The press is a fearsome thing. Ask any autocrat, dictator, or occupying power. Barred from covering the horror in Gaza, the foreign press can only report from Tel Aviv or Jerusalem while the occupying forces systematically destroys reporters in Gaza under spurious claims that they are part of Hamas, which also did not like independent reporters.
Here in the United States, the press hasn’t quite faced the same pressure, AP barred in February because it refused to use the term “Gulf of America.” The April ruling by a Trump appointed judge reinstated AP, but then the White House banned all wire services to get past the judge’s ruling, and in June an appeals court reinstated the ban. One could claim there is a difference between us and Putin who either imprisons dissident journalists or has them assassinated.
The Senate vote on PBS/NPR has serious implications for states like Alaska and Maine where local stations provide the only link with the outside world. Autocrats don’t like the idea that there is independent reporting. Other rural communities will feel this loss and should ask their elected representatives why they voted the way they did. Destroying independent journalism is important for any autocrat, dictator, or occupying power.
Prayer for the Day
We know that you have searched us and known us, O God,
And we are unable to pretend that we are something we are not;
Forgive us our despair, our hopelessness, and our fear,
For we know that they close the doors to living faithfully.
Awaken us by your Holy Spirit to a fuller dimension of faith
Leading us to strive for justice in our Nation.
In the name of the One who is our Model of faithful living,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Palestinian journalists are being threatened, directly targeted and murdered by Israeli forces, and are arbitrarily detained and tortured in retaliation for their work. Media infrastructure in Gaza is systematically destroyed, and censorship has been tightened throughout the West Bank and Israel.
Committee to Protect Journalists, statement September 1, 2025
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
U.S Constitution, Amendment I
Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness, you that seek the Lord,
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
And to the quarry from which you were dug.
Isaiah 51: 1