THE responsibility on mass media has grown manifold at a time when the world is passing through an extended period of political flux. As state institutions drift from core principles, and modern technologies complicate the job of transmitting accurate, independent information, the media must fight to assert its role. It is not a comfortable existence, and it is not something that can be wished away. It requires concerted action. Consider what has happened in the US. Last Friday, US President Donald Trump expelled three news organisations, CNN, MS NOW and Politico, from the White House, citing “really just [their] cumulative stories over the last two years”. The decision came as a surprise to many within his own administration. He then doubled down, calling it “an assault on fake news, something that has grown like cancer in our beloved United States of America”. Thankfully, the larger industry saw the attempt at censorship for what it was.

In a rare show of unity, the five top broadcasters in the US announced on Monday that they were boycotting White House events and pool coverage. “The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information […] No administration should restrict a news organisation because it objects to its reporting,” ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC said in a joint statement. The White House has since launched Trump TV, in what appears to be an admission that it would rather manufacture narratives than accept independent scrutiny of its actions. The boycott is unlikely to force the American president to change his conduct; people who see the press as a cancer can hardly be expected to be reasonable. But that is not the point. What matters is that the media in that country have shown that the industry can act firmly and in concert on shared principles. Perhaps their counterparts here should also take note. Accepting limitations on the mandate of the press is surrender, and surrender is not acceptable.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2026