Some folks may assert that 70 is the new 50, but I’m a bit more of a realist than that, and so I’ll tell you that I’m an older guy who started practicing journalism more than a half-century ago – which means that I remember when network newscasts were the way most Americans got their news, and how sober and straightforward all that reporting seemed. And how honest it was, in fact. In the responsible exercise of good journalism, those networks affirmed the vision of our founders in writing the First Amendment.
A lot changed when the digital revolution upended the media landscape. But what is becoming clear in these early days of the second Trump presidency is how much at risk our press freedom is now – and how fragile is journalism’s capacity to be a watchdog over a rogue presidency – because of what seems to be a fundamental shift in the way a lot of the owners of big media view their role.
That is, profit has displaced public service as the over-riding principle for too many owners of media outlets.
I don’t want to paint too broad a brushstroke here. Profit has always motivated private enterprise in America, including publishers from before the days of Ben Franklin and throughout the era of Walter Cronkite. And there are still a lot of journalistic enterprises that deliver decent returns to investors and owners while maintaining vigorous newsrooms. But there’s growing evidence that some of the most powerful and very rich media companies are cowering in the face of Trump administration bullying, and they are putting our cherished constitutional press freedom at risk, as a result.
Consider some facts:
ABC, which is owned by Disney, decided in December to pay $15 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump over a wording mistake by the anchor George Stephanopoulos – who said a jury had found Trump liable for “rape,” when in fact it was “sexual abuse.” Legal experts agreed that it’s quite unlikely that ABC would have lost that case. But Disney has a lot of business interests, and having an enemy in the White House can’t be good for the company’s bottom line.
Then, there’s this: Trump has a $10 billion lawsuit pending against the parent company of CBS News, Paramount – a suit claiming that ahead of last fall’s election, “60 Minutes” violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by the way it edited an interview with Kamala Harris, supposedly to make her more appealing to viewers. This, too, has been widely viewed as a frivolous lawsuit – no way Trump could win, legal experts have said. But, incredibly, CBS has turned over transcripts and tapes of the interview to the new Trump-appointed head of the Federal Communications Commission – who says he’s investigating. And now The New York Times reports that Paramount is weighing making a payment to settle the case.
Why? Well, there’s a deal pending for Paramount to be taken over by an entertainment company, Skydance, and it could be worth billions of dollars. But because Paramount owns broadcasting licenses, it needs approval of Trump’s FCC. You can almost hear one of the Trump White House Wise Guys: “Nice network you guys got here. Nice deal, too. It’d be a shame if somebody busted ’em up.”
The new media are getting in on this make-nice-with-the-tough-guy game, of course. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, agreed to pay $25 million to resolve a lawsuit that Trump filed after the social networks suspended his accounts in 2021 – you know, after Trump inspired that attack on the U.S. Capitol that led to 140 police officers being injured, and some dying. Meta’s boss, Mark Zuckerberg, says the society has changed, and it’s time to move on.
Here's what has actually changed, I’d say: We’re seeing the willingness of too many rich media owners to step away from doing the right thing, even if it costs them some millions of bucks.
Back when I first stepped into a newsroom, the owners of network news operations viewed their programming as a public service – part of their obligation to society. News was relatively inexpensive to produce, compared to entertainment programming, and it drew big audiences that brought prestige to the companies. News turned a small profit in most years, but those big companies could subsidize the newsgathering even in the lean years. And the companies recognized that they had a license to use a limited resource – namely, the nation’s airwaves – and an obligation to use that public resource for good.
The Trump administration obviously wants to strike fear into the hearts of media owners and producers everywhere – so that the watchdog role of the news media becomes a bit less fierce amid the havoc wrought by his unhinged leadership. If those who can afford to stand up to this extortion buckle – if they let this sort of intimidation set a model for other public officials, and a precedent for cases yet to come – America’s press freedom will be forever weakened. And as the bright light of scrutiny yields to darkness, the people who depend upon our democracy – that is, all of us – will be the losers.
Rex Smith, the co-host of The Media Project on WAMC, is the former editor of the Times Union of Albany and The Record in Troy. His weekly digital report, The Upstate American, is published by Substack.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.