Cal State Fullerton’s College of Communications Dean Jason Shepard held a presentation on Thursday to discuss the threats to press freedom under President Donald Trump during Student Press Freedom Day.
The event was organized by professor and adviser Marie Loggia-Kee and the students at ProComm magazine, utilizing the Ingelhart Award provided by the Student Press Law Center and the College Media Association.
Student Press Freedom Day was created by The Student Press Law Center. It is a national day to celebrate student press and advocate for students’ independence and freedom. This year’s theme was Resilience in Action, aiming to push students’ voices “even as censorship, intimidation and legal threats escalate.”
“Our representative democracy only works if we protect the marketplace of ideas,” Shepard said. “This free exchange facilitates informed public opinion, which when transmitted to lawmakers, helps produce laws that reflect the people’s will.”
The discussion focused on how Trump has attacked the media throughout both of his presidential terms using Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, also known as a SLAPP lawsuit.
According to Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, these suits have no “true legal claims” and are used to dissuade critics via financially burdening the defendant.
Trump has tried to weaken libel protections in order to sue news organizations. With SLAPP suits, he has sued the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, ABC News and CBS News with the last two settling. Currently, Trump has filed the most lawsuits against the media as president.
“Legal experts warned that repeated defamation suits can create a chilling effect on journalism, and media organizations face significant increased financial and legal ordinance,” Shepard said.
Besides suing, Shepard also discussed how the president removed AP News from the White House Press Pool, decreased the number of Pentagon reports by implementing reporting restrictions, cut public funding from PBS and NPR and continuously attacked the press during interviews and speeches.
“You know why I do it? I do it to discredit you all and demean you all. So when you write negative stories about me, no one will believe you,” Trump said during an interview with 60 Minutes’ Leslie Stahl.
The president has also threatened to revoke the Federal Communications Commission license of many broadcast news stations, which included ABC News during their interview when he was asked about the Epstein Files.
The White House has also published a website targeting journalists individually and their reporting, making a media “offender hall of shame” and “fact-checking” their reporting.
Shepard talked about how Trump has not only attacked the press but also other political figures, non-profits, judges and civil society groups.
“These conflicts extend beyond the press, reflecting tensions between the executive branch and other pillars of democratic governance and civil society,” Shepard said. “Democratic societies rely on institutional autonomy and legitimacy, and persistent delegitimization may weaken public trust.”