Freedom of expression and a free press are only as strong as
the actions of those whose freedoms are being threatened. The current
administrations' attitude toward the free press is deplorable and a real threat
to the transparency of the actions by those we elect to public office. The idea
that the press is the "enemy of the people" is the first step in
silencing the critics of compromised government officials in the highest
offices of the land. We must speak out against the atrocious actions of the Administration
toward those who keep us informed.
OK, NOW IT'S YOUR TURN TO DEFEND PRESS FREEDOM
By Alex Kotlowitz (LA
Times Opinion 8-17-18)
President Trump’s constant attacks against the news media
have made it dangerous to practice journalism, and not just for the White House
press corps.
The opinion editor at the Tennessean in Nashville, David
Plazas, recently received an email that read, in part: “Most of us are armed
and sworn to protect the President and The Constitution against ALL enemies
foreign and DOMESTIC and we will do so.”
At the Chicago Tribune, columnist Rex Huppke has received
two direct threats in recent months, including a letter sent to his home that
read: “You’re going to look awfully stupid trying to keyboard with two broken
arms.” For the first time in his 18-year journalism career, Huppke was
concerned enough to call the police.
Journalists are fighting back, in large part by keeping
their heads down and reporting doggedly and intrepidly. Some are responding to
Trump’s rhetorical assault more directly. At a White House meeting a few weeks
ago, the publisher of the New York Times, A.G. Sulzberger, implored the
president to stop calling the press “the enemy of the people.” And on Thursday,
more than 300 newspapers ran editorials denouncing the administration’s war on
the press.
Journalists are doing a remarkable job defending their
profession. Where is everyone else?
All this has me thinking about Elijah Lovejoy , but not for
the obvious reason. Lovejoy was a 19th century newspaper publisher and
abolitionist who was killed by a mob while defending his printing press. The
Newseum has described him as the “first American martyr for the press.” Former
U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, himself a former newspaperman, wrote a book about Lovejoy
called “Freedom’s Champion.”
Lovejoy’s story feels deeply relevant today. In the 1830s,
he put out a small newspaper in St. Louis called the Observer. He used the
paper to report on and decry the institution of slavery, and at one point, a
mob of citizens destroyed his printing press. A local judge condoned the
attack, saying he could “see no reason why the Press should be a means of
widespread mischief.” The judge also asked: “Are we to be the victims of those
sanctimonious madmen?”
Lovejoy fled to the other side of the Mississippi River and
settled in the town of Alton, Ill. Unlike Missouri, Illinois was a free state.
But he met resistance there too. Again citizens destroyed his press, throwing
parts of it in the river.
Townspeople in Alton drafted a resolution that, on the one
hand, condemned the violence against the Observer, but, on the other, requested
that Lovejoy discontinue his anti-slavery editorials, which they called
“incendiary doctrines which alone have a tendency to disturb the quiet of our
citizens and neighbors.”
In response, Lovejoy took to task not those who opposed his
views, but rather those who questioned his right to speak his mind and to
publish the truth. At a community gathering, he admonished his neighbors.
“I know that I have the right to freely speak and publish my
sentiments,” Lovejoy said. “What I wish to know of you is whether you will
protect me in the exercise of this right?”
Few came forward. Four days later, while trying to protect
his new printing press from being set on fire, Lovejoy was shot and killed by a
mob. In his final days, what so distressed Lovejoy was not his ideological
opponents but rather the decent people of Alton who refused to take a stand.
Lovejoy recognized the need for citizens to speak out in
defense of a free press. That need has become urgent once again.
There are countless contemporary examples of reporters
watching out for ordinary Americans who don’t have access to wealth or power.
Coal miners could celebrate the Center for Public
Integrity’s work exposing unsavory ties between doctors and coal companies and
their efforts to deny healthcare for workers with black lung disease. Veterans
could extol the Colorado Springs Gazette series about the military’s practice
of dishonorably discharging injured soldiers. Female athletes could publicly
applaud the Indianapolis Star’s reporting on Dr. Lawrence G. Nassar’s serial
sexual abuse at Michigan State University and beyond.
The list of examples is endless, because the core mission of
a free press is holding people in power accountable and keeping an eye out for
the rest of us.
After Lovejoy gave his speech at the town meeting, a young
man, Dr. Benjamin K. Hart, wanted to say something that might turn the tide and
rally support for Lovejoy. But he didn’t.
“I hesitated,” Hart said in an interview many years later.
“And hesitated a moment too long. I have never forgiven myself for my
hesitation.”
Journalism is not an easy institution to rally around. But
if there were ever a time for citizens to defend the press, this is it.
Earlier this month, at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Trump
called reporters “horrible, horrendous people,” and his supporters chanted “CNN
sucks.” That same week, the Chicago Tribune held a training session to teach
its reporters what they should do in the event of an active shooter. What’s
more to be said?
Alex Kotlowitz teaches
at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He is the author of
four books, including the forthcoming “An American Summer.”
