Amid the tumult over US President Donald Trump’s latest assault on press freedom, it’s easy to lose sight of what exactly journalism is and why, when done well, it carries real weight.

Good journalism provides information that those in positions of power don’t want the public to know.

Yes, it’s important to recognise that beyond the president’s habitual bully-bluster schtick, the barring of CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House violates the first amendment of the Constitution protecting press freedom. So outrageous is the ban that the three news outlets are suing to regain access to the White House, arguing the ban is unconstitutional.

And it’s heartening that the White House correspondents’ association has hit back by refusing to continue with the media pool operation in which one television network films events at the White House on behalf of all the networks.

At the same time Trump has launched Trump TV, a 24-hour YouTube channel that has already been a ratings flop.

It can’t be said too often that without a free press to report on how power operates in the United States, American democracy will be seriously eroded.

Media’s centrality to democracy

Equally important is to remind ourselves that without the work of journalists there is an awful lot that would be kept hidden from the public.

The leader of the Reform Party in the United Kingdom, Nigel Farage, only engaged in the bizarre stunt of resigning from parliament to contest a byelection for his seat because of journalists’ disclosures about large sums of undeclared money donated to him shortly before entering parliament in 2024.

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