The Trump administration’s feud with the Associated Press over the Gulf of Mexico may have larger, lasting consequences, according to authoritarianism expert and journalist Anne Applebaum.
“I do think it’s a kind of test, yes. Very often these tests are trivial. The test is whether you can make a news organization change one of its policies, and if you can make it change that policy, then maybe you can make it change other policies,” Applebaum told Terry Gross on Wednesday’s episode of NPR’s “Fresh Air.”
After taking office, Trump issued an executive order that renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.” Renaming landmarks and bodies of water in the United States is within a sitting president’s rights, though they have no control over what the rest of the world may call said landmarks. However, the AP has continued to call the body of water the Gulf of Mexico, citing the fact that the news organization has international readers as its reasoning. In retaliation, Trump has stated that the AP is banned from covering the Oval Office as a member of the press pool until the organization uses the term “Gulf of America.”
“All the other news organizations will be watching to see what AP does, and they will understand from AP’s decision how much freedom they have,” Applebaum explained. “It’s about creating a kind of chilling atmosphere and about making journalists think twice and making the owners think twice about decisions that they make and the language that they use.”
When asked about what her concerns for the future of the press are, Applebaum emphasized that she’s more worried about large media companies rather than individual reporters. She noted that most publications are owned by people who are involved in several other industries outside of media. So, for example, if a corporation that has a media vertical needs a government license to expand, they could be incentivized into reporting favorably about the ruling party to get what they want.
“This is one of the ways in which media in other illiberal democracies, or in other declining democracies, have been affected,” Applebaum said.
She then pointed to Jeff Bezos, who owns both Amazon and the Washington Post, as a good example as a news organization owner whose newspapers are “making some decisions that accommodate the Trump administration” while being invested in cloud computing and space travel, two areas that require government buy-in.
“Clearly he has mixed motives, and there are other media owners of whom you could say the same,” Applebaum added. “That, in a way, is the most dangerous thing, because one journalist can be replaced … but it’s when the companies begin to censor themselves, or begin to change the way they show the news because of their owners’ other interests.”
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