Silencing the Witnesses: How the Global War on Journalism is Killing Democracy

From the halls of Washington DC to the ruins of Gaza, journalism is under attack. Governments are targeting reporters, political leaders are discrediting the press, and truth-telling is becoming an increasingly dangerous—and deadly—endeavor. In Gaza alone, at least 214 journalists have been killed since the outbreak of war in October 2023, making it the deadliest place in the world for media workers. But even in democracies once proud of their press freedom, the pressure is mounting.

United States: “Trump’s War on the Press” and the Erosion of Accountability

In the United States, the First Amendment still offers legal protections for the press, but the reality is far darker. Under President Donald Trump, the relationship between the media and the government deteriorated to unprecedented lows. Trump’s repeated branding of journalists as “enemies of the people” and his labeling of critical coverage as “fake news” normalized hostility toward the press and emboldened his supporters to harass and threaten reporters. As a Harvard Kennedy School report details, Trump’s rhetoric and actions marked an all-out “war on journalism,” likened to a new era of McCarthyism—one that treats the media not merely as adversaries but as existential threats to the state.

Beyond rhetoric, Trump’s administration engaged in concrete efforts to weaken journalistic independence. The Justice Department secretly seized phone records and emails from reporters at The Washington Post, CNN, and The New York Times as part of leak investigations—raising grave concerns about the criminalization of journalism and government intimidation of national security reporters.

Trump also aggressively targeted whistleblowers and threatened legal action against media outlets that published investigative stories critical of his administration. These tactics, combined with a relentless disinformation campaign, have contributed to a broader crisis of trust between the media and the public—one that undermines the very foundation of democratic accountability.

With fewer resources and increasing pressure to prioritize sensationalism over substance, many news organizations have been forced to cut back on critical reporting. This erosion of local and investigative journalism has not only endangered the press but has also weakened its role as a watchdog over those in power, allowing for unchecked corruption and abuses. Over the past two decades, more than 2,100 local newsrooms have closed, leading to the rise of “news deserts.” Investigative reporting has been particularly hit hard, as shown by the decline in investigative journalism, further diminishing the press’s ability to hold powerful entities accountable.

And while Trump’s attacks have been uniquely aggressive, the erosion of press freedom has not been confined to one administration. The Obama-era prosecution of whistleblowers under the Espionage Act and the Biden administration’s continued push to extradite Julian Assange are part of a broader pattern of state efforts to control the flow of information—particularly when that information implicates the powerful.

Gaza: Reporting Under Fire, Literally

If press freedom is being undermined in the U.S., it is being systematically dismantled in Gaza. Nowhere else has the cost of journalism been more immediate or catastrophic. Journalists there face not only an unprecedented death toll but also communications blackouts, targeted airstrikes on homes and media offices, direct threats, and the relentless psychological strain of reporting under siege.

Journalists and their families are increasingly being targeted by the Israeli Defense Forces. According to the Reporters Without Borders, the deliberate attacks on journalists and their families represent a disturbing pattern aimed at silencing independent reporting from within a war zone. The killings of journalists do not just silence individuals—they eliminate independent verification and deprive the global public of credible, frontline reporting during a humanitarian catastrophe.

While the Israeli government denies deliberately targeting media workers, over 130 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in less than a year—a pattern the organization calls an “orchestrated media blackout.” The CPJ has documented troubling patterns of fatalities and is investigating whether these actions amount to war crimes.

Why It Matters

What connects the United States and Gaza is not the degree of repression but the normalization of attacks on journalism. In the U.S., it is the legal, rhetorical, and financial dismantling of journalism’s institutional foundations. In Gaza, it is the physical elimination of voices who can bear witness. In both places, the result is the same: a less informed public and a more unaccountable power structure.

A functioning democracy depends on a free press—not one that is tolerated only when convenient, but one that is protected even when it is uncomfortable. When journalists are killed, criminalized, or driven out of work, it isn’t just the media that suffers. It’s the public. It’s the truth.