The Real Threat to Press Freedom

Mainstream commentators have been fretting over Donald Trump’s hostile rhetoric towards the media. But Chelsea Manning's recent jailing shows that there are much graver threats to press freedom happening right under their noses.

Chelsea Manning Makes Her First Public Appearance In The UK

Former American soldier and whistleblower Chelsea Manning poses during a photo call outside the Institute Of Contemporary Arts (ICA) ahead of a Q&A event on October 1, 2018 in London, England.Jack Taylor / Getty


There is an assault on press freedom. It is taking place in the United States as you read this. But if all you consume is mainstream news, chances are you haven’t heard much about it.

Donald Trump’s inauguration ushered in a seemingly ever-present alarm over the state of press freedoms in America. Trump’s labeling of US media as “the enemy of the American people” prompted many concerned responses and even a fruitless tête-à-tête between the president and the publisher of the New York Times. His revocation of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s press pass late last year provoked similar consternation from fellow journalists, historians, and press freedom groups, with Acosta declaring, “This is a test for all of us.” The Washington Post adopted the motto, “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” while Steven Spielberg dropped everything to rush out The Post (“This couldn’t wait,” he said), his paean to the American press that launched a thousand think pieces.

While these are certainly all things worth getting angry about, even more outrageous are the incidents that have passed by with comparatively little mainstream notice or uproar.

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