New York Times publisher sounds the alarm on Trump employing authoritarian anti-press ‘playbook’
CNN
A.G. Sulzberger, the New York Times publisher, sounded the alarm Thursday on the “quiet war” against press freedoms unleashed by authoritarians around the world and said Americans should understand the anti-media “playbook” that Donald Trump might employ in a second term.
A.G. Sulzberger, the New York Times publisher, sounded the alarm Thursday on the “quiet war” against press freedoms unleashed by authoritarians around the world and said Americans should understand the anti-media “playbook” that Donald Trump might employ in a second term. In an op-ed published by one of the Times’ main rivals, The Washington Post, Sulzberger warned that Trump and his allies have repeatedly threatened the press and said he wanted the Times “to ensure we are prepared for whatever is to come.” “My colleagues and I have spent months studying how press freedom has been attacked in Hungary — as well as in other democracies such as India and Brazil,” he wrote. The techniques include “sowing public distrust in independent journalism and normalizing the harassment” of journalists to create a “climate hospitable to crackdowns on the media;” using government authorities, like taxation, “to punish offending journalists and news organizations” while rewarding “those who demonstrate fealty to their leadership;” and filing meritless lawsuits and exploiting the courts to make it more costly to report the news. “The effectiveness of this playbook should not be underestimated,” Sulzberger wrote. The Times publisher said he didn’t wish to wade into politics, but Trump’s anti-press words and actions – declaring media outlets the “enemy of the people” and suggesting the use of government to quash dissent – must be taken seriously.
Union members at Boeing overwhelmingly rejected a proposed a four-year contract with the troubled aircraft manufacturer, authorizing the first strike at the company in 16 years, said the International Association of Machinist (IAM) union. About 33,000 workers are prepared to walk off the job, and the strike is set to begin early Friday morning.