force-fed the ideas of those in power. It is a scary thought that this classic book has a chance of becoming a reality.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the “running war” with the media that has ensued, as President Trump said in defense of his chief White House strategist, Steve Bannon. In an interview with the New York Times, Bannon argued that news organizations had been “humiliated” by the election and repeatedly described the media as “the opposition party” of the current administration.
“The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while,” Mr. Bannon said in an interview on January 25. “I want you to quote this,” he continued. “The media here is the opposition party. They don’t understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the President of the United States.”
Trump also called the media, “opposition party in many ways.” Why does he want to start a war with the media? If he does not want to be criticized, he should have chosen a different job. If he does a good job, we will surely recognize. To make the press the villain in this culture is awful because everybody wants the truth.
So, is Trump really going to spend the next four years attempting to discredit all contrary media?
Trump’s apparent disdain for the First Amendment, specifically freedom of speech and freedom of the press, should concern all Americans.
Since Bannon’s call for the media to “shut up”, many journalists have responded strongly. “Steve Bannon sought to provoke the media so any response risks playing into his hands,” CPJ director Joel Simon told CNN. “Nevertheless, what needs to be said is this: This kind of speech not only undermines the work of the media in this country, it emboldens autocratic leaders around the world. These leaders – like Putin in Russia and Erdogan in Turkey—have consolidated power by marginalizing independent media. We can’t allow that to happen in the United States.”
We must come to the realization that Donald Trump has manipulate the media so well that he is now President of the United States, it's really not a joke. We cannot let Trump censor media or control the message. As I’ve told my best friend, John Calhoun, many times, Trump is a dangerous man.
