Trump Administration’s Impact on Stars and Stripes and Press Freedom

The firing on August 21 of the publisher, editor, and a reporter at the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, coupled with recent restrictions on its content, illustrates efforts by the Trump administration to limit public knowledge about governmental activities. These dismissals followed Stars and Stripes’ reports on harsh conditions like food shortages, water scarcity, and faulty plumbing faced by sailors stationed on the USS Abraham Lincoln since November. This carrier engaged in President Trump’s chosen conflict with Iran.

The newspaper highlighted struggles faced by some sailors, including exhaustion, declining morale, and reports of suicidal thoughts. President Trump denied these reports and inaccurately claimed the carrier was ‘beautifully maintained,’ though he correctly stated it would soon return to the U.S.

Following practices common in countries lacking press freedom, Trump and his appointees are endeavoring to hide failures while promoting misleading success stories. The Freedom of the Press Foundation has recorded various measures by the Trump administration aimed at minimizing independent media activities. These efforts include multibillion-dollar lawsuits against news organizations criticising him.

Other initiatives involved terminating federal aid for NPR and PBS, nearly dissolving Voice of America, excluding disliked journalists from the White House press pool, and threats to revoke broadcast licenses from TV stations censoring him.

Trump aims to persuade people that his fabrications, like his claim of winning the 2020 election, are factual, whereas truthful reports debunking him are false. His low approval scores indicate many Americans no longer trust him. The Stars and Stripes firings and new constraints by the Defense Department infringe on service members’ rights. These individuals risk their lives for the nation’s security and deserve accurate, unbiased news about the military, government, and world affairs.

Stars and Stripes staff are civilian Defense Department employees, which funds the paper partially. According to a 1993 directive, the paper should facilitate ‘a free flow of news without manipulation or censorship,’ forbidding selective withholding of unfavorable news. The Pentagon concluded this policy in January.

Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell announced via social media that Stars and Stripes would be ‘modernized’ to shift away from ‘woke distractions’ affecting morale and adjust to address a new generation’s needs. Moreover, Stars and Stripes was instructed to cease publishing stories by The Associated Press, limiting its newsgathering significantly.

These alterations aim not at modernization but censorship, allowing the Defense Department to transform Stars and Stripes into a propaganda arm favorable to the Trump administration. An ombudsman fired after warning that these changes threatened editorial independence filed a lawsuit against the Defense Department.

Stars and Stripes’ editorial independence dates back to World War I, where Gen. John Pershing recognized its morale-boosting role due to its honesty and lack of censorship. During World War II, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower maintained its independence, asserting its role as the soldiers’ newspaper. Since World War II, it has been consistently published as a daily tabloid and online since 2004.

Trump attempts to characterize media outlets as dishonest, radical leftists, and anti-American, dubbing the press ‘the enemy of the American people,’ mirroring allegations by dictators like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao against independent media. Journalists keep government actions visible, holding officials accountable regardless of politics.

Every president has experienced media contention; the press is inherently oppositional. However, Trump seeks more than any modern president, including Richard Nixon, to suppress journalistic freedom to reduce unfavorable coverage. It is hoped that future presidents adopt Thomas Jefferson’s view expressed in 1786: ‘Our liberty relies on press freedom, and it cannot be curtailed without being lost.’

A. Scott Bolden serves as an attorney, NewsNation contributor, former Washington D.C. Democratic Party chair, and ex-New York state prosecutor.

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