Late night shows have a long-standing reputation of making critical jokes about the government administration and public figures.
While it may hurt to be on the receiving end of these one-liners, shows rarely experience backlash for the scripting.
That is, until recently.
From threatening “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to suing the Wall Street Journal and defunding national public media outlets all within the past year, the current administration is over-scrutinizing the First Amendment rights of media.
After Kimmel made comments following the death of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s, President Donald Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chairman, Brendan Carr, pressured ABC to cancel his show. Carr said the agency would take retaliatory actions.
Following these threats, ABC quickly pulled the show off-air.
But it’s hard to think they would have acted so hastily if there weren’t so many attacks by the federal administration on media outlets in the past year.
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” will be cancelled this May, as announced by CBS, due to funding cuts. However, some people speculate the cancellation was a result of reactions to comments about Trump’s CBS lawsuit over the show “60 Minutes.”
While certain threats on free speech are not necessarily worse than others, lawsuits have extended beyond the funny jokes of late night shows to serious topics.
Media outlets are being watched, censored and sued.
In July, the Trump administration sued The Wall Street Journal for an article published regarding the relationship between Trump and Jeffery Epstein that included a letter Trump signed for Epstein’s birthday. In the New York Times lawsuit, the administration is targeting authors of articles and a book published before the 2024 election, claiming they defamed Trump and sought to undermine his campaign.
Trump also announced $1.1 billion in funding cuts for public broadcasting this spring. The executive order targeted PBS and NPR, two nationally respected organizations for “bias” in their broadcast reporting.
NPR argued the order violated their free speech rights, but the budget cuts were approved at the end of May.
Journalism inherently is needed to inform citizens on politics and current events, but when placed under increased scrutiny, the ability to serve truth and accurate information is jeopardized.
Many of these lawsuits are filed under defamation — the act of communicating false statements about a person that injure the reputation of that person.
Judges have dismissed some of the lawsuits, agreeing they do not prove defamation, but instead represent an attempt to stifle reporters’ First Amendment rights and bolster Trump’s image.
A federal judge struck down the 40-page lawsuit Trump filed against the New York Times, citing that is unacceptable for Trump to use the lawsuit as a public forum to rage against an adversary, and gave him 28 days to refile in a legally acceptable way.
Other media outlets are pressured to settle lawsuits so they can continue production.
In late June, CBS settled for $16 million in a lawsuit against the editing of an interview with Kamala Harris aired on “60 Minutes.”
CBS said they edited the video for clarity which is protected under the First Amendment, while the Trump administration argued they intentionally made her sound “better.”
The show’s executive producer and CBS News and Stations’ CEO stepped down following the incident, feeling that they’d lost editorial independence.
Not only is the Trump administration criticizing media broadcasts and news articles, they’re aiming to limit the reporters’ access to information and censor sourcing.
The Associated Press was recently removed from Trump’s press pool. Their access was revoked from the Oval Office, Air Force One and other credentialed events. The decision was due to the AP Stylebook acknowledging the new name Trump gave to the Gulf of America but still referring to it as the Gulf of Mexico for clarity reasons.
The AP has argued this action infringes on their First Amendment rights and is fighting against Trump in court.
While many outlets are standing up for their First Amendment rights, the lawsuits are causing monetary and credibility setbacks. Though many have resources to manage the lawsuits, it takes considerable time away from fulfilling their duty as a watchdog for society, which will cause impacts felt far beyond news headlines.
Smaller outlets, including student publications have already begun censoring themselves.
Student journalism advisory agencies like the Student Press Law Center are making unprecedented suggestions to encourage anonymous writers and sources and to remove articles that may put students in danger of punishment.
While it is hopeful to see media outlets fighting back against federal intervention, including ABC’s quick reinstatement of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” this newfound threat to free speech is a danger to the independent reporting democracy prides itself on.
1 Comment
Most media are biased and lean to the left. This includes The Brown and White. They are free to do so. This suits many in America as well as most Lehigh instructors and students. There is always Fox News and other sources.
No problem with shouting down of conservatives? No problem with exclusion of conservatives speakers organizations.
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