SPJ debates what to say about Trump’s election.
“Donald Trump owns all three branches of government. But he doesn’t own the fourth estate. Not yet.”
This weekend the SNL cast ran a sombre skit where the actors pledged their (tongue in cheek) fealty to President Trump. Fear of Trump is real - just ask Jeff Bezos.
Over the past few days the Society of Professional Journalists has debated whether or not to share a statement about the election results' potential impact on journalism. Members have been emailing each other over the past few days to figure out a consensus over whether they should sign on to a provocative statement shared by their Florida chapter on November 6.
“Donald Trump owns all three branches of government. But he doesn’t own the fourth estate. Not yet,” it starts before singling out former President Barack Obama as the worst president for the First Amendment since 2000 - presumably a way to establish non-partisan credentials. It soon gets to the real meat though.
“Donald Trump is now the biggest threat to American journalism in our lifetime…If you think that’s partisan politics, we don’t care. This has gone beyond any politics our country has ever known. So we’ll fight for journalists without apology. That’s our promise.”
One senior SPJ member overseeing ethics issues told colleagues that he wasn’t sure what the right thing to do was, before adding he was sure, “it’s not nothing,” according to a person who is familiar with the messages shared. Another member suggested that SPJ should wait and see what happens with Voice of America, the global broadcaster funded by the US government, suggesting that if it becomes “Radio Free Trump,” then the organization should jump in to defend its mission and that SPJ members might watch for the VOA taking a much softer line on Russian premiere Putin. Another member suggested that Trump, “really loves the press,” and that the negative commentary was just a show for his supporters.
SPJ, founded in 1909, has a history of speaking out. It shared a statement in October slamming decisions by the Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos and the LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong to block their editorial boards from endorsing a candidate. That statement said journalists should, “resist internal and external pressure to influence coverage.”
While SPJ considers its position, two other journalism bodies had no such qualms.
Reporters Without Borders, based in Paris, urged Trump to cease attacks on the media saying: “His election to a second term in office marks a dangerous moment for American journalism and global press freedom,” noting his repeated use of the term, “fake news.”
Threats against CBS, ABC and NBC.
In its statement Reporters Without Borders reminded readers that Trump has sued CBS over the “60 Minutes,” interview with Kamala Harris demanding $10 billion in compensation of its editing. Trump also asked the FCC to revoke ABC’s license after its coverage of the Trump/Harris debate. That call was rejected by the current FCC chief. Trump has also said that Comcast, the parent company of NBC News and MSNBC, should be investigated for “treason.”
Another organization, the Committee to Protect Journalists also immediately shared a statement restating its defense of press freedoms writing: “Legal persecution, imprisonment, physical violence and even killings have sadly become familiar threats for journalists across the world. They must not now also become commonplace in the United States, where threats of violence and online harassment have in recent years become routine.”
Meanwhile journalism institutions are being weakened by the giant shift away from traditional radio, TV and newspapers in favor of podcasting and social media clips. This week I’m hearing that CNN’s staff are bracing for cuts to its politics team expected to land on or around December 6, after parent company Warner Bros. Discovery reported a third quarter fall in revenue and a 13 percent decline in ad revenue at its networks unit. In the last round of CNN lay-offs the politics division was spared because of the upcoming election, now they’ll likely be part of the next round aimed at collapsing TV roles and adding digital positions.
It isn’t just CNN that’s hurting. The cable business is so bad that Comcast is considering spinning off its news channels CNBC and MSNBC into a separate company while Skydance Media’s acquisition of CBS News’ parent company Paramount Global meant cost reductions across the board and pink slips for 2,000 staff.
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Programming notes.
I talked about the US election with Katie Razzall at The BBC Media Show last week alongside Semafor’s Media Editor Max Tani and Tortoise Media Editor and founder James Harding. A link to our conversation is here.
Separately, I’ll be at Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal next week. If you’re there I’ll be moderating a session on why Hollywood talent should embrace AI with The West Wing actor, Richard Schiff and tech entrepreneur Manon Dave and a second session on co-producing music with AI with Shara Senderoff, the CEO of Jen.