Billionaires Are Gutting the Press While Trump Targets Reporters
The Washington Post layoffs and Don Lemon’s arrest aren’t isolated shocks; they’re warning signs of authoritarianism and a call to invest in fearless independent journalism now.
This week’s shocking layoffs at The Washington Post right on the heels of the Trump administration’s targeting and arrest of independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort are not unrelated stories. They both are vivid illustrations of a terrifying trend emerging at the intersection of media and American democracy: concentrated power deciding who gets to inform the public, and who gets punished for trying.
The criminalization of reporting
Last weekend, the Trump administration took the unprecedented step of arresting independent journalist Don Lemon for simply doing his job. Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents in Los Angeles days after he covered an anti-ICE protest at a Minnesota church, and now faces federal civil-rights charges tied to his coverage of that demonstration.
It’s important that we call this what it is: an unprecedented assault on the First Amendment, and a clear attempt to intimidate journalists who document dissent against Trump’s policies. This is nothing more than Trump using the machinery of the state to send a message that reporting on protest, abuse, or state violence can carry criminal consequences.
What’s happening at the Washington Post
On Wednesday, the Washington Post laid off one-third of its workforce, cutting more than 300 journalists and shrinking its newsroom dramatically. Entire sections were gutted, including sports, books, much of local coverage, and significant pieces of its international reporting.
These cuts were ordered under the direction of Trump-allied billionaire owner Jeff Bezos, who has already overseen years of hiring freezes, editorial shifts, and buyouts as the paper lost an estimated $100 million in 2024. It’s another enormous blow to one of the country’s most important accountability institutions, especially at a time of rising authoritarianism and rampant disinformation, but not a surprising one.
Unfortunately, many of us saw this coming: The Post’s collapse is both something that has been underway since Bezos killed the newspaper’s endorsement of Kamala Harris for President just before it was set to publish in 2024, and is part of a broader pattern of billionaire and corporate owners treating core media institutions like short-term financial assets instead of infrastructure serving the public good. Years of consolidation have placed control of news in fewer hands, eroding local reporting, investigative capacity, and the diversity of voices that democracies need to function. The Post isn’t alone, this is happening everywhere.
When a single ultra-wealthy owner (whose $500 million yacht could make up for 5 years of company losses), can unilaterally decide to decimate a newsroom, the result is entire communities losing watchdogs over government, elections, and other institutions. And in this key authoritarian moment for American democracy, every newsroom weakened by cost-cutting becomes another vacuum that bad actors will exploit- especially with regards to the paper’s cuts to their local metro desk reporting.
Two sides of the same threat
These stories, taken together, represent two sides of the same threat. First, billionaires and financiers are draining resources from legacy outlets, shrinking newsrooms and narrowing coverage to whatever best serves their bottom line or political comfort. Legacy reporters then are forced to go independent, building small operations for reporting, investigations, and analysis. Now, the president and his allies are locking up and attempting to criminalize independent journalism and reporters that challenge their power with the intention of instilling fear in the rest of us who seek to hold the administration accountable through honest, brave reporting.
The intended result is a media landscape where fewer reporters are left to cover more corruption, more abuse, and more attacks on our basic rights. Meanwhile, those who keep reporting anyway face escalating personal and legal risk. That’s exactly how authoritarian projects work: shrink the information ecosystem, punish dissenters, and teach everyone else to look away.
There is another way forward, but it won’t happen on its own. We need to massively expand support for fearless, independent, and values-driven journalism at every level: local newsrooms rooted in their communities, national outlets willing to challenge both corporate and political power, and new digital creators reaching audiences where they are online. That means philanthropists, small-dollar donors, and everyday readers choosing to back newsrooms that are accountable to the public, not to billionaires or politicians. It means investing in reporters who will stay on key stories when the cameras move on, and in local journalists who will keep covering the types of stories and communities outlets like the Washington Post are now walking away from. I cannot stress enough that we cannot continue to do this work, or expand our accountability reporting, without philanthropic support, especially in this political environment. The other side understands this deeply, and it’s long overdue that our deepest pocketed friends and foundations who want to preserve our democracy catch up fast.
- Tara
Gloves Off: Minnesota U.S. Senate Candidates
For this week’s episode of Gloves Off, I had the opportunity to interview both of the leading Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan and Rep. Angie Craig. You can watch the full episode below:
You’re Invited: MAHA and the Midterms
Join COURIER and 314 Action on March 12 for MAHA & the Midterms: How Trump and RFK Jr.’s Agenda Costs Americans. This live conversation will examine how political choices are reshaping healthcare access ahead of the midterms. We’ll break down how Trump, RFK Jr., and the broader MAHA agenda are impacting public health, who benefits, and what’s at stake for families across the country.
Featured Speakers include: Hank Green, Dr. Mary Trump, U.S. Representative Lauren Underwood, Shaughnessy Naughton, and Dr. Vin Gupta.
What I’m reading this week
MAP: All 23 industrial warehouses ICE wants to turn into detention ‘death camps’ (COURIER, ⅔)
“Plans are underway to double the detention capacity of the Trump administration’s federal police force by converting massive, industrial warehouses unsuitable for people to live in into detention centers. COURIER has independently verified the location of 23 mass detention campsites that have been surveyed by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
‘The DOJ Cannot Be Trusted’: A Top Democrat Unloads on the Epstein Files Saga (POLITICO, ⅖)
“The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee discusses the Epstein files, accountability for the Trump administration — and what happens if Democrats take the House this fall.”
The Media Malpractice That Sent America Tumbling Into Trumpism (TNR, 1/31)
“We are now one year into Donald Trump’s second term, and something strange is happening in political media. A lot of people who spent years insisting that the so-called “alarmists” were being hysterical have started, tentatively, to admit that maybe they got it wrong.”
Dear media, stop acting like Trump means what he says (Margaret Sullivan/American Crisis, ⅔)
“Whether over “a deal” on Greenland or a “pivot” on ICE, we need far more skepticism.”
Breaking Up with Billionaire-Owned Media (Pressing Issues, ⅖)
“In this new Gilded Age, the Musks, Zuckerbergs, Ellisons and Bezoses haven’t just wrecked the news industry while enabling tyrants. They’ve crushed our collective imagination that we can have and deserve something better. They’ve made alternatives feel impossible. But they aren’t.”