I recently came across a New York Times headline that read: “Trump Administration Wields Its Full Toolbox to Bring Media to Heel.” I think it perfectly encapsulates how our country’s media has framed President Donald Trump for most of the last decade.

The headline referred to ABC’s recent cancellation of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, a development that came after the Federal Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr, threatened to punish TV stations that aired Kimmel’s show because of comments the comedian made in the days after conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

Far from being a standard part of a president’s “toolbox” for advancing their agenda, the Trump administration’s pressure on ABC is blatantly unconstitutional, aimed at silencing speech that Trump dislikes. But when newspapers and other media downplay the danger of these actions by referring to them with such nonthreatening and familiar language, they allow an autocratic Trump administration to get away with increasingly dangerous acts.

While the cancellation of Kimmel’s show may not seem like a particularly big deal (I, for one, have never watched it), the precedent it sets — that the president can simply ban unfavorable media coverage on a whim — is terrifyingly authoritarian. The New York Times’ decision to frame it so disarmingly, as a relatively normal “tool” of the government is an embarrassment to journalistic integrity and their responsibility to report the truth to their readers.

Unfortunately, the tendency to frame even the most extreme members and actions of the Trump administration in such a way has become standard procedure for mainstream news outlets across the country. Over the last few months, the Trump administration has gone forward with numerous policies that at any other time in American history would have been disqualifying for a president. 

Between his attempts to end birthright citizenship, calls for partisan gerrymandering to rig the midterm elections in his favor, efforts to bulldoze the federal meritocracy and institute a spoils system and masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s racial profiling of Latine Americans (including citizens and legal residents), the Trump administration has moved rapidly to advance an unmistakably authoritarian agenda. 

Yet, rather than calling out these acts for what they are — as parts of a larger effort to consolidate power — the media response has been uncertain, focused on sharing “both sides” of the debate rather than plainly acknowledging what’s unfolding before our eyes.

To be clear, ICE is racially profiling and kidnapping legal residents of the U.S., actions the Supreme Court recently deemed perfectly fine in a 6-3 decision that effectively neuters the Fourth Amendment. Simultaneously, Trump is pursuing a definitionally anti-democratic agenda with his promotion of extreme partisan gerrymandering (which the Supreme Court also approved of in deciding that partisan gerrymandering is outside of its jurisdiction). 

Trump has also aggressively moved to purge federal agencies of all employees — thousands of career civil servants — who don’t align with the extremist ideologies of Trump and his inner circle. These instances and more are regularly downplayed or outright ignored in the media.

The influence of newspapers has been waning for years, but they still hold considerable importance in American politics. The choice by these media giants of how to frame the actions of the government are legitimizing the destruction of our democracy. And when media outlets legitimize authoritarianism, they become complicit in the downfall of our democracy.

Every political journalist and media outlet in the country needs to unlearn this faulty idea of centrism equated with neutrality and objectivity. Pretending that the rapid descent of the United States into fascism isn’t happening, or is only a minor concern, is a betrayal of the people of the United States and the concept of truth itself. In order for us to restore a functioning democracy and safeguard democratic institutions against future autocrats, we first have to acknowledge what is happening right now.

We as Americans need to admit that “fascist” is in fact an accurate term to describe the current federal government — that the far right presents an imminent threat to democracy and that none of what is happening is remotely normal. We cannot afford to pretend that a fictional “radical left” is just as dangerous or that Democrats are merely fearmongering about a president they disagree with. 

Until we start being honest about what is happening, it is impossible to solve the problems facing our country, and until those tasked with writing the news return to honestly reporting the actions of those in power, they continue to stain the legacy of America’s once-respected news institutions.

Cass Dempsey is a Weinberg sophomore. She can be contacted at cassdempsey2028@u.northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.

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