Current Events: Freedom of the Press - Civics Learning Project

Though the US Constitution’s First Amendment prohibits Congress from making any law that would restrict the freedom of the press, threats to the American free press persist. Indeed, the 2024 World Press Freedom Index, an annual ranking compiled by Reporters without Borders, ranked the United States 55th among the countries of the world. “Roughly one third of the American newspapers operating in 2005 have now shuttered,” according to Reporters Without Borders. Most of the surviving papers have been purchased by corporate entities that “appear to prioritize profits over public interest journalism.”

In addition to shifting market forces and changing public consumption habits, the USA has also witnessed direct attacks on the press from the Trump Administration in the form of lawsuits, the deportation of journalists, funding cuts to media outlets, restricting access to journalists, and discrediting attacks aimed at news outlets and reporters the administration dislikes. Such attacks create a chilling effect that hampers thorough reporting on the government. Media companies, presumably eager to please President Trump, are censoring their own reporters. One such example is Jeff Bezos, the owner of The Washington Post, stepping in to block the editorial team from printing a political cartoon critical of President Trump. Another example saw the editor of CBS’s 60 Minutes resign in protest, when faced with pressure to back off certain areas of reporting.

Censorship from within the federal government is also occurring. Thousands of government agency websites have been taken down in the first 100 days of President Trump’s second term, limiting reporters’ access to important information for researching issues and monitoring government agencies. The public has noticed this open hostility to the press. According to Pew Research’s latest study, “There is a widespread belief among Americans that the relationship between the Trump administration and the U.S. news media is a bad one: 64% of U.S. adults say the relationship is bad.”

This week’s Current Event explores the importance of a free press and current issues with dissemination of accurate information. CLP’s lesson plan encourages teachers to invite local journalists into the classroom so students can inquire about the difficult work of investigating a story, fact-checking sources, and breaking through the noise.

Essential Questions:

Essential Question #1 – What is the role of a free press in a democratic society?
Essential Questions #2 – Why must the press be independent of government influence in a fair society?
Essential Questions #3 – How can citizens be responsible consumers of information?
Essential Question #4 – What current trends are hampering the work of quality journalism?

Vocabulary:

the press: the media outlets that disseminate news and information to the public, including newspapers, magazines, television, and online platforms
journalism: the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the news of the day
to censor: to remove parts of something, such as a book, movie, or letter, that you do not want someone to see or hear
libel: publishing a statement about someone in writing or via broadcast that is untrue and would harm the reputation or livelihood of that person
slander: a false spoken statement about someone that damages their reputation

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