The Boston Globe asked newspapers across the country to take a coordinated response against Trump’s “war on the press.” The Globe has asked numerous publications to publish an editorial on Thursday, according to CNN.
“We propose to publish an editorial on August 16 on the dangers of the administration’s assault on the press and ask others to commit to publishing their own editorials on the same date,” The Globe said in the pitch.
More than 100 publications have enlisted to participate in these editorials as of Saturday, said The Globe’s deputy editorial page editor Marjorie Pritchard to CNN. She expects the numbers to grow even more in the next few days.
The Houston Chronicle, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Miami Herald and Denver Post are some of the larger publications that will take part in this movement, according to the Associated Press. Major media organizations like the American Society of News Editors and the New England Newspaper and Press Association have been aiding the effort, CNN reports.
“The response has been overwhelming,” Pritchard said. “We have some big newspapers, but the majority are from smaller markets, all enthusiastic about standing up to Trump’s assault on journalism.”
Each newspaper will write and publish their own editorial, which will allow each publication to include different perspectives and voices on the topic. Pritchard told newspapers to write about how Trump’s attacks on news media impacts their communities, The Hill reports.
Please join us in standing up for a free press. #EnemyOfNone. https://t.co/Sz8BSHzwiq
— marjorie pritchard (@marjoriepritch) August 12, 2018
“Our words will differ. But at least we can agree that such attacks are alarming,” said Pritchard in The Globe’s appeal.
In the past few weeks, there has been a recent intensity in Trump’s anti-media rhetoric. He has more often used dehumanizing language such as “enemy of the people.” He has also been speaking less to reporters, and has been limiting the opportunities for questions, according to The Boston Globe.
“What ever happened to the free press? Whatever happened to honest reporting?” Trump said as he pointed to several journalists covering the political rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on August 2nd. “They don’t report it. They only make up stories.”