There is little doubt that investigative reporting, journalism, and legacy media are under full-scale assault. When politicians or public figures are confronted with articles or reporting that challenge their narratives, they are quick to sneer, “fake news.” In Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful, David Enrich details the escalating legal and political efforts to undermine press freedoms in the United States. These efforts, he explains, are largely initiated and financed through right-wing groups and MAGA followers.
One glaring example of this shift is the recent resignation of Bill Owens, executive producer of 60 Minutes. Owens cited that “over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes, right for the audience.” This resignation is symptomatic of a larger fear permeating newsrooms. Newspapers like The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times have even become hesitant to make political endorsements. Fear of lawsuits, loss of subscriptions, and dwindling advertising revenue have left many media organizations wary of publishing anything that might stir controversy. As a result, crucial stories and investigations—those that expose government corruption, public official malfeasance, and corporate irresponsibility—often remain buried, locked away in the dead files of an editor’s desk drawer.
More than 2500 newspapers in the United States have stopped publishing in the past two decades, a rate of about two per week. Most counties in the United States are no longer home to any daily papers, and many surviving outlets have been gutted by layoffs and other cost-cutting. 70 million Americans live in what researchers have dubbed “news deserts.”
As staffing at local newspapers, declines, mayoral races, become less competitive, and voter turnout wins. Misinformation spreads. Politicians and other public figures are rarely held to account for lies and misdeeds. Today, state, legislators, city Council members, and small town mayors – – not to mention companies that pollute or mistreat workers or sell dangerous products – –are operating with a degree of invisibility and impunity that they have not enjoyed in a century
This book contains interesting stories and analysis of several free speech battles including:
Sarah Palin vs. The New York Times
Donald Trump’s Lawsuits Against Media Entities
Dominion Voting Systems vs. Fox News
Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker
Melania Trump vs Daily Mail
Enrich’s book may come too late to reverse this tide, but it serves as critical research for future historians who will undoubtedly question how a nation that once prided itself on free speech allowed censorship and political pressure to erode First Amendment guarantees.
An excellent read. Highly recommended for anyone who values a free and independent press.
Esot-eric 