To the editor: In discussing President Trump’s conflicts with the press, it could be extra related to match his actions, not with earlier presidents’, however with the techniques of these he admires corresponding to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (“‘60 Minutes,’ the Associated Press, an Iowa newspaper: Trump’s attacks on the media reach new heights,” March 4). There isn’t a free press in Russia or Turkey as a result of these leaders have adopted the dictator playbook of Josef Stalin and others. The place are we headed?
Judy Donais Hulme, Hermosa Seaside
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To the editor: It’s laughable that this text would state: “The information media, which prides itself on being People’ watchdog…” People haven’t relied on the information media for years. We had been lied to about Joe Biden’s cognitive decline, about Russian collusion and so many different topics. The information media was complicit in withholding the reality, and the general public is sick of it. Trump is just not attacking the media; he’s holding it accountable, and the media doesn’t prefer it.
Steve Tye, Diamond Bar
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To the editor: President Trump’s accusations towards CNN and his denigration of journalists as “enemies of the folks” jogged my memory of what Yuval Noah Harari wrote in his 2024 ebook, “Nexus”:
“The most typical technique robust males use to undermine democracy is to assault self-correcting mechanisms, one after the other, typically starting with the courts and the media. The standard robust man both deprives courts of their powers or packs them along with his loyalists and seeks to shut all unbiased media shops whereas constructing his personal omnipresent propaganda machine.”
Trump not solely denounces numerous media shops for what he calls “faux information,” he additionally consistently criticizes judges and challenges judicial oversight of the manager department. It’s certainly horrifying how fragile democracy is and the way simply it may be threatened.
Vivien Irving, Huntington Seaside
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To the editor: There’s nothing new with Trump’s assault technique on legacy (official) media. That is an age-old tactic of autocrats to kneecap any potential opposition to their energy and management. This was a favourite ploy of fascist leaders a century in the past.
Bob Teigan, Santa Susana
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To the editor: I’m begging information shops to struggle towards the short-term ease of paying off the president relatively than standing up for the essential responsibility of reporting the information and saving our democracy from being cowed into submitting to threats from this administration. Take it to courtroom. Freedom of the press is to be defended by the Structure! Please discover the responsibility and backbone to struggle again!
Rita Skinner, Riverside
