Listen Here
Column by Victoria Hansen
hansenv@findlay.edu
I wish that I could say that I was shocked when FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said that broadcasters that did not follow the party line on the war in Iran would lose their licenses if they did not correct their course and get in line.
But I’m not.
The attacks have ramped up this year. One of the first signs of it for me was in February, when Carr announced the Pledge America Campaign, which calls for broadcasters to air “patriotic, pro-America content that celebrates the American journey and inspires its citizens by highlighting the historic accomplishments of this great nation from our founding through the Trump Administration today.”
While previous attacks, like the one on Jimmy Kimmel, showed the FCC’s suppression of opposing viewpoints, this announcement was different. It signified that the only way to celebrate America’s 250th birthday would be through all-out propaganda. That going against the administration was not just against the administration but anti-American altogether.
In my editorials in the past, I have butted heads with the Trump administration, but I am not anti-American. I earned the Congressional Award’s Gold Medal in high school, the highest award for youth in the United States, and the only honor for youth awarded by the federal government. My parents taught me that loving your country does not mean that you have to cover for it or excuse everything that it does.
But in the eyes of the current administration, if you do not approve of every action of the government, you hate America. There is no line between loving the country, loving the people, and loving the administration and approving of its actions. The president has declared challenging the official narrative as treason on X, saying that “those Media Outlets that generated it should be brought up on Charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information!”
For journalists, this week is Sunshine Week, a week where we celebrate having an open government and freedom of information in America. I’m supposed to be celebrating an open government as the president declares reporting on the government’s actions as treason.
The past year has felt like a refresher of my middle school civics class, being reminded of all of the freedoms and rights that I have as an American citizen. I am reminded of all of these rights as I see each one of them being threatened by this administration. I am not surprised, but I am crushed. This Sunshine Week, the government continues its campaign to eclipse the press.
