With Trump’s rising rhetoric against journalists and media, over 350 newspapers and media outlets in the US have published together to promote 'Press Freedom" - but the U.S. President has simply doubled down.
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Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter accusing the media of sharing ‘FAKE NEWS’ and being “the enemy of the American people”.
In response, the Massachusetts-based Boston Globe launched a campaign to take a stand. It contacted newspaper editorial boards to coordinate a response defending press freedom.
On Thursday morning, more than 350 newspapers shared their own editorial that carried the same message:
With many different titles, the campaign was joined by different small and big newspapers in the US, including Minnesota's Swift County Monitor News, with their editorial titled: "Attacks On Journalists Will Lead To Violence." The Valencia County News-Bulletin wrote also: "We are not the enemy; We are the people."
As a supportive step, the Guardian had also its view on the topic and wrote an editorial titled: “The Guardian view on the press and Trump: speaking truth to power”.
On social media, the campaign gathered momentum in the US and Europe. Between supporters and critics, several hashtags emerged on the topic including #PressFreedom #FreePress and #NotTheEnemy.
Yet, users on social media went to debate over the effectiveness of such a campaign.
Despite the fact that the campaign came in a time while US media is facing crisis, there were also people arguing that such a campaign in which newspapers gather and express one idea is far from the claimed freedom of speech.
