The most fundamental aspect of any democracy… is the freedom of the press… and the institution of the press was originally created as a check and balance to be leveraged upon institutional authority through the ability to express unhappiness in print. Yet, to abridge this freedom is nothing new to our planet… and since Feudalism elitistists and government leaders alike have sought to diminish the press, often viewing, “the media,” as nothing but a nuisance. Furthermore, in the chess game of international politics where not only legislation but the order in which it is passed greatly affects a societies future… (IE medical marijuana and universal healthcare) this creates a political landscape where the press remains one of the most intrinsic aspects of the democratic process.

In fact, the fundamental right to report the news is so important that many U.S. Presidents have found themselves in a position of lobbying foreign leaders, “to allow for criticism,” in their foreign press. Nevertheless, not all world leaders handle their criticism the same way….

And perhaps the greatest legacy of the Trump administration thus far has been President Trump’s unwillingness to heed criticism from the press. Which is to say that President Trump’s political strategy often upsets people, civilians and those in politics, leading the President to often fight back by essentially undermining his opposition and nothing is more central to this tactic than the President’s, “war on Fake News.” Yet, while young journalists (like me) are dealt an unfair blow from the President’s attacks on the media, this political disposition towards the press is nothing new abroad. Which is to say that journalists are treated worse in other countries. And in many ways… had Hillary Clinton won the election of 2016 than America might have fallen dangerously close to losing touch with the rest of the world altogether, particularly pertaining to freedoms such as this.

So, while I do not approve of the current President, for essentially discouraging independent news outlets… I can also speculate that, “in the chess match that is international politics,” the CIA rarely makes mistakes. But think about the job of our government for a moment. Whereby, policing the globe is not an ideal position for a country that makes up only 6-7% of the global population. Nevertheless, monitoring; disease, infection, immigration, social standards, taboo religious practices, evolution and terrorism, both domestically and abroad, does at times call for a, “chameleon approach,” to international politics. So, I believe that this approach to arguing over things like the press is Washington’s current strategy in attacking the press. (*Sort of a, “Trump your enemies evil,” so to speak.)

And to be clear… I believe that Mr. Trump is, “trolling,” other world leaders… by discouraging a fair and open press here in America.

Whereby, I personally believe that Trump’s actions are trolling more than just a few people through his; Twitter antics, immaturity and sexual bravado. Nevertheless, the current President’s attacks on, "Fake News," are definitely worth writing about because they not only give his pals over at Fox News something to say but it's also a way for his base to monopolize the press and this strategy also purges journalists who do sometimes lack, “proper reporting skills,” from gaining credibility. For example, lest we forget that Skip Bayless who is one of the most well known journalists in America today, rose to fame by claiming that Troy Aikman, “was gay,” 25 years ago. And in hindsight that claim held no merit at all but at the time it was front page news! So, despite whether or not those reports were true or not the media in turn promoted Skip Bayless and another example of this phenomenon is Glenn Beck who often uses his platform to label President Obama, “a Nazi,” to improve his ratings.

And with that type of reporting and that type of, “bush league journalism,” how does the Aristocracy fight back? By filtering the news through slander and censorship? Furthermore, in some ways I believe that President Trump's stance on the press today is due to malfeasance in the past. However, there are also many great writers, which leads me to wonder what are the ethics of journalism? And how can the future of journalism be stripped free of corruption?

Which is why that I’m not screaming bloody murder over the President, “essentially pulling the rug out from under me,” as a young journalist here on CiviliansNews.com. But let’s get back to the meat and potatos of the matter. I personally find that this administration attacking, “the #FakeNews media,” is predominately doing 2 things;

1) I think that it’s purging the field of journalism from, “cheap writers.” (By the way, my grammar is intentionally flawed, as part of my writing style.)

And;

2) I think it’s camouflaging a much bigger problem abroad, in which many foreign leaders, simply aren’t as tolerant of the press, as we are in the United States, today.

But think about the relationship between the press and a government like that of England.

Whereby, in a country like England the press is probably treated a little differently, in part because England is a relatively smaller country with less of an appetite for military action. Furthermore, England is surrounded by countries of not only equal but greater military strength which leaves the U.K. sometimes at the mercy of other more militarized nations like Russia and China. Meaning that the U.S. can bargain more with global super-powers and boast more through the press without interferring in those negotiations because we’re fortunate enough to have such a vast and powerful military, whereas some of these other countries can not.

And this circumstance essentially creates an environment where Americans tend to enjoy freedoms, like the press, more than other nations and perhaps naively.

In conclusion,, take the plight of Alexei Navalny in Russia. Navalny is currently Russia’s strongest opposition leader who’s risen to fame mostly through independent media outlets where he’s become known for essentially watch-dogging Russian government officials. In fact, Navalny is currently serving his 2nd (or possibly 3rd/4th) jail sentence for protesting against government officials in this manor. Yet, when viewing this issue through President Putin’s eyes then you might think, “why should the Kremlin give up power to a civilian? And particularly, a young civilian whom compared to President Putin himself lacks military experience and international expertise. And while I personally believe that Navalny has a chance to actually succeed Putin as the future President of Russia (if he toughens up a little bit), it goes without saying that this type of, “journalism,” can lead to a variety of different outcomes.

So, with that being said… I’m reserving my judgement on President Trump’s, “war on Fake News,” for now.

-William Larsen, Civilians News