To the editor: In discussing President Trump’s conflicts with the press, it could be extra related to check his actions, not with earlier presidents’, however with the ways of these he admires reminiscent of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (“‘60 Minutes,’ the Associated Press, an Iowa newspaper: Trump’s attacks on the media reach new heights,” March 4). There isn’t a free press in Russia or Turkey as a result of these leaders have adopted the dictator playbook of Josef Stalin and others. The place are we headed?
Judy Donais Hulme, Hermosa Seashore
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To the editor: It’s laughable that this text would state: “The information media, which prides itself on being People’ watchdog…” People haven’t relied on the information media for years. We have been lied to about Joe Biden’s cognitive decline, about Russian collusion and so many different topics. The information media was complicit in withholding the reality, and the general public is sick of it. Trump isn’t attacking the media; he’s holding it accountable, and the media doesn’t prefer it.
Steve Tye, Diamond Bar
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To the editor: President Trump’s accusations in opposition to CNN and his denigration of journalists as “enemies of the individuals” jogged my memory of what Yuval Noah Harari wrote in his 2024 e-book, “Nexus”:
“The commonest methodology sturdy males use to undermine democracy is to assault self-correcting mechanisms, one after the other, usually starting with the courts and the media. The everyday sturdy man both deprives courts of their powers or packs them together with his loyalists and seeks to shut all impartial media retailers whereas constructing his personal omnipresent propaganda machine.”
Trump not solely denounces numerous media retailers for what he calls “faux information,” he additionally continuously criticizes judges and challenges judicial oversight of the manager department. It’s certainly scary how fragile democracy is and the way simply it may be threatened.
Vivien Irving, Huntington Seashore
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To the editor: There’s nothing new with Trump’s assault technique on legacy (respectable) media. That is an age-old tactic of autocrats to kneecap any potential opposition to their energy and management. This was a favourite ploy of fascist leaders a century in the past.
Bob Teigan, Santa Susana
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To the editor: I’m begging information retailers to battle in opposition to the short-term ease of paying off the president reasonably than standing up for the essential obligation of reporting the information and saving our democracy from being cowed into submitting to threats from this administration. Take it to court docket. Freedom of the press is to be defended by the Structure! Please discover the obligation and backbone to battle again!
Rita Skinner, Riverside
