Donald Trump has been criticising and attacking the mainstream media for 10 years – now he’s president again he’s taken a series of actions to ramp up his own narrative.
- Changing White House rules on access to the president to restrict coverage by traditional mainstream media
- Closing Voice of America and other international broadcast arms that “gave the world a window into democratic America” (from the AEJ’s Llewellyn King) as well as forcing it to cut contracts with all 3 of the world’s major news agencies – AP, Reuters, and AFP(Agence France Presse)
- Law suits against multiple mainstream US media
- A more aggressive Federal Communications Commission investigating all three major US broadcast networks
- Pressure on major US media owners such as Jeff Bezos of The Washington Post (and founder of Amazon)
Trump supporters claim a correction is overdue to reflect new ways that Americans get information particularly via social media, and to counter alleged “overreach” by reporters.
Public opinion polls have for some time reflected continued public dissatisfaction with journalists.
And tension between the Fourth Estate and presidents is nothing new — a clash between a desire to control a message versus a need to ask probing, sometimes impertinent questions.
Now, two months as president have given Trump more room to push his attempts to conflate fake news with traditional journalism – and thus potentially confuse the public about what to believe. And opened the door for big tech giants – Apple, Meta, Google, Amazon and Elon Musk’s X – to fight, again, against Australian media rules requiring them to pay for news content that they relay.
Two months of Trump – challenges to the news industry – AP 23 March 2025
Big tech targets Australian media rules – The Guardian 20 March 2025
Trump intensifies attacks on media – Los Angeles Times 4 March 2025
Law suit challenges Trump closing VOA – AP 22 March 2025
Trump closes VOA – BBC 16 March 2025
Voice of America ends contracts with Reuters, AP, AFP – AP 14 March 2025
Trump views on the media – The Guardian 15 March 2025
White House takes control of press pool – BBC 26 February 2025
Trump White House seeks tighter grip on message – NPR 26 February 2025
Trump’s war on the media – City St. George’s University of London 29 January 2025
The media response to Trump – The New Republic 22 March 2025
Trump attacks on media erode independent journalism – Globe and Mail 14 March 2025
How should the media cover Trump – The Washington Post 7 January 2025
Changing public attitudes to news coverage – AP April 2021
Trump and The Washington Post – Llewellyn King AEJ 1 March 2025
