Trump, Standing Rock & Media Dissent
By: Andrew Ahern & Tucker Worrall
On January 11th, 2017, President-Elect Donald Trump stood at a podium, a row of flags behind him. It was his first press conference since his election in November. In the previous week a report had been released to President Obama and the President-Elect by the Intel Chiefs about the President-Elect’s potential ties to Russia. Every news organization in the country had come to see what the president-elect would say about the allegations. Trump looked slightly nervous as he scanned the gathered reporters. Then the questions began; about rumors in the media, the repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act, and Trump’s business ties. Eventually questions were asked about Trump’s reaction to a report that Russia had leverage over him in the form of a video of him with prostitutes, during his stay in 2013 at the Ritz-Carlton, in Moscow.Trump responded “I think it’s a disgrace that information that was false and fake and never happened got released to the public. As far as Buzzfeed, which is a failing pile of garbage, writing it, I think they’re going to suffer the consequences. They already are.”
The President had just arguably threatened a news organization. Then, riled up by Trump’s rhetoric a CNN reporter asked if he could respond to the President-Elect’s attacks. Trump said “Your organization is terrible… you are fake news” and took another question. This was the most memorable moment from Trump’s first interaction with the press as President-Elect.
During the campaign Trump was also hostile towards the media, going as far as to have his supporters boo the gathered media at his rallies. As President, Trump has continued his attacks. His spokespeople claimed his inauguration crowds were the biggest ever. While some thought this was humorous, it actually shows the administration’s goal to silence all opposition. In a press conference Press Secretary Sean Spicer said “we’re going to hold the press accountable” while almost simultaneously, Trump told a crowd of CIA workers in a speech “we have a running war with the media”. Days later Steve Bannon, a chief political strategist during the campaign, described the free press as “the opposition party”.
These statements show that there has been a concerted effort by the Trump administration to attack the media. Any reporting that is counter to the Chief Executive’s narrative is deemed fake news, even when backed up by physical evidence, such as photographs taken at the inauguration that compared Mr. Trump’s crowds with Mr. Obama’s in 2008.
Since Trump’s inauguration there has been a disorienting effect of an administration that isn’t afraid to lie. Kellyanne Conway, Counselor to the President, went on MSNBC”s Hardball with Chris Matthews to buttress the executive order about banning people from Muslim countries entering the U.S, claiming that something she called the “Bowling Green Massacre” had occurred. When the media correctly reported that this wasn’t true, the Trump administration responded by claiming that the media ignores terrorist attacks. The White House released a list of 78 attacks that went unreported by the media. Some that were included, such as the Orlando nightclub shooting, were major national stories when they occurred.
The administration is using the fiction of a lack of coverage to try and make the media look untrustworthy. The repeated misinformation, the so called “alternative facts” a phrase used by Conway, on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, January 22nd is intentional as a way to disengage the public, and the Trump administration’s threats about punishing certain organizations have a chilling effect on the media’s reporting.
One of the most controversial political debates is the future of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The protest has been widely reported on for months, but under the new Trump administration the media may face problems covering the persistent protests. The initial unrest began when the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe objected to the government’s use of eminent domain to seize land and complete the project. In December, 2016 it looked as though the Tribe had succeeded, and the construction of the pipeline ceased. Due to the fervor and fight of those who stood in rain and snow, the Sioux Tribe seemed to be awarded their land, while also preventing an environmental time-bomb. The Tribe was given what they rightfully deserved, and the sacrifices of the media were vindicated.
As Obama's presidency ended, Donald Trump gave executive orders to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to restart work on the Dakota Access Pipeline. Along with the environmental, social, and political affect the Standing Rock divide is having on our country, it is also endangering our First Amendment Rights to speak and report freely, and especially in opposition.
A common theme in Trump’s presidency is his sensitivity towards bad-press about him. He's continued to mark national and reputable news organizations as “fake”, pegging the media as a group of conspirators out to get him.
During the administration’s attempted installation of the Dakota Access Pipeline, reporter Jenni Monet was recently charged with criminal trespassing and rioting, but was only reporting on the continuing fight over the pipeline. Monet’s arrest hasn't been widely covered by most national news organizations, and part of that may be the influence of Donald Trump. As Mark Trahant writes in Yes Magazine, “she [Monet] said she was not linking arms with them. She had a notepad and pen in hand and her press credentials at the ready. But when the protesters were arrested, she found herself arrested along with them and the next day she was charged with criminal trespassing and rioting.”
Guilt by association, and the association was of those who stand (or report) against Trump and his policies. Trump's order and ideology got Monet arrested, not simply the cop who handcuffed her. That's why this story jeopardizes our First Amendment rights. The Trump administration stands firmly against the acts of Monet and the Standing Rock Protests in general. This story hints at the fact that under this administration we can only expect the White House to combat any story which is attempting to oppose the Trump ideology. In this way the news which is favored towards Trump and his administration's policies will be promulgated while all else is inevitably deemed fake and insulting, resulting in a chilling effect in the reporting on the President’s Administration executive’s actions.
In the case of Monet, her ideology did not match with the Trump Administration's and for that she was silenced. This is just one example of the many arrests we should expect where journalists or peaceful protesters are detained because they do not align with what the President believes. Whether in the form of calling a polemical article “fake” or taking measures to arrest journalists who oppose Trump, the First Amendment may be in danger for anyone who feels an opposition to Trump. That, in many cases is one of the first signs of dealing with a fascist regime: silencing the media. The First Amendment states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Where Monet was seen doing her job, reporting on the events at Standing Rock, the current administration sees her as a threat. Where Monet was seen as doing her job, she was simultaneously perceived as heretic by the other side. Under a different administration we would expect a different outcome for Monet and the rest of the protesters. However, Monet was silenced and her First Amendment Rights repressed Trump will continue to determine any opposition to him as “fake news” and events such as Standing Rock and Monet's arrest are at the expense of an executive order given by the President himself.
While we all don’t necessarily like hearing our critics and opposing views, dissent is essential for a free society. The essence of the First Amendment is to allow anyone to speak freely without government intrusion. Whether it’s holocaust denial or global warming abnegation, we must all begin to hear the opposition out. The first amendment is under attack by the Trump administration. The White House has shown that they view the media as an enemy force. This will undoubtedly have damaging effects on the freedom of the press, and sets a dangerous precedent. Jenni Monet’s arrest is just one sign that the administration means to suppress dissent. The public must remain vigilant and informed if we are to combat the “alternative facts” of any administration.