An American editorial cartoonist has been fired for skewering Trump. He likely won’t be the last.; The Washington Post, June 15, 2018

Ann Telnaes, The Washington Post; An American editorial cartoonist has been fired for skewering Trump. He likely won’t be the last.

"...[W]ith the firing of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette cartoonist Rob Rogers, we now see that suppressing a free press can be accomplished without an authoritarian president’s orders. Michael Cohen isn’t the only “fixer” Trump has at his disposal.

Rogers has been the editorial cartoonist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for more than 25 years. Most working cartoonists have had an occasional idea spiked by his or her editor. But in the past few weeks, editorial director Keith Burris and publisher John Robinson Block have refused to publish six of Rogers’s cartoons, all criticizing Trump or his policies. Block and Burris have also rejected many of Rogers’s rough sketch ideas for several months.

This wasn’t the first time Block has used his position to defend President Trump’s actions; in January he demanded an editorial run in the Post-Gazette and the Toledo Blade (where he is also the publisher) supporting Trump’s use of the term “shithole countries.”"

After meeting with North Korean dictator, Trump calls press America's 'biggest enemy'; CNN, June 13, 2018

Brian Stelter, CNN; After meeting with North Korean dictator, Trump calls press America's 'biggest enemy'

"Hours after returning from a trip where he lavished praise on one of the world's worst dictators, President Trump declared that America's biggest enemy is... "fake news."

He singled out NBC and CNN in his angry tweet on Wednesday.

Trump frequently portrays the news media as one of his enemies, but rarely has he been this blunt about it. Wednesday's tweet harkens back to February 2017, when he called several news outlets "the enemy of the American People!"

He was roundly criticized back then. This time, there's been a somewhat more muted reaction, perhaps because he is repeating himself. But it's important to recognize just how extreme this rhetoric is.

No modern American president has publicly spoken this way about the press.

Richard Nixon sometimes talked this way, but only in private.

"Never forget, the press is the enemy. The press is the enemy. The press is the enemy," Nixon told his advisors, according to Oval Office recordings"

Donald Trump’s ‘Monster’s Ball’; New York Times, 12/1/16

Charles M. Blow, New York Times; Donald Trump’s ‘Monster’s Ball’ :

"Donald Trump was elected on a wave of fake news, fake minority outreach and an 11th-hour email head fake by James Comey...

Donald Trump is a fraud, and a dangerous one. This country is depending on morally principled patriots to never let that fact be shifted from center stage.

Trump rode to victory on a cloud of vapors and vapid promises, and now he is assembling a counsel of acolytes and opportunists. Now each of us must demonstrate our fortitude in vocal, steadfast resistance.

Trump must be made to know, in no uncertain terms, that he was elected president and not anointed emperor.

Not every battle can be won, but every battle must be waged. This is the proving ground. Are you prepared to stand your ground?"

It’s Extremely Troublesome That Trump Thinks The Media Is ‘All Bad’; Huffington Post, 8/4/16

Alana Horowitz Satlin, Huffington Post; It’s Extremely Troublesome That Trump Thinks The Media Is ‘All Bad’ :

"A free press which is able to provide checks and balances to government actions is essential to a modern, functioning democracy. As the Miami Herald argues, without transparency, America simply cannot be a government ruled “by the people, for the people.”

“This free flow of information to the public is essential to preserving our American democracy,” the Herald said. “In addition to educating and reporting, the press serves as the public’s independent watchdog, charged with keeping governments, businesses and other organizations in check. What other institution has the power to talk to key leaders, inspire social change and uncover corruption, while analyzing and providing context for major global events? Thanks to diligent reporting, citizens are empowered to take a stance on critical issues, enact change and demand the best from their leaders.”

Countries like China, Russia and Egypt ― where state-controlled media reigns and independent journalists are thrown in jail ― are rampant with other types of human rights violations."

The right response to Donald Trump? A media blackout.; Washington Post, 6/14/16

Dana Milbank, Washington Post; The right response to Donald Trump? A media blackout. :

"Donald Trump’s ban of Post journalists has left other news outlets with a stark choice: your ratings or your responsibility as journalists in a free society?

Trump’s announcement that he is barring Post journalists from his events follows similar bans he put on reporters from Politico, Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, Gawker, Foreign Policy, Fusion, Univision, Mother Jones, the New Hampshire Union Leader, the Des Moines Register and the Daily Beast. Trump goons have been known to kick out undesirable reporters at Trump events.

For those journalists and media executives who still don’t share the view of Post Executive Editor Martin Baron that Trump’s action “is nothing less than a repudiation of the role of a free and independent press,” it won’t be long before Trump comes for you, too.

Earlier this year, Trump said he would “open up” libel laws — in other words, dispense with the First Amendment — to make it easier for him to sue news outlets. He has suggested that, if president, he would use antitrust laws to harass Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who owns The Post. And longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone has proposed that a President Trump seek retribution against CNN: “Turn off their FCC license.”

This goes beyond even Nixonian hostility."