Courtesy of Georgia Fort
Misinformation is rampant in this day and age, where news can spread like wildfire on online platforms with no one to fact-check it. Journalism is already under fire in this era for many such reasons. It often challenges the worldviews held by readers and highlights uncomfortable truths, and in a world where people are beginning to value their own comfort over anything else, journalists are often at odds with the public. Under President Donald Trump and his administration, journalism only faces further danger and the recent arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort prove it.
Journalism is crucial to a healthy society. It fulfills the watchdog role, a position valued in Western society since the days of the Roman Republic, as seen in works such as Cicero’s “De Oratore,” a dialogue written in 55 B.C., which argues that true rhetorical eloquence requires both wisdom and skill to best serve the stability of a republic. In modern times, the watchdog role ensures that those in positions of power — such as members of the government — are held accountable for their actions. Journalists and their work keep citizens informed of the events taking place in their society and foster the discussion of complex topics and issues. This ultimately allows people to make informed decisions about their lives and the contributions they make to their communities.
Various news sources, including NPR and the New York Post, reported that Lemon and Fort had been arrested on Jan. 29 and Jan. 30 on conspiracy and obstruction charges for their involvement in their coverage of an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement demonstration at the Cities Church in Minnesota on Jan. 18. This occurred after a magistrate had previously refused to issue arrest warrants for the journalists.
Lemon was taken into custody on the night of Jan. 29, while covering the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, as was confirmed in a statement on Bluesky from his attorney, Abbe Lowell. In the same statement, Lowell wrote, “(t)his unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.”
In the aftermath, a wide variety of people — including advocates for the press, journalists and democratic lawmakers — have accused Trump of attempting to intimidate independent journalists. Even Amnesty International has demanded the release of Lemon and Fort, referring to their arrests as “a critical threat to our human rights.”
The Trump administration’s reactions to the arrests have been unprofessional at best and unconstitutional at worst. The Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon stated that she would be pursuing the case against Lemon “to the ends of the earth.” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi took credit for the arrests on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, referring to the demonstration as a “coordinated attack on Cities Church” in her statement.
The mere fact that those who work closely with the president of the United States are willing to say these things on a public social media platform is damning, both for the future of journalism and for the future of the United States as a democratic institution. The arrests of both journalists are plainly unconstitutional. The Guardian reported that all signs indicated that both journalists Lemon and Fort only entered the church to report on the anti-ICE demonstrations, with no terroristic intent, despite the claims of the many members of Trump’s administration. Being at the scene of an unfolding news event in order to report it is a constitutionally protected right, according to the First Amendment, but the Justice Department is accusing Lemon and Fort of allegedly depriving others of their constitutional right to freely practice religion.
A challenge against freedom of the press and journalists is an attack on the very values that the United States claims to stand for. The First Amendment of the Constitution explicitly prohibits Congress from “prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”
If President Trump is allowed to trample the First Amendment by allowing his assistant attorney general for civil rights to continue her legal pursuit of Lemon, he is only continuing to prove that he will not stop with regulating the freedom of the press. Journalism is the first line of defense against a fascist regime and without it, the future is bleak.
There is no worthwhile future for journalism if journalists are forced to abandon the core values of their roles, the values that make their job essential to the continued life of a democratic society.
Journalism, by sheer virtue of its existence, is a promise to follow the facts and the truth, above all else. It demands that those who study it see the world as it is, rather than what they want it to be. Willful ignorance is one of the greatest sins, and journalists must be willing to share what they have learned, for the better or for the worse, with their fellow citizens. No matter what they may need to report, they must report, and it is up to the audience to puzzle their way through the news and come to their own conclusions. Yet, for all its occasionally frustrating neutrality, engaging with journalistic narratives is leagues better than taking politicians at their word and doing no thinking of one’s own.
When a figure in power says it is raining, journalists do not mindlessly repeat their claim. They get up from their desks and open the curtains.
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