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Press Onward
To journalists everywhere: fight like hell
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As Benjamin Franklin was leaving Independence Hall at the close of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, a woman asked him what kind of government had been established. “A republic, if you can keep it,” he famously and presciently answered.
A republic is a form of government in which power is held by the people, who elect representatives to exercise that power on their behalf.
Our republic has survived civil war and world wars. It has withstood economic depressions and deadly pandemics. It has persevered in the face of scandals and political assassinations. For 238 years, the Constitution, buttressed by the rule of law, has been our bulwark against tyranny. But now we are faced with a cult leader-cum-authoritarian hell-bent on destroying it.
As we look back on 2025, we’re hard-pressed to find a corner of society more tormented than the American media. We have a president who is trying to disassemble an essential component of our democracy, piece by piece, reporter by reporter.
It has been what might generously be called a terrible year for legacy media.
So, Mr. Franklin, how do we keep it?
We can turn to another Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson, for the answer.
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free… it expects what never was and never will be.” In other words, a republic requires an informed, educated citizenry. People kept in the dark can not simultaneously safeguard liberty.
The freedom of the press is crucial to a democratic republic. That freedom is enshrined in the First Amendment and not by accident.
If “We the People” do not know what is happening, we can not hold the powerful accountable. If the powerful are not held to account, we no longer have a functioning democracy.
The powerful, who are acutely aware of how the truth can diminish their authority, are doing their damnedest to restrict and control the media. Donald Trump is leading the charge by chipping away at the First Amendment.
How bad was 2025?
Trump shuttered Voice of America, the international media organization whose mission was to spread democracy, handing Russia, Cuba, and China victories they weren’t even trying to win.
His executive order gutted public broadcasting, stripping $1.1 billion in congressionally allocated dollars. That order, which accused PBS and NPR of failing to create “fair, accurate, or unbiased” reporting, is a clear violation of the First Amendment.
Since taking office for the second time, the president has sued ABC News, CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the BBC, CNN, YouTube, Meta, and X — netting more than $90 million in settlements, so far, without stepping foot in a courtroom.
He has hobbled the press’s ability to cover the White House and Pentagon. He banned the Associated Press from participating in the press pool because they refuse to call the Gulf of Mexico by the name Trump has chosen.
His secretary of defense required the media to sign what amounted to a loyalty oath in order to have access to the Pentagon. All major media organizations refused.
Those organizations that are still part of the White House press corps are subject to daily scoldings by a press secretary who lies as easily as she breathes.
Trump-aligned tech billionaires now own The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and CBS News. The media not yet owned by friends of the administration are cowed and controlled by his Federal Communications Commission.
The FCC, once an independent agency, is now helmed by an author of Project 2025. Brendan Carr launched investigations against a number of media companies on Trump’s hit list.
His pressure campaigns have resulted in the short-lived suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on ABC and CBS not renewing the “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” despite top ratings. Both hosts have been highly critical of the president. Carr also used his regulatory power to make shows like “60 Minutes” come to heel.
It’s almost unthinkable that correspondents at “60 Minutes” have to think twice about speaking truth to power. But it has come to that. It is simply heartbreaking.
Even before Trump took office, the media landscape was more like a hellscape. As this reporter has long said, decades of corporate consolidation meant most legacy media had been purchased by huge publicly traded companies whose concern was shareholder value, not journalistic quality.
At any given time, those corporations could have regulatory issues before multiple arms of the government, concerning an array of business interests. Those interests trump the audiences’ right to know almost every time.
Too few voices were and are dominating, homogenizing, and marginalizing the news.
The internet further transformed the media business model. On one hand, it allowed people to get their news immediately. On the other, it pushed news organizations to publish, air, and post more quickly than ever before, eroding trust. It also diluted and fragmented the news, where clicks were now king.
Since the bottom line was now the only line, news coverage budgets dwindled. The belt-tightening cut deep into the marrow of what was once considered a public trust.
National and foreign bureaus closed. Local newsrooms shrank by 75% in less than 25 years, according to a study by Muck Rack. One-third of counties in this country no longer have even one full-time journalist.
And the local television stations that have survived are now part of the corporatization of the media. Three multibillion dollar conglomerates own 80% of local media markets. You can thank Carr for facilitating – not stopping – this consolidation.
It is a pretty bleak picture, but all is not lost. Independent journalism is more robust and accessible than ever before. Platforms such as Substack, beehiiv, and Ghost give journalists full creative control and a financial alternative. They give news consumers choice, a break from the 24-hour news wheel, and perhaps more importantly, community. The Steady community is case in point.
We need to build on that. Good reporting is expensive but Americans have shown time and again they believe it’s worth it. A new model built on subscriptions is working, and it will only grow more powerful.
I believe it is up to the independent journalists, who are not beholden to corporate overlords or bottom lines to demand the truth, show courage in the face of compliance and capitulation, and fight the rising tide of autocracy to save our republic.
Thank you to everyone who has joined us here. Our community is strong and vibrant — because of you. We look forward to a hopeful and more truthful 2026. Looking forward to staying steady with you in the new year.
Steady is free, but to support my team’s efforts to protect our democracy through the power of independent journalism, we’d appreciate it if you would consider joining as a paid subscriber. It keeps Steady sustainable and accessible for all.
No matter how you subscribe, I thank you for reading.
Stay Steady,
Dan
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