Media leadership unity in defying Trump’s assault on free speech: standing tall against historic comparisons

Benjamin Franklin said in his first newspaper in 1722, “without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom, and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech.”

Similarly, this week, New York Times publisher A. G. Sulzberger warned political and business leaders to launch urgent defenses of independent journalism.

On this 250th anniversary of America’s founding, there is no right more deeply cherished and foundational than the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which is unambiguous: “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” As we see massive assaults on the media play out every day, we should be proud of our media leaders for standing up for the First Amendment — and increasingly having each other’s backs. 

Over the last week alone, ...