April 25 U.S. lawyer General Pam Bondi has issued a memorandum that suggests that the Department of Justice has the right to request the media to disclose the sources of information and the people who have provided them. This would mean that journalists will not be able to warrant anonymity to whistleblowers, for example in case of leaks from government agencies.
It is simply a large blow to the media and signalists, as well as to American readers who have a much little chance of uncovering out what the government is doing behind citizens' backs.
Despite the declaration that president Trump was a large defender of the first amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech, both the media and universities (about political and social activists not to mention) are under fire – whether it is for incorrect views or even for simply reporting facts that Trump does not fit.
A good example is the Signalgate affair. The Atlantic magazine described how its editor-in-chief was accidentally invited to chat, where the most crucial officials described the details of the US attack on Yemen. The media thus showed that in the Trump administration the most delicate operations are led by a bunch of losers.
The presentation of the media as enemies of the nation was characteristic already during Trump's first tour, and it clearly intensified after Trump lost the 2020 election and refused to recognise this result.
Just before the 2024 election, the paper “Washington Post” and “Los Angeles Times” withdrew support for Trump's Democratic counter-candidate, Kamali Harris. This was the decision of the company's owners, Jeff Bezos and Patrick Soon-Shiong, made most likely in the interests of the future of their businesses, if Trump were to win. Both gentlemen besides honored their presence with the presidential inauguration of Trump in January 2025.
In November 2024 Trump sued 1 of America's most crucial tv stations, CBC, for "an unfair editorial of the material". It is the October section where Kamala Harris, then Trump's counter-candidate, spoke about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to Trump, tv has heavy edited the interview so that Harris falls out as favorably as possible.
In April 2025, the program producer, Bill Owens, resigned after Paramount's company's CBS channel made a deal with Trump. Paramount's decision was most likely dictated by the fact that CBS is to be sold to Skydance Media and that government approval will be needed for the transaction. CBS is expected to pay Trump $16 million.
Similarly, ABC's Disney tv responded erstwhile Trump sued the channel for a message by George Stephanopoulos, who said on air that Trump was convicted of rape (in fact the president was convicted of sexual abuse). Disney allocated $15 million to build Trump's future presidential library and covered all legal expenses.
In December 2024 Trump sued the paper “Des Moines Register” in Iowa, belonging to Gannett's media group, for the paper – in the context of the 2024 presidential election – had until the end insisted that Trump would nevertheless lose.
Mark Zuckerberg Meta paid Trump $25 million to take him off the Facebook platform after the attack on the Capitol of January 6, 2021, erstwhile Trump supporters, after his loss, tried By force to halt the acquisition of power By Joe Biden.
After the Associated Press agency, on which reports are based American journalism, decided not to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to American, Trump excluded her journalists from the press in the White House. The president cut off public funds to media specified as NPR or PBS, thus stopping backing hundreds of tiny radio stations in the US. The administration is besides attempting to destruct the legendary Voice of America station, which played a crucial function during the Cold War.
Another tool to fight the media is to hold consequence to journalistic requests for public information, which must theoretically be provided by any government agency. It has always taken weeks, months, or even years to get specified information, but the situation is now even more impossible. Conclusions are put on the increasing stack.
Still, there are successes. utilizing this conclusion, the media revealed that the Trump administration is well aware that the Tren de Arague gang is not part of the Venezuelan government. This weakens Trump's excuse that Venezuela poses a threat to the United States, which was to justify the application of the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act, a bill allowing arrest and deport “foreign” enemies of the state.
Recent reports are not so much about the media as about freedom of expression, which the administration is questioning at Columbia University in fresh York City, where pro-Palestinian protests took place, besides last week. About 70 people were arrested this time, including young journalists from the School of Journalism who described events for the university newspaper. The protests took place in the main library reading area on campus, where any students simply studied. Protesters were wearing masks and scarves; there were chanting, singing and drums, while final exams were held on campus. The university called the police and suspended a large group of students, cutting them off from dormitories and canteens.
During these pro-Palestinian protests, a student named Georgia Dillane, who works for the University radio station WKCR and who reported on the demonstration, received an email informing that the university had launched an investigation into her, which could end with the suspension of her diploma.
Eventually, the college stepped down erstwhile it turned out that Dillane was not physically present at the protest, but reported events from the radio studio. Her communicative was published in the Columbia Journalism Review; for now, we do not know whether the CJR, 1 of the most crucial publications informing about the state of journalism in the United States, will be in problem due to this article.
In late April CJR chief Sewell Chan was released after discussing how to compose about protests at Columbia in the light of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Chan, who thought the paper did not show the full truth, was fired by the Dean of the Jelani Cobb School of Journalism, considered a progressive writer and defender of black rights in the United States.
Since only legal defence can aid arrested activists, the independency of lawyers and courts is crucial in defending freedom of expression. A fewer days ago, a national justice blocked the attack on another law firm, this time Parkins Coie, claiming Trump's attacks on the independency of the profession were a blow to the base of the American system. This is good news after Trump successfully blackmailed another large law firm, Paul Weiss so effectively that present the company represents the interests of the administration, in addition to being completely free.
All this undermines the appropriate functioning of the media, schools and the legal system. It's not as bad as it is in Russia yet, but I'm certain that's where things are going.
