The Attack on Journalism

We look to our journalists for the truth, which only they can provide through reliable reporting. So, as the year comes to a close, we cannot help but look at the world around us and question: if we rely on journalists to provide us with the truth, what happens when those truth-tellers are systematically targeted and silenced? Since the creation of the printing press in the 15th century, journalism has played a crucial role in democracy. Yet, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), UNESCO, and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) document that we are living through one of the deadliest periods for journalists on record.

Even now, as I sit in the study zone of my school with my laptop, I am disheartened to learn of the US President’s increasingly restrictive approach towards the press. If even the United States, a historic advocate for democratic values, begins dismantling protections for the press, what is stopping any other country, any other regime, from doing the same? The systematic targeting of journalists erodes the very foundation of public accountability, leaving society blind to corruption, human rights abuses, and the misuse of state power. When truth-tellers are silenced, the vacuum can be filled by state-sponsored propaganda and unchecked disinformation. Without independent reporters to verify facts and question authority, the public loses its ability to make informed civic choices, weakening the democratic process

itself.

Historically, international pressure and democratic norms have served as a deterrent against the overt persecution of media workers. Remember the scandal that polluted the 1970s: Watergate. Watergate was a major political scandal involving the 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and the subsequent attempts by the Nixon administration to conceal its involvement and obstruct the investigation. Ultimately, the scandal contributed to President Richard Nixon’s resignation. The journalists who helped uncover Nixon’s misuse of authority were rightly hailed as heroes. Today, however, it seems that abuses of power are no longer necessarily met with a unified demand for accountability. Instead, we increasingly see attempts to discredit the very institutions tasked with exposing them.

Vice President JD Vance even argued in 2026 that if Watergate happened today, it would be “like a 12-hour news story”, questioning the idea that such a scandal could bring down a presidency. His comment raises an uncomfortable question: have we become so accustomed to political controversy that even serious abuses of power can be reduced to another news cycle? If so, the problem is not simply that journalists are failing to expose wrongdoing. It is that their ability to make the public care about what they expose is being weakened.

To understand the consequences of this, journalism must be viewed not merely as a profession, but as an essential component of democratic accountability. Journalists cannot legislate, prosecute, or govern. Their power lies elsewhere: in their ability to investigate, expose and inform. When this function is undermined, citizens lose access to the information necessary to scrutinise those who hold power. The press therefore acts as a bridge between government and the public, transforming information that might otherwise remain hidden into knowledge that citizens can use to make informed political decisions.

However, when a global superpower and traditional defender of civil liberties weakens its own protections for the press, it risks removing that critical buffer. The erosion of media freedom in established democracies can also provide a powerful example for governments elsewhere, potentially normalising the restriction of investigative reporting and leaving journalists worldwide increasingly exposed to intimidation, violence and state-sanctioned suppression.

Ultimately, the question is not whether journalists are perfect, nor whether every report they produce should be accepted without scrutiny. A free press depends precisely on the ability to question, challenge and correct the information we receive. The greater danger arises when those who hold power attempt to prevent that scrutiny from taking place at all. Watergate demonstrated the power journalism can have when it is allowed to investigate those at the top. The challenges facing journalists today remind us how fragile that power can become when the press itself becomes the target. If democracy depends upon an informed public, then protecting those who seek and report the truth is not simply a matter of protecting journalists. It is a matter of protecting the public’s ability to know, question and ultimately

hold power accountable.