As highlighted in a recent statement by WACC North America, on March 14, Brendan Carr, Chair of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wrote a social media post on X, in response to President Trump’s complaint that media outlets were reporting negatively on his war efforts in Iran that, “broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions – also known as the fake news – have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up.”

He further threatened that broadcasters are in danger of having their licenses revoked if they do not operate in the public interest, saying, “the law is clear.”

The WACC North America statement is strong and clear in defending the rights guaranteed in the First Amendment, and in the public interest of the media’s coverage of the war, stating: “A government that cannot be scrutinized in this way is neither of the people, nor for the people.”

The statement also notes that WACC has long documented the erosion of media freedom in authoritarian states and fragile democracies across the world. The tactics are numbingly familiar: regulatory pressure, licence threats, the weaponisation of “fake news” as a label to delegitimise unflattering coverage. What is new – and urgently alarming – is that these same tactics are now being deployed in Washington DC.

Media freedom is not a regional concern. It is the connective tissue of democratic life everywhere. When one nation normalises the use of regulatory bodies to intimidate journalists, it hands a playbook to governments around the world that were already looking for permission to do the same.

The United States has historically used its global influence to pressure other nations toward press freedom. If that influence is now exercised in the opposite direction, the consequences will be felt far beyond American borders.

The call from WACC-NA to affirm and protect constitutional press freedoms is not partisan – it is foundational. Across the political spectrum, across faiths and traditions, a free and independent press is one of the few institutions that serves everyone. The moment it becomes an instrument of state approval, it serves no one.

This is the moment for voices everywhere – faith communities, civil society, international bodies – to speak clearly.

The freedom of the press is under active, escalating threat. It demands an urgent, unified, and global response. Be vigilant wherever you are. Speak Out. Resist authoritarian pressures to censor the press. Defend and support media freedom in every way you can. 

Photo: Loredana Sangiuliano/Shutterstock

In ordinary times, for that to happen the media must also be free and fair. But these have not been ordinary times. Until very recently, the news media have been hobbled and fettered.

The USA is a country riven by political and social divides where it is difficult, if not impossible to communicate a vision of a world in which basic human values matter. A world in which “government of the people, by the people, for the people” actually means all the people. Not just a minority intent on grabbing power and wealth to the exclusion of millions.

That famous quote from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address comes immediately after his call for “a new birth of freedom”, which the lawyer in him knew would have to stand on genuine equality of opportunity and respect for human dignity.

Over the past four years, respect for other people has been thrown out of the window. Highly partisan media discredited “news” by conniving at injustice, pouring scorn on the truth, spreading disinformation and in certain cases inciting hatred and division. Social media were used to discredit, to plant rumours and lies, to tarnish reputations, to instil confusion and fear, and to manipulate the democratic process. And investigative and reputable news media were attacked and discredited as sources of credible and trustworthy information.

Yet the people’s freedom equates with media freedom, and November 3 is a long-awaited opportunity to begin restoring credibility. Those in charge of public interest media, and those who run local newspapers and community radio stations, have a role to play in democratic accountability. A return to basic principles of openness, fact-finding and transparency are vital. Those elected to government must also respect these principles as essential to democracy.

“A new birth of freedom” requires a press free of government interference, free of corporate bias, free to challenge and dispute. It requires journalism that is candid and honest, investigative journalism that tells it like it is, and day to day reporting that is fair and balanced.

A famous quote by the widely respected broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite, once called the most trusted man in America, says it all: “Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy.”

Day before the election. Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

An alliance of public-interest groups – Common Cause, the Communications Workers of America, Free Press, the Media Mobilizing Project, the Prometheus Radio Project and the United Church of Christ Office of Communication, Inc., as well as attorneys from the Georgetown Law Institute of Public Representation – challenged the Trump FCC for its failure to address the impact of radical deregulation would have on race and gender diversity in broadcasting.

Free Press, a U.S. based NGO “created to give people a voice in the crucial decisions that shape our media”, commented:

“Today’s ruling is a tremendous victory for the public. It admonishes the Trump FCC for its complete failure to consider the impact of its ownership policies on women and people of color. This marks the fourth time this court has rejected the relentless attempts from the FCC and the broadcast industry to weaken media-ownership limits regardless of the damage such drastic deregulation would cause local communities.

“Congress put broadcast-ownership limits in place for a reason: to promote a diversity of viewpoints among local stations. Free Press sued the FCC for turning its back on this core principle, placing station ownership in too few hands and denying millions of people in the United States broadcast media that serve community needs.

“Media consolidation leaves communities with far less of the local news and information people need to stay informed. Despite the growth in digital-media options, free over-the-air broadcasting remains a critical news source for people of color and low-income communities in particular. To meet the needs of these populations, the FCC must nurture ownership diversity, not let giant companies like Nexstar, Fox and Sinclair devour even more local stations.”

This public-interest victory symbolizes the need for greater vigilance by civic society in protecting the independence and diversity of coverage in local communities. Scaled up, it says that ownership and control issues are still a major concern when it comes to genuine public service media.

As Ben Bagdikian wrote in The Media Monopoly back in 1983, “The ‘enemy’ is not wicked individuals who operate the dominant media. The enemy is… the insidious power that comes with unchallenged dominance over the information of others.”

Photo above: Metamorworks/Shutterstock.com