"“A lot of the guardrails are down,” says veteran journalist Margaret Sullivan."

"Two days before Donald Trump was re-elected president, he told rallygoers that he wouldn’t mind if somebody shot through a crowd of journalists. Some of his supporters laughed a bit, some cheered. It was typical fare.

The same weekend, Trump called journalists “monsters” and “horrible, horrible, dishonest people.” In the past, he has cheered a journalist shot with a rubber bullet as a “beautiful sight;” he heaped adoration on a candidate who body-slammed a reporter. In 2018, he declared the “fake news” media to be the “enemy of the people.”

Trump—as he has made clear again and again—disdains the press. And that hatred has consequences. He has launched legal challenges against outlets whose coverage he deems unfavorable, mocked journalists, and picked an obsequious Federal Communications Commission nominee ready to help him do as he pleases."

Julianne McShane reports for Mother Jones in the March-April 2025 issue. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Jury Finds 'The New York Times' Did Not Libel Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin" [3]

"Judge Blocks Trump Administration Plans To Dismantle Voice of America" (NPR) [4]

"How The Powerful Are Using Lawsuit Threats To Silence Media And 'Murder the Truth'" (NPR) [5]

"Two Disinformation Experts Have Launched a DIY News Outlet" (Poynter) [6]

"Press Freedom 'No Longer A Given' In The U.S., Says Journalism Nonprofit. Here's Why" (NPR) [7]