The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah took on president-elect Donald Trump once again, this time focussing specifically on the soon-to-be President’s recent press conference.

At the press conference, Trump denied CNN’s Jim Acosta a single question, calling the media organisation “fake news.” Acosta had attempted to ask a question following Trump’s public outlash at CNN and Buzzfeed for breaking an unconfirmed story regarding the real estate mogul’s exploits in Russia. Buzzfeed had published, in full, dossiers that claimed that Russia had video footage implicating Trump in objectionable financial and personal exploits. In connection with the above, Trump had called Buzzfeed a “failing pile of garbage” and accused CNN for peddling fake news, going on to deny Acosta a question.

“Wow, welcome to the next four years,” Noah said, after playing a clip of the incident. “You know what? Honestly, that was one of the most frightening moments of today’s presser for me. Because, in America, the press is supposed to be a check on the president, not the other way around,” Noah correctly pointed out.



“And you realize this is essentially the first step in the authoritarian tango,” Noah said. “That’s what you do. You shut down one news organization by alleging that it’s all fake. And then if you get away with it, you can shut down another news network, and another news network, shut them down, shut them down.” All that will be left then, Noah concluded, is news that Trump agrees with.

This perhaps is relevant to us in India and the world over, where the news is increasingly being forced into toeing a defined line. There are several mechanisms for achieving this. In America, it might be in discrediting and outrightly refusing to allow certain organisations questions. Elsewhere, it’s in the form of corporate control, arrests and harassment, and bans imposed on media channels and publications that don’t necessarily peddle the government’s version of events.

While Trump shouting down a reporter and denying him a single question at a press conference may be a very obvious example of the above, efforts to arrest journalists under false pretexts, stop publication of newspapers in conflict zones, or impose bans on a news channel that is known to raise questions are all examples of forcing the media into a predetermined pro-government line.

Noah’s words therefore hold relevance the world over. The media is supposed to be a check on the government, not the other way around. The fact that we are increasingly letting the roles reverse is one of the most worrying trends of modern politics.

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SHIV NAIDU