By Foster Conner
Page Editor
This comment was made by Jeff Bezos recently in a statement he had made discussing a change to the opinion page for the Washington Post. In broad terms, this statement means the paper will focus less on the government and its influence while supporting an economy built around competition.
This decision happened not long after the Associated Press (AP) was barred from the White House press room until they changed their stylebook from saying “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America.” Both of these cases raise concerns on the future of journalistic freedom.
Journalism has been a freedom we have been afforded since the founding of our nation. Freedom of the Press allowed journalists to have access to information and discuss topics without being censored or shut down by government laws.
This freedom has allowed many journalists to bring breaking news to the public, like in the case of Watergate. This freedom is not without its challenges, however. Trump’s banning of the AP was an attempt to enforce government laws and policies on journalists with essentially a comply or
get out. Bezo’s decision to make the opinion piece a focus on less government involvement and being pro-free market largely silences anyone who disagrees with these ideals.
This issue of forced compliance and silencing of differing ideals is not a foreign concept today in America. In 2020, during elections, many Americans vocally spoke out against news channels for being biased and untrustworthy.
Post 2020 and leading up to now, this distrust has been reflected in the actions of law enforcement and colleges. In 2023, the Marion County newspaper was raided by the town’s police department because a confidential source gave the paper information the department did not want getting out.
In 2024, a pro-Palestine journalist was arrested for documenting a Palestinian protest. Stanford, a college known for being the reason it is illegal to search a newspaper or a reporter doing their job, supported the arrest even though the only justification was that the guy was there.
This distrust, coupled with growing tensions against reporters and newsrooms, all led to today where we see the Washington Post having its opinion piece regulated and silenced while the White House dictates who is allowed to speak to them and give information to the public.
We may not lose freedom of speech, and it is possible that what we are seeing is small issues with only minor impacts. Yet the more we give rich, out-of-touch, billionaires the ability to decide what we talk about and how we talk about it, the more control they can exert on us.
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