• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, December 23, 2024

On the heels of my "Nine Seconds To Midnight" post, watchdog group Media Matters this morning released its 2024 "Misinformer of the Year:" anti-media intimidation.

It's not the first time the group has named a movement broader than a specific entity. In 2016, it named "Fake News / Alt Right Media Ecosystem," and in 2007 it named "Misinformation."

And while I think its 2024 choice is an inspired one, I don't think it goes far enough, because the intimidation is just one tactic in a far bigger, and more encompassing info war undermining the role of legitimate news organizations.

It's also nothing new. On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump began his first full day as president declaring war on America's news media while standing in front of the CIA's hallowed wall of fallen heroes. And he has been escalating it ever since.

That's because his strategy has been to undermine each and every institution that has the power to check his unbridled one. He will soon have control of the legislature, and he has pretty much tamed the judiciary, and based on his cabinet nominations -- as well as his non-cabinet-level appointments -- he's advancing on this mission of "deconstructing the administrative state."

That means one of the few remaining checks is the news media. And barring a new constitutional amendment overturning the first one, his only recourse is to utilize other means to undermine the press's ability to check his power.

So naturally, he has chosen a litigative one. And if ABC News' capitulation is any indication, it's likely to be a very successful one.

Honestly, the intimidation -- and capitulation -- began long before Trump's most recent legal actions -- and much of it has only been implied, yet still very effective, as corporate media moguls line up to supplicate themselves

Remember Jeff Bezos' 11th-hour decision to scuttle The Washington Post's long-standing editorial policy of issuing presidential endorsements (one that would have recommended Kamala Harris for president)?

Intimidation doesn't necessarily require overt actions. It merely requires creating a threatening atmosphere that creates an imbalance of power.

And given the economic shifts impacting conventional news organizations -- especially the atomization of the information marketplace, and the increasing role of platforms and "news influencers" -- the American news media has never been more vulnerable to intimidation.

"Donald Trump and Trump world media allies have either filed or threatened to file at least half a dozen lawsuits against media outlets, media figures, publishing houses, and even the Pulitzer Prize board," Media Matters notes in this morning's announcement. "Earlier this month Trump sued the Des Moines Register, its owner Gannett, popular pollster J. Ann Selzer, and her polling firm Selzer & Company for releasing a poll showing Trump would lose Iowa. Without evidence, he called the poll “fraud” and “election interference.” This suit comes after Trump won a $16 million settlement from ABC News after suing for defamation."

For more on Media Matters' intimidation rationale, read Senior Fellow Matt Gertz's article explaining the pick.