A.G. Sulzberger, the publisher of the New York Times, has warned his allies that President Donald Trump will “increase attacks” on the liberal corporate media when he returns to the White House.
In an article published in the rival left-wing newspaper The Washington Post on Thursday, Sulzberger claims that Trump is planning to use “authoritarian” methods to “undermine” the press if he’s elected for a second term.
Sulzberger detailed how authoritarian leaders around the world have found ways to silence the media so there are fewer checks on their power.
He then deceitfully linked those leaders to Trump and warned that the 45th president would adopt their methods when he returns to power.
The publisher asserted that his fears are not “crazy” before falsely claiming that Trump has “declared” his “intention” to “attack” media outlets.
“As they seek a return to the White House, former president Donald Trump and his allies have declared their intention to increase their attacks on a press he has long derided as ‘the enemy of the people,’” Sulzberger stated.
However, despite Sulzberger’s claims, Trump frequently calls out corporate media outlets that promote “fake news” to advance a liberal agenda, and not the “press” as a whole.
Yet, according to Sulzberger, the media outlets being blasted as “fake news” by populist leaders, such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, are those allegedly dedicated to “truth-telling and accountability.”
“After several years out of power, the former leader is returned to office on a populist platform,” Sulzberger wrote.
“He blames the news media’s coverage of his previous government for costing him reelection.
“As he sees it, tolerating the independent press, with its focus on truth-telling and accountability, weakened his ability to steer public opinion.
“This time, he resolves not to make the same mistake.”
Sulzberger went on to claim that Trump would use “bureaucratic tools such as tax law, broadcast licensing, and government contracting” to silence media outlets.
Meanwhile, he claims Trump would reward friendly outlets by “shoring them up with state advertising revenue, tax exemptions, and other government subsidies.”
“Within a few years, only pockets of independence remain in the country’s news media, freeing the leader from perhaps the most challenging obstacle to his increasingly authoritarian rule,” the publisher claimed.
“This is the short version of how Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, effectively dismantled the news media in his country.”
He wrote that a “weakened press made it easier for him to keep secrets, to rewrite reality, to undermine political rivals, to act with impunity — and, ultimately, to consolidate unchecked power.”
Sulzberger then predicted Trump would take up the same cause, stating:
“By the end of his first term, Trump’s anti-press rhetoric — which contributed to a surge in anti-press sentiment in this country and around the world — had quietly shifted into anti-press action.”
The publisher pointed to Trump’s own fondness for Orban as more evidence he would commit to such a scheme.
“His efforts would likely be informed by his open admiration for the ruthlessly effective playbook of authoritarians such as Orban, whom Trump recently met with at Mar-a-Lago and praised as ‘a smart, strong, and compassionate leader,’” he wrote.
Despite his article being a dedicated smear against the 45th president, Sulzberger argued that the New York Times has committed to not cast “aside neutrality” by opposing Trump’s re-election.
“I feel compelled to speak out about threats to the free press, as my predecessors and I have done to leaders of both parties,” Sulzberger added as he attempted to excuse away his divisive rhetoric.
Later in the column, he claimed that Trump has also helped give the world’s authoritarians the “encouragement” to attack the press.
“It has been only eight years since Donald Trump popularized the term ‘fake news’ as a cudgel to dismiss and attack journalism that challenged him,” Sulzberger stated.
“That phrase, from the president of the United States, was all the encouragement many would-be authoritarians needed. In the following years, around 70 countries on six continents have enacted ‘fake news’ laws.”
Elsewhere, the publisher mentioned that, aside from Trump, many U.S. presidents – both Democratic and Republican – have had contentious relationships with the press, though they still “consistently defended and expanded protections for journalists.”
He said that Trump is the exception among U.S. leaders in 100 years in this regard.
“Over the past century in the United States, Trump stands out for his aggressive and sustained efforts to undermine the free press,” Sulzberger concluded.
“Coincidentally,” the only media outlets panicking about the 45th president’s return to power are those who promote anti-Trump propaganda to help keep Democrats in power.
Of course, this is not a concern for Slay News.
https://slaynews.com/news/new-york-times-publisher-panics-warns-trump-increase-attacks-corporate-media-2nd-term/
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