By Matt Dooley Staff writer
As a journalism major, will I be able to continue in this field during a Trump administration? I think so, because at this moment, America needs journalists more than ever before to provide the facts about what is happening in the country. People are frightened about how Trump and his administration will handle the country, and whatever does happen, the public has the right to know.
From videos of his rallies, one could see why he had all the news organizations corralled and packed within pigpen-like barriers. Though, some news organizations weren’t even given that “honor,” instead being blacklisted.
He ran his campaign with the notion that the media was against him. Now as president-elect, he may feel like he can level the playing field against journalists.
“I’m going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money. We’re going to open up those libel laws,” the president-elect remarked earlier in his campaign.
However, if this prospect of his turns out to happen it could damage a journalist’s freedom of speech. For one, what would Trump consider “false” information—is it something untruthful or something damaging to his ego? The Supreme Court already decided in 1964’s “New York Times Co. v. Sullivan” that “public persons, such as politicians, can win a suit against a media organization only if the person can prove that the publication published information with actual malice, knowing it to be wholly incorrect, as well as in cases of reckless disregard,” according to an article on politico.com.
In 1971, the Supreme Court took on “New York Times Co. v. United States,” also known as the “Pentagon Papers” case, and ruled in favor of both the New York Times and the Washington Post, allowing them to publish classified materials against the wishes of the United States government.
Who is to say that Trump does something and it leaks? What if he says it’s false and sues or at least threatens to sue the publication for more money than it has?
It could lead to an America where a fear of Trump could seep into reporting, causing reporters to stick to fluff pieces because that is what Trump would find acceptable. And, even if the president-elect doesn’t try to sue publications because they were “mean” to him, if he weakens journalists’ rights in the First Amendment, it would be harder for the people to not just keep Trump in check but also other politicians. If there is nobody to inform the people with facts, the United States could devolve into a country based on conspiracy theories.
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