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3 hours ago
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From Hungary to Russia, authoritarian regimes have made silencing independent media one of their defining moves. Sometimes outright censorship isn’t even required to achieve this goal. In the United States, we have seen the administration apply various forms of pressure on news outlets in the year since Trump’s election. One of my great disappointments is how quickly some of the most storied US media organizations have folded when faced with the mere specter of hostility from the administration – long before their hand was forced.
Mostly, this has not been the doing of journalists or editors, but that of billionaire proprietors and corporate brass putting their private interests above the public good. Worryingly, we now seem to be moving into a new phase, with top editorial roles being filled with appointees seen as more palatable to the White House, and reporters’ access to public information being restricted.
While private news organizations can choose how to respond to this government’s threats, insults and lawsuits, public media has been powerless to stop the defunding of federally supported television and radio. This has been devastating for local and rural communities, who stand to lose not only their primary source of local news and cultural programming, but health and public safety information, including emergency alerts.
While we cannot make up for this loss, we at the Guardian are proud to make our fact-based work available for free to all, especially when the internet is increasingly flooded with slanted reporting, misinformation and algorithmic drivel.
The gutting of public media makes it even more crucial for private outlets to choose what is right over what is financially and politically expedient. As we promised you during the election, our coverage refuses to treat politics as a game, and we decline to participate in the normalization of extremism. For us, it is not enough merely to state what this administration is doing; it’s only when we broaden our perspective – looking backward to history and beyond our borders to the rest of the world – that we see clearly the ominous patterns appearing here that have characterized transitions to autocracy elsewhere, and the scale of the threats facing US democracy. Politically motivated prosecutions are already being used not only to punish dissent, but to discourage others from speaking out. One of the most chilling things our newsroom has witnessed in the past year is sources falling silent, afraid of retribution. We already know the threats are working.
Being free from billionaire and corporate ownership means the Guardian will never compromise our independence – but it also means we rely on support from readers who understand how essential it is to have news sources that are immune to intimidation from the powerful.
I know our requests for support are not as welcome as our reporting, but without them, it’s simple: our reporting wouldn’t exist. And as I look around the US media landscape a year on from the election, I am especially thankful to be where I am: I would much rather write this column asking for your support than be behind closed doors, pleading with a corporate executive not to cave to government pressure and forfeit our editorial independence.
Of course, we understand that some readers are not in a position to support us, and if that is you, we value your readership no less.
But if you are able, please support us today. At this critical moment, the survival of our democracy depends on organizations and institutions with power and resources having the courage and the ability to hold the line. For the Guardian’s part, I can promise you this: whatever they throw at us next year, we’ll never back down from reporting the truth, and we’ll never quit.
You can support the Guardian’s year-end appeal here. All gifts are gratefully received, but a recurring contribution – even a small monthly amount – is most impactful, helping sustain our work throughout the year ahead. It takes just 37 seconds to give. Thank you.
