Arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement of people with no criminal record are surging. Federal immigration agents have shot at nearly two dozen people – most of them Latino – since last year, according to The New York Times. Those include the fatal shootings of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine.
Trump's press attack has triggered a Constitutional crisis. Raw Story will fight back
On Saturday morning, journalists arrived at the White House to do something reporters have done for generations: cover the president of the United States.
Some of them weren't allowed in.
CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein was turned away and her press credential deactivated. MS NOW correspondent Akayla Gardner was denied entry and had her badge confiscated. Politico White House reporter Cheyenne Haslett was also turned away and had her pass taken.
The day before, President Donald Trump had announced that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be banned from the White House, accusing the organizations of reporting "fake news."
As a journalist, I find what happened Saturday deeply troubling.
But as the editor-in-chief of Raw Story, I also believe it is important to explain why this matters — including to people who don't watch CNN or MS NOW, read Politico or agree with the coverage produced by any of these organizations.
Freedom of the press isn't a privilege reserved for journalists whose reporting the government likes.
In fact, that's when the principle matters least.
The real test comes when journalists publish stories that anger powerful people.
Presidents have every right to criticize news coverage. They can dispute stories. They can call reporters unfair. They can provide evidence they believe proves journalists wrong. And journalists, like everyone else, can make mistakes and should correct them when they do.
But government access cannot become a reward for favorable coverage.
Because once that line is crossed, the question facing a reporter changes.
They should be asking: Is this true? Is this important? Do our readers need to know this?
Instead, the question becomes: If we publish this, will we still be allowed in the room tomorrow?
That is a question no journalist should have to consider.
This is why independent media matters
At Raw Story, we spend every day reporting on people and institutions with enormous power.
Our reporters dig through court records and campaign finance disclosures. They investigate political organizations and the money behind them. They talk to sources. They attend hearings. They ask questions politicians would sometimes rather not answer.
Sometimes our reporting makes people angry.
That's part of the job.
Our obligation isn't to make the people we cover comfortable. It is to pursue facts, verify them and give our readers the information they need to understand what their government and other powerful institutions are doing.
That principle doesn't change depending on who occupies the White House.
And it shouldn't.
There is another kind of independence
There's something else I want Raw Story readers to understand.
Editorial independence also depends on financial independence.
Investigative reporting is expensive. Experienced journalists are expensive. Sending reporters into the field, fighting for public records, reviewing thousands of pages of documents and giving journalists the time to uncover stories that may take weeks or months all cost money.
Independent news organizations don't have unlimited resources.
We have something more valuable: readers who believe this work matters.
Raw Story has been publishing independent journalism for more than two decades. We've survived enormous changes to the media industry because readers have continued to show up.
They read us.
They share our reporting.
They subscribe.
And they donate.
That support means the people we cover don't get to decide whether Raw Story survives.
Our readers do.
We're going to keep reporting
I don't know where the dispute over White House access goes from here. The affected news organizations have said they intend to defend their First Amendment rights, and legal challenges may follow.
But I know what Raw Story will do.
We'll keep reporting.
We'll keep investigating.
We'll keep asking questions.
We'll correct ourselves when we get something wrong, and we won't change accurate reporting simply because someone powerful doesn't like it.
Because journalism that requires the approval of the government isn't independent journalism.
And right now, independent journalism needs people willing to stand behind it.
If you value a press that answers to its readers rather than the people it covers, I hope you'll stand with us.
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A Trojan horse threatens to turn America into a puppet nation — and it's inside the gates
As a veteran, the oath I took to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, did not come with an expiration date. National security is not solely the responsibility of the military or even law enforcement. It begins with ensuring a government of, by, and for the people cannot be bought by the ultra-wealthy or left vulnerable to foreign influence.
A nation whose elected officials are propped up by foreign countries and shadow entities is not a sovereign nation, but a puppet. It is time to cut the strings.
As we mark Constitution Day this Sept. 17, I ask my fellow veterans to put that oath into practice through active civic participation. Take action to stand up for a country that is not run by the highest bidder.
Our nation’s Founders anticipated this exact vulnerability. George Washington called foreign influence “one of the most baneful foes of republican government,” while Thomas Jefferson warned that preserving liberty required constant vigilance against corruption and outside interference.
Unchecked dark money and foreign-backed interests are pouring into our elections, bending public policy toward priorities that do not serve the American public. Veterans, working families, and everyday citizens are being drowned out by massive financial influence from masked donors we cannot match.
Your opinion matters
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Here in Maryland, State Board of Elections filings reflect the same reality we see nationwide: Out-of-state funding and deep-pocketed donors dominate campaign finance, sidelining Marylanders. But this is not just a Maryland problem, and it is not one that we can solve alone. We need a national response.
According to an Ipsos Poll, Americans across the political spectrum agree that campaign spending is not speech that should be unregulated. Voters overwhelmingly agree that citizens and their elected representatives should be the ones setting the limits, without the Supreme Court sweeping away those protections. In 1976, in Buckley v. Valeo, the Supreme Court determined that spending unlimited money on political campaigns is protected as free speech. In 2010, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission extended that “right” to corporations.
If money in politics is free speech, then most everyday Americans have no voice at all. Billionaires and corporate entities can spend sums in a single cycle that the vast majority of us will never see in a lifetime.
Americans of all political persuasions are uniting behind a clear objective: passing a constitutional amendment that restores the power to regulate election money to Congress and the states. The movement is real, and the moment has arrived.
The For Our Freedom Amendment, championed by American Promise, achieves exactly that by authorizing state and federal oversight of “contributions and spending in campaigns, elections, or ballot measures.” It has been introduced in Congress and needs active support to reach the floor for a vote.
Why is an amendment necessary? There are only two ways to overturn the Supreme Court: Wait for the court to reverse its own precedent, which is not happening here, or use the mechanism we learned about in high school civics, a constitutional amendment. The ultimate check and balance.
This Constitution Day cannot pass without notice. Having pledged our lives to defend this Republic, veterans hold both the standing and the moral obligation to demand a higher standard. We did not serve this country only to watch foreign wealth and billionaire mega-donors choose our leaders for us.
Fellow veterans, we no longer wear the uniform, but our duty is not finished. Our time standing in formations may be over, but our oath to the Constitution never expires. While we served, many of us were unable to be engaged in politics. That time has passed; we are home, and we are still serving, and we cannot do this alone.
Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: info@marylandmatters.org.