This is just wrong

by J. Patrick Reilly

A free press is not a luxury in American democracy — it is a guardrail. When any president, former or current, singles out journalists or news outlets for retaliation, blacklists, or exclusion from access, it undermines a principle older than the nation itself: that power must be scrutinized, not shielded.

Reports that Donald Trump or his allies are circulating a “media hit list” — targeting outlets and journalists seen as unfriendly — strike at the heart of that principle. It is wrong, not just because it punishes reporters for doing their jobs, but because it signals a dangerous shift toward using governmental or political power as a weapon against watchdogs.

This isn’t about liking or disliking Trump. It’s about defending the idea that elected leaders don’t get to choose only the reporters who flatter them. Presidents from both parties have endured tough coverage. They have grumbled, complained, and pushed back. But they have also understood that an adversarial press is part of the deal — a sign of a healthy republic, not an act of personal hostility.

A so-called “hit list” turns that understanding upside down. It tells future administrations, candidates, and officeholders that the way to handle criticism is not to answer it, but to silence it. And it tells reporters that asking hard questions may now carry the threat of personal or professional consequences.

The damage doesn’t end with the newsroom. When leaders label certain media voices as enemies, millions of Americans see those journalists — and the facts they report — as illegitimate. Reality becomes partisan turf. That’s how misinformation spreads and how citizens lose the ability to agree on even the most basic truths.

There’s a practical danger as well. If politicians can successfully blacklist news organizations, public information becomes filtered, curated, and ultimately controlled. Presidents come and go. But precedents they set have a long afterlife. A tactic used today by one leader could easily be used tomorrow by another — perhaps against media voices you yourself rely on.

The press does not always get everything right. But the answer to flawed journalism is better journalism, not retaliatory lists. Democracy demands transparency, and transparency demands reporters who are free to challenge, question, and investigate the people in power.

America has never needed a muzzled press. It has needed a fearless one.

A “media hit list” is not just wrong — it is un-American.