Author George Orwell once said, “Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed; everything else is public relations.”
Unfortunately, too many American journalists have forgotten this maxim, and it does not portend well for our society.
Eugene Daniels, president of the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA), during Sunday’s dinner showed just how far the state of American journalism has sunk into obeisance to the government.
During an angry diatribe, Daniels appeared to lash out at President Donald Trump, a vocal critic of legacy media.
“We journalists are a lot of things. We are competitive and pushy. We are impatient, and sometimes we think we know everything. But we are also human,” he said. “We miss our families and significant life moments in service to this job. We care deeply about accuracy and take seriously the heavy responsibility of being stewards of the public's trust.”
Daniels continued: “What we are not is the opposition. What we are not is the enemy of the people. And what we are not is the enemy of the state.”
.@WHCA President @EugeneDaniels2: "We journalists are a lot of things. We are competitive and pushy. We are impatient and sometimes we think we know everything...What we are not is the opposition. What we are not is the enemy of people. What we are not is the enemy of the state." pic.twitter.com/m8FRmE4eK4
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 27, 2025
He thought this was a flex. Yes, it makes sense that he would claim the media is not the enemy of the people, an accusation Trump has made on many occasions. But that last line directly contradicts its predecessor: That journalists are not the enemy of the state.
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I wasn’t the only one who noticed this. RedState Managing Editor Jennifer Van Laar pointed out that “If politicians love me, I’m not doing my job.”
YES! If politicians love me, I'm not doing my job https://t.co/UJLRNpuugZ
— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) April 28, 2025
Van Laar has rankled the feathers of countless politicians who wish she had never heard of them. That’s because she’s a journalist, and being a journalist means being an enemy of the state.
Journalist Ida B. Wells, who exposed the cruelty of the lynching of Black Americans and the government’s complicity in these atrocities, once said, “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”
Local and state governments often targeted Wells for exposing their malfeasance. She was constantly surveilled, threatened, and smeared by government officials in league with powerful groups like the Ku Klux Klan.
When she investigated lynchings and other killings, they tried to block her access to records or intimidated witnesses to stop her from gathering evidence.
If there is anything a corrupt government official hates, it’s the mission of a true journalist. In short, we are supposed to oppose the state.
Now, you might ask: “But Jeff, these people constantly attack President Trump and other Republican officials.”
You would be right. But the question is: Why? Are they trying to expose corruption in the GOP? Or perhaps they believe Trump and his allies are working to shrink the size of government, the entity most of these journalists seek to protect at all costs?
My money’s on the latter.
When President Joe Biden was in office, the media didn’t launch any serious attacks against him until it was apparent he could no longer serve their purpose. Even when his age and cognitive issues were on full display, they chose to lie about it rather than speak truth to power as a true journalist would.
Being a journalist means challenging the government regardless of which party is in power. When the state violates the rights of the people, the media’s job is to call it out – at least that’s what it was in days past.
The truth is that any journalist who is not an enemy of the state is an enemy of the people. Major legacy media outlets have shown over and over again that their ultimate allegiance is to the government, not the people – so what should we call them?
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