About a year ago, Current published Steven Waldman‘s piece “The Return of Local News.” Waldman is the president and cofounder of Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project. He also serves as chair of the Rebuild Local News Coalition....
freedom of the press
The Author’s Corner with Samantha Barbas
Samantha Barbas is Professor of Legal History and Director of the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy at the University at Buffalo School of Law. This interview is based on her new book, Actual Malice: Civil Rights and Freedom...
Rod Dreher in Hungary: “blogging and backtracking”
Here is Hungarian writer Balázs Gulyás on the mess the conservative blogger is making in Hungary: Last week, Rod Dreher, the American author now living in Hungary, caused a diplomatic scandal that has gone largely unnoticed in his home country....
Did Benjamin Franklin successfully thwart cancel culture?
Here is “presidential historian” Jane Hampton Cook yesterday on Fox News: Cook’s appearance follows this article at Fox News. What qualifies one as a “presidential historian?” Unfortunately, Cook doesn’t really know what she is talking about here. Cook comes from...
What Happened in Today’s Coronavirus Press Conference?
In case you missed it, Philip Bump of The Washington Post has it covered. Here is a taste of his recent piece: One of the reporters he likes, Chanel Rion of the sharply pro-Trump cable network One America News, asked a question...
What Trump Can Learn About “Witch Hunts” from the Pennsylvania Catholic Sex Abuse Scandal
Paul Elie, a senior research fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, reminds us that sometimes “witch hunts” turn-up witches. In 2002 , a Mexican cardinal said that the Boston Globe’s reporting on sexual abuse in the...
Trump: “You know why I do it? I do it to discredit you all and demean you all so when you write negative stories about me, no one will believe you.”
When Lesley Stahl asked Donald Trump in an off-camera meeting to explain “his barrage of insults aimed at journalists.” Trump responded: ‘You know why I do it? I do it to discredit you all and demean you all so when...
Trump’s War on the Press in Historical Context
Over at “Made by History,” a history blog at The Washington Post, University of Alabama history professor Joshua Rothman offers some historical context for the Trump administration’s attacks on the news media. Here is a taste: Accused of being purveyors of...
My Latest Piece in the Harrisburg *Patriot News*
Here is a taste of my “The Press Was Way More Political in Jefferson’s Day–But He Defended It Anyway.” President Trump has made a habit of attacking the press as being a promoter of “fake news,” part of a “corrupt...
The Press Was More Political In Jefferson's Day Than It Is Today. Yet He Defended It.
Earlier today, while speaking to a crowd in Florida, Donald Trump referenced Thomas Jefferson in a rant condemning the press and the media. Here is what he said: I also want to speak to you without the filter of the fake news....
Thomas Jefferson and Freedom of the Press
Today the POTUS tweeted: The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2017 I responded: Then people who practice...