New York Times publisher’s op-ed paints chilling scenario of press freedom crackdown

During his horrible debate performance against Kamala Harris Tuesday night, Donald Trump was yet again worshipping at the altar of strongmen, including Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban.
Orban’s regime has been in the news a lot lately. In an extraordinary step, the Washington Post recently ran a lengthy, provocative and chilling op-ed written by its competitor, New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger, who posed a simple question: could a campaign, like the one waged by Orban against the independent news media or “free press” in Hungary, happen in the U.S.
Reading the piece, I was left wondering, worrying in fact, if the answer to the question might have implications for the news media here in Canada too, down the road.
A bit of background. Under Orban, who was re-elected as Hungary’s leader in 2010, some democratic norms have been severely watered down. He has managed to build a large, pro-government media empire that has taken over the country’s political landscape and has served as his mouthpiece.
One news report from the Associated Press wire service quoted a critic in Hungary who described the situation there as a “successful information autocracy” and a “spin dictatorship.”
AP noted that Reporters Without Borders says Orban has leveraged media buyouts by “government-connected oligarchs” to build a media conglomerate that is “subject to his party’s orders.”
Reporters Without Borders estimates the buyouts have given the prime minister and his party control of the majority — 80 per cent — of Hungary’s media market resources, the story notes. Up to 90 per cent of state advertising dollars are awarded to pro-Orban party media outlets, which keeps them afloat, the article went on to state.
Independent media outlets that criticize Orban and go after his regime have in effect been sidelined and largely silenced. Sulzberger, in his op-ed in the Washington Post, says the situation has bolstered Orban’s “increasingly authoritarian rule.”
The nightly news and newspaper headlines “unskeptically parrot” Orban’s claims, Sulzberger writes, “often unmoored from the truth, flattering his accomplishments while demonizing and discrediting his critics.”
This “dismantling” of the news media in Hungary, Sulzberger goes on to say, was a central component of the Hungarian leader’s “broader project” to make over his country as an “illiberal democracy” — a hobbled independent press making it easier for the leader to keep secrets, “rewrite reality” and undermine his opponents while acting with impunity.
Perhaps most disturbing of all, Sulzberger asserts that this pattern is being played out in “eroding democracies all over the world.”
Which brings us to Trump’s praise for Orban during the debate this week and Sulzberger’s question about whether a similar war against the free press could take part in the U.S.
Trump it should be noted, recently hosted Orban at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. So, it’s probably safe to say they’re simpatico when it comes to leadership styles.
Sulzberger writes that as Trump and his MAGA enthusiasts try to get back into the White House, they’ve fired warning shots to say they’ll be going after the “enemy of the people” and “fake news” journalists and media outlets.
The New York Times publisher goes on to remind readers that Kash Patel, a former senior official to Trump warned about “coming after” journalists critical of Trump. As reported in July, Patel said there will be retaliation against the media that challenged Trump’s 2020 election claims.
As we now know all too well, Trump falsely — and let’s state it plainly, ludicrously — claimed that election was stolen from him and his supporters by means that included rigged voting machines.
“We’re going to come after you, whether it’s criminally or civilly. We’ll figure that out. But yah, we’re putting you all on notice,’’ Patel has been quoted as saying in an interview with Steve Bannon.
Lunacy to be sure, yet highly dangerous commentary that would seem to be planting the seeds for the doomsday scenario Sulzberger writes about in his op-ed in the Post.
This in a climate where Elon Musk, now a full-on Trump devotee, recently pushed out on his social media platform an AI-generated fake image of a woman, made to be Kamala Harris, dressed in red in a communist outfit, with a hammer and sickle on her hat. Musk falsely captioned the picture saying: “Kamala vows to be a communist dictator on day one. Can you believe she wears that outfit!?”
The image, viewed by tens of millions of times, with no disclaimer that the picture was in fact manipulated and a phoney. And of course, nary a word from Trump here about “fake news.”
But back to the war on press freedom warnings Sulzberger raises.
If Trump does in fact prevail in the next election and slowly begins to crack down on his “enemy of the people” journalists and media outlets after returning to power, what happens here in Canada? Would there be a ripple effect?
Sadly, we already know that studies have shown that distrust for the media, especially mainstream outlets, including the Star, is at a high point now.
For me, a troubling sign appeared during the “Freedom convoy” protests in Ottawa in 2022 and the COVID backlash overall. Remember, several journalists covering the protest came under verbal assaults and harassment and some were physically attacked.
As public editor I’ve also seen some of the vitriolic notes to my office complaining about our coverage of the protests and the pandemic generally. So, some anti-media seeds were there at that time — though I hasten to add that the environment has calmed considerably.
In the end I remain cautiously optimistic that the disturbing scenario Sulzberger paints about a crack down on press freedom will fail to materialize in his country or ours.