We join with hundreds of other newspapers of all sizes on this day (Aug. 16, 2018) to denounce President Donald Trump’s dirty war against America’s free press and to declare that we are not the enemy of the people.
His dishonest attacks on working journalists continue to escalate and now threatens to erode the people’s trust in a free and independent press. His verbal attacks have emboldened followers to physically threaten journalists. These continued attacks on America’s free press, in truth, are an attack on a free people and democracy itself.
This unified call in newspapers across America was begun last week by The Boston Globe and was quickly joined by hundreds of papers and the American Society of News Editors and other professional news organizations.
We stand in unity with our journalistic brethren and we urge our public to add their voices in calling for an end to these dangerous threats against America’s free press.
We are not the enemy of the people and we are not “fake, fake disgusting news,” as Trump told an angry rally last week. We must and will defend our independence and our right to report the news without fear and without favor or malice to anyone, including this president. But when the basic social norms of truth, honesty and open debate are attacked, we must defend ourselves.
The founders of this great nation understood the supreme value of an independent press and they protected the rights of free speech, free assembly and a free press in our U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. We fear President Trump might move to eliminate these protections and rights if ever given the chance.
We do not choose to go to war against the Trump Administration. What we choose is to be allowed to continue to do our jobs of protecting free speech, honest inquiry and the public’s right to know.
We all must resist the barrage of “fake news” complaints by this president whenever the facts, news accounts or truths don’t support his own views.
Donald Trump was elected to be our president in 2016. That is a fact. Equally true is every American’s right to agree or disagree with the job he is doing without fear of retribution or being called an enemy.
— Rollie Atkinson
