The New Cult of Censorship

The New York Times has been awarded 125 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other news organization. They won their first Pulitzer Prize in 1918 for their complete and accurate coverage of World War I, and the most recent in 2018.  But, Mr. Trump calls the Times a “failing” business, “the enemy of the people,” and he says, “The New York Times reporting is false.”

Mr. Sulzberger, the Times Publisher, has personally urged Mr. Trump on several occasions to curb his use of the phrase “the enemy of the people.” “In demonizing the free press as the enemy,”Sulzberger says, “simply for performing its role of asking difficult questions and bringing uncomfortable information to light, President Trump is retreating from a distinctly American principle.  It’s a principle that previous occupants of the Oval Office fiercely defended regardless of their politics, party affiliation or complaints about how they were covered…..I have repeatedly told President Trump face to face, there are mounting signs that this incendiary rhetoric is encouraging threats and violence against journalists at home and abroad.”  Mr. Trump’s rhetoric has also created a cult of censorship that can and will undermine the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution if not curbed.

This new cult of censorship came to the fore last month when the commissioners of Citrus County, Florida, decided to bar the New York Times from the county’s public libraries because they “agree with President Trump” and believe the Times to be “fake news.”  “I don’t want the New York Times in this county,” said one commissioner, “I don’t agree with it.  I don’t like ‘em, it’s fake news…” 

There you have it—the new cult of censorship and it is a dangerous development.  The free press—free to investigate and criticize the government—is absolutely essential for a nation of self-governance.  Self-governance and the free press is dependent on an educated and enlightened citizenry—not on the dictates of the Oval Office or on a group of county commissioners who happen to agree with those dictates.  

There is a Voice in the desert calling...BEWARE!