In journalism, we’re taught not to become the story.
But what happens when the story is the systematic effort to erase us?
We are an independent newsroom, unbought, unbossed, and unafraid. 
And today, I write not just as a journalist, but as the editor-in-chief of a publication that believes in one sacred principle: that the press is not the enemy of the people, but a guardian of public truth.
Over the past decade, President Donald J. Trump has carried out the most sustained attack on press freedom in modern U.S. history.
And while it began with tweets, it has since metastasized into something far more corrosive. A presidential doctrine of distrust.
This is not editorial speculation but documented fact.
According to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, President Trump has used social media platforms to target the press more than 2,300 times, including:
- 450+ uses of the phrase “fake news”
- 91 references to “enemy of the people”
- Hundreds of insults directed at specific journalists and outlets
- And an average of one attack per day for over ten years
“Trump’s attacks are not about accountability. They are about discrediting facts that inconvenience him and discrediting those who report them.”
— U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, April 2024
From The New York Times to NPR, from CNN to Voice of America, from local beat reporters to Pulitzer-winning investigations, no outlet has been safe from his public ire.
The attacks spanned from accusations of treason and bias to calls for firings and boycotts.
Chart Recommendation for Article
Title: “Trump’s Anti-Press Posts by Type (2015–2024)”
Source: U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Count Comparisons Google Sheet
When a sitting president uses the weight of the Oval Office to repeatedly delegitimize journalism, it creates a chilling effect not only on our profession but on the public’s right to know.
It also creates danger.
We’ve seen reporters escorted out of rallies. We’ve seen bomb threats called into newsrooms.
We’ve seen chants of “CNN sucks!” normalized as political theater. The rhetorical violence fuels real-world threats and the president knows this.
“Targeting the press is not just a political tactic. It’s a calculated effort to make truth negotiable.”
— All the President’s Invective, PressFreedomTracker.us
Here at foorum Insider, we don’t expect praise. But we expect protection.
The First Amendment was not written for easy times. It was written to protect the press when speaking truth is hardest. When it’s risky, unpopular and under attack.
We are under attack.
We will not be gaslit into pretending this is “normal.” It is not.
We will not adopt euphemisms for what this is. It is not media criticism. It is a coordinated attempt to delegitimize journalism and condition the public to distrust any narrative outside of the president’s own.
“No administration in modern history has invested so much effort into silencing the press through public intimidation and rhetorical violence.”
— Trump Administration and the Media, PressFreedomTracker.us
This is personal, too.
I have colleagues who lock their Twitter accounts. Journalists who carry burner phones to rallies.
Editors who brief their teams on evacuation procedures. What used to be security protocols for war zones are now embedded in coverage plans for campaign stops.
So today, as Editor-in-Chief, I say this plainly:
We are not the enemy of the people.
We are the people.
We are the inconvenient truth that power fears.
We are the record when history comes knocking.
We are the mirror, even when it reflects something ugly.
And we are not going anywhere.
