We Must Condemn Political Violence and Those Who Exploit It
May we seize this terrible moment to chart a different path for media and democracy.
We want to welcome our hundreds of new subscribers. We’ve got some interesting and important new pieces coming out soon, but today wasn’t the day for those topics. At the close of this trying and terrifying week, we wanted to share this expanded version of Free Press’ reflections in response to the murder of Charlie Kirk and the danger of those trying to turn this moment into something even worse.
In a healthy democracy, there is a free flow of ideas. There is robust access to accurate news and information. Opposing voices are allowed to disagree without the threat of violence. Leaders avoid demagoguery and hateful vitriol.
But we are not in a healthy democracy, nor do we have the type of media environment that supports one.
Murder and political violence are wrong and must be condemned. Full stop. In Utah. In Colorado. In Minnesota. In Illinois. In Washington, D.C. Everywhere. Nothing anyone says justifies them being killed. At Free Press, we condemn the murder of Charlie Kirk — and all violence — in the strongest terms possible.
We must also condemn those — starting with the president — who are exploiting violence and tragedy to repress and endanger their political opponents or to excuse their own violence and threats.
No time for inconvenient truths
Before the alleged shooter was even identified — and while most politicians, including the living former presidents, were sharing condolences and calling for calm — President Trump declared: “We have radical left lunatics out there and we just have to beat the hell out of them.”
That same day, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau announced that consular officials will now get alerts on any foreign visitors who mock or rationalize Kirk’s death. Meanwhile, far-right extremists are actively trying to ruin people’s lives by doxxing them for expressing an opinion about Kirk. The far right is already calling for war and retribution.
David Gilbert
At the same time, the mythmaking has begun. Trump intends to posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and Republican lawmakers are pushing for a Kirk statue to be erected in Congress.
Too many major media outlets are failing to offer the context and clarity required to counteract the chaos. Instead, they’re quietly walking back unsubstantiated stories that endangered LGBTQIA+ people — and are firing or threatening their own staff for speaking critically of Kirk, a man who died tragically but spent his life fomenting hate.
Being horrified by Charlie Kirk’s murder doesn’t preclude us from also being horrified that he used his megaphone to spread hate and excuse violence, including the murder of protesters.
A wake-up call
We desperately need a media and tech system capable of getting to the truth, separating rumor and falsehood from fact. Instead, we have one — driven by the political agenda of the billionaires who control it — that thrives on exploiting our fears and pushing violence and hate when they’re not sanitizing those who traffic in hate and disinformation.
May we seize this terrible moment to chart a different path, to reject hate and extremism, to call on media-makers and political leaders to help foster a true participatory democracy that’s free of political violence.
May we demand a different kind of coverage that prioritizes facts over clicks, a different kind of tech that connects us rather than feeds on our fears, where going online doesn’t expose us to constant threats or trauma.
May we demonstrate a different kind of leadership, show a different kind of humanity, and make this the last time we have to write messages like this one.
Teamwork
This week, Free Press hosted the webinar “Funding the Future of Local News: State and Local Solutions in a Time of Crisis.” Check out the lively discussion Free Press Action’s Mike Rispoli had with Pennsylvania State Rep. Chris Rabb, Penn Professor Victor Pickard and Abigail Higgins of The 51st and the National Writers Union.
California is one of the states debating ways to fund local journalism. But our team has raised concerns about the California Civic Media Program, which is supposed to allocate $10 million in public funds, along with another $10 million from Google. In a state as large and diverse as California — where 25 percent of newspapers have closed since 2004 — this amount alone won’t come close to meeting communities’ needs.
And in a last-minute change with no public input, the program is being moved from the State Library’s control to the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), a shift that raises red flags.
“There are critical unanswered questions about this program; until those are resolved, the program’s ability to meet California’s urgent information needs remains in serious doubt,” Mike explained in a statement on Thursday. “Placing the program in GO-Biz — an economic-development office that’s closely tied to the governor — heightens the need for transparency, strong firewalls to protect independent journalism and a grantmaking process that is insulated from political interference.”
The kicker
“Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist. That, of all rights, is the dread of tyrants.” — Frederick Douglass
