logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Nonprofit Sues Trump over Sabotaging the Press—and Therefore Democracy

Erin Rubin
October 17, 2018
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

October 16, 2018; Associated Press

PEN America filed a lawsuit against US President Donald Trump this week, claiming that he has used the powers of executive office to retaliate against the press. PEN America’s filing shows not a damaged or diminished institution, but a declaration of faith in the strength of the interdependent web of institutions we call civic society.

PEN America’s complaint lists four primary incidents in which Trump used presidential power to retaliate against press organizations that criticized him, including threatening to revoke credentials or licenses and attempting to block a vertical merger by CNN’s parent company, Time Warner.

Trump is not the first president to have a contentious relationship with the press. Ronald Reagan, Woodrow Wilson, and George W. Bush all attempted to circumvent the media in one way or another. Thomas Jefferson, once an avid supporter of newspapers, changed his mind once in office, writing, “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper.” (Or in the parlance of Twitter, “Fake news!”) But critically, none of them used the power they wielded as president to retaliate for personal attacks the way Trump seems to do. Richard Nixon told the Joint Chiefs of Staff, “The press is your enemy,” but he was speaking in a private meeting to a member of the military, not to the public.

Trump, on the other hand, attempts to undermine the relationship between the press and the public, effectively cutting off the information conduit between the public and the presidency. It is this effort to sabotage the workings of democracy that PEN America contests. David Schulz of the Yale Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, which is representing PEN America, said, “President Trump has the right to express views about the press, loudly and often. He does not have the right to use the powers of his office to punish those who disagree with him and criticize him.” The lawsuit similarly states,

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

These ongoing verbal attacks on the press and others exercising their own First Amendment rights, while troubling and anti-democratic, are not the basis upon which Plaintiff PEN America seeks relief…But Defendant Trump has done more than to exercise his right to denounce his critics…[he] has intentionally conveyed to all writers and journalists that if he objects to their coverage, they may be subject to retaliation by the federal government. That conduct violates the Constitution.

That conduct is also dangerous. NPQ joined hundreds of other news organizations in August to stand up for the value of a free press. Though democracy advanced across the globe through the 1990s, according to PEN America, it has been in retreat since 2005. Already Poland, Hungary, and Russia have experienced the creep toward one-party rule that prioritizes loyalty over excellence, obedience over competence—and it starts with censoring the press. Without the freedom to exchange and debate ideas, citizens are automatically less well equipped to fight for a better world.

President Trump’s administration is testing the resilience of American democracy in many ways. Already it has set a number of records: for lawsuits filed against the President (over 130 in his first year); for curtailing access to government files; for losing staff members to scandals, lawsuits, and breaches of loyalty. This is an administration best served by secrecy, and a president who correctly perceives that the more the public knows about him, the worse he will look. To an administration that profits from public ignorance, the press is indeed a great enemy.

Other media experts stand with PEN America in their concerns. The National Coalition Against Censorship wrote, “We share PEN America’s grave concern about the President’s use of the levers of government power to retaliate against media companies for the content of their coverage.”

Like other lawsuits, PEN America’s challenge tests the broader resilience of American democracy. Despite this administration’s attempt to pack the courts, the judiciary remains an important strand of the protective web of civic institutions that guards the foundation of a free society. The lawsuit illustrates the degree to which the press, the courts, and civic organizations are interdependent and equally necessary. When one strand is attacked, can the others protect the whole? Many are waiting with bated breath to find out.—Erin Rubin

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
About the author
Erin Rubin

Erin Rubin was an assistant editor at the Nonprofit Quarterly, where she was in charge of online editorial coordination and community building. Before joining NPQ, in 2016, Erin worked as an administrator at Harvard Business School and as an editorial project manager at Pearson Education, where she helped develop a digital resource library for remedial learners. Erin has also worked with David R. Godine, Publishers, and the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers. As a creative lead with the TEDxBeaconStreet organizing team, she worked to help innovators and changemakers share their groundbreaking ideas and turn them into action.

More about: JournalismNonprofit NewsPolicyPresident Donald Trump

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

Spring-2023-sidebar-subscribe
You might also like
Cancelling Student Debt Is Necessary for Racial Justice
Kitana Ananda
To Save Legal Aid, Expand Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Zoë Polk
No Justice, No Peace of Mind and Body: The Health Impacts of Housing Insecurity for Black Women
Jhumpa Bhattacharya, Maile Chand and Andrea Flynn
The Human Impact of the Global Refugee Crisis Must Be Understood—And Acted Upon
Anmol Irfan
Black Americans Need Reparations: The Fight for the CTC Highlights the Roadblocks
Jhumpa Bhattacharya and Trevor Smith
Sharing Ownership Is Sharing Power: Why Media Cooperatives are the Future of News
Kevon Paynter

NPQ Webinars

April 27th, 2 pm ET

Liberatory Decision-Making

How to Facilitate and Engage in Healthy Decision-making Processes

Register Now
You might also like
Cancelling Student Debt Is Necessary for Racial Justice
Kitana Ananda
To Save Legal Aid, Expand Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Zoë Polk
No Justice, No Peace of Mind and Body: The Health Impacts of...
Jhumpa Bhattacharya, Maile Chand and Andrea Flynn

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

NPQ-Spring-2023-cover

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.