By Mary Kate Krueger
TAMPA, Fla. –– Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary under Donald Trump, released a statement that the Trump administration will now be choosing which media outlets will be covering the Oval Office and traveling with the president.
While Leavitt claims that this move will restore “access back to the American people” who elected Trump, free speech advocates are confused as to what this earth-shattering move could mean for democracy going forward.
Dr. David Wheeler is not only a journalism professor at The University of Tampa but is also an accredited freelance writer for outlets such as CNN, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and the Columbia Journalism Review.
During an interview, he spoke on what this could mean for the landscape of modern journalism.
“Unless you have a society that agrees on what is in alignment with what is true, then the work of journalists is considered valid and important for democracy,” said Wheeler. “But nowadays, we live in a country where people are [very] far apart politically.”
Wheeler spoke about how traditional journalism outlets such as newspapers were once considered the primary source of news, while in modern times, large social media platforms such as TikTok, X, or Instagram are where many people get their news sources.
“Only a small portion of the country still follows traditional journalism,” said Wheeler. “And then everybody else is following their favorite influencer or cable news outlet, and none of these people or outlets agree with each other on what’s true, which is a very sad state of affairs.”
Wheeler did not comment on whether Republicans or Democrats are more likely to enforce groundbreaking free speech laws but instead pointed to the current political climate as a driving force behind these changes.
“Our society is in such different places politically that it opens a big opportunity for someone like Donald Trump,” said Wheeler. “It happened to be a Republican, but it could have been a Democrat that hijacked the way that our government has always run and taken it in a completely new direction.”
“Traditionally, the WHCA [White House Correspondents’ Association] decided who was in the ‘press pool’ for White House briefings,” said Wheeler. “This was tradition, and people respected news outlets such as The Associated Press, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.”
Wheeler discussed how the shifting media landscape has diminished the power of traditional journalism outlets in today’s digital age, emphasizing the prominence of large media corporations having economic power.
“It’s the CNN and The New York Times that really are the independent journalists because everyone else is a part of a giant tech company that’s worth hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Wheeler.
“The outlets are changing so quickly, which makes it so hard to have independent journalism right now, so the closest thing we have [to independent journalism] is the traditional news outlet,” said Wheeler.
As traditional journalism declines with the rise of digital media and the White House enforces unprecedented changes, Wheeler encourages journalism students to still seek careers at traditional news outlets — highlighting the crucial role modern reporters play in upholding freedom of the press.
“I would encourage someone who wants to go into journalism right now to realize you have to be willing to go anywhere in the country that has an opening and hope to God that there are still people 5–10 years from now paying for a subscription to news outlets,” said Wheeler.
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Photo courtesy of Billings Gazette.