The midterm election is less than a week away. Both the results and the aftermath are anything but certain, and millions are bracing for whatever is coming. However, one thing is crystal clear. We will need a free press to get through it.
On election night, we will look to the media to report results and fact check candidates’ speeches in real time. There are numerous examples of politicians lying when speaking to the media during the election cycles. Here are just two: In 2020, President Trump was criticised for giving a speech at the White House at 2:21 a.m., the morning after the Presidential election saying, “frankly, we did win this election” even though no winner had been declared at that point. Earlier that same year, Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg was called out for saying he was “going on to New Hampshire victorious” before the Associated Press said the Iowa Caucuses were too close for it to call. Media fact checking is one way to attempt to keep the election process honest.
While the system is not perfect, once elected, politicians are held accountable for their actions and words by the media. Rep. Eric Swalwell resigned after the San Francisco Chronicle did a story about his former staffer accusing him of sexual assault. The downfall of former Congressman George Santos started when a local paper called The Long Island Leader reported several inaccuracies in the biography Santos presented to the voters. Without reporters sharing news with the public, we will be in danger of missing crucial events or having government officials shape how they are remembered.Journalists continue to report about the federal government refusing to share evidence in the investigation into the ICE related deaths Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota. President Trump and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described Good as trying to run the agent over, a characterization that doesn’t match the bystander videos news outlets showed.
Journalism has never been an easy profession, but it is harder than ever right now.The Trump administration’s attacks on the media are going beyond tongue lashings to actions designed to keep reporters from doing their jobs. On October 20, reporter Andrew Feinberg from The Independent asked a fact based question about a program that rewards people who report fraud. President Trump warned him “you better be careful” and called him a “sick person” (Feinberg said in a first person essay he had a recent physical and is in “perfect health”). The next day, the White House refused to let Feinberg serve as the print pool reporter for President Trump’s October 22 trip, a move the White House Correspondents’ Association condemned, saying it strongly objected to the decision to “restrict a journalist’s coverage simply because the president didn’t care for their questioning.” The Trump administration is currently appealing a federal judge’s order to block the administration from banning CNN, MSNOW, and POLITICO reporters from the White House. According to the New York Times’ lawyer David McCraw, government agencies are avoiding record requests, reporters are struggling to get politicians to cooperate, and the Times has had to file 23 Freedom of Information Act lawsuits.
People’s trust in the media is spiraling downward. A recent Gallup poll found just 33% of Americans surveyed have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly – down from 40% five years ago. It’s not just politicians causing this. Duke’s Dewitt Wallace Center recently reported that FOX News attacked the media once every 14.5 minutes, MSNBC (currently called MSNOW) did it once every 61 minutes, and CNN did it once every 140 minutes.
The number of outlets also continues to shrink. Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism’s recently released State of Local News report found 170 newspapers closed or merged in the last year and that there are 26 more news deserts, counties that have no locally based professional news outlets. Although it is encouraging that according to the Institute of Nonprofit News there are more than 400 nonprofit news outlets, their growth has slowed.
We can all take action to ensure the future of journalism. Start by consuming news. Ratings, clicks, and subscriptions help pay journalists’ salaries. Take the time to read more than headlines or social media posts. Watch and listen to full television and radio stories rather than limiting yourself to short, provocative soundbites. Use good media literacy practices to determine if the stories you read are legitimate (see my colleague Jenn Seabolt’s Teak Talk blog post here). When sharing a story on social media, be sure to include the link so the outlet benefits from the people who engage with your post. Continue to support your local news outlets, NPR, and PBS stations, as well as journalism focused nonprofit organizations like Reporters Without Borders, Freedom of the Press Foundation, ProPublica, and Free Press.
Just as Benjamin Franklin talked about having a “republic, if you can keep it”, we all need to do our part to make sure we keep the free press we need on election day and everyday if we care about the future of American Democracy.
