Research Shows Trump’s Media Attacks Continue a Longstanding Pattern of Government Suppression
- tmanon1
- Jul 25
- 2 min read
Recent cuts to public media has left many stations exposed to layoffs and even closures. In an op-ed for the Objective, Media 2070 points to research that demonstrates the impact of this move but also how Trump isn't the first to target critical news infrastructure.
By: MMM Editorial Team
A new article by journalist and advocate Joe Torres, published by The Objective, makes a bold but necessary claim: Donald Trump’s war on the media is not an outlier—it’s part of a historical pattern of structural media suppression in the United States.
Torres, co-creator of Media 2070 has studied and conducted deep historical research on race and U.S. media for more than 15 years and he draws on decades of policy analysis to show that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has often been used to marginalize dissent and reinforce white supremacy—especially by restricting media ownership and representation for Black communities.
This context is crucial. Without it, today’s media attacks look like isolated culture wars instead of what they truly are: extensions of a systemic, government-enabled effort to silence critique and maintain control of the narrative.
Trump’s anti-media tactics aren’t new. Presidents from Nixon to Reagan also used the FCC and other mechanisms to punish media that challenged them.
Media regulation has always been racialized. The FCC routinely denied licenses to Black applicants throughout the 20th century, effectively shutting out Black voices from broadcast power.
We need media reparations—not just protection. Torres and Media 2070 argue that fair coverage alone is not enough. Communities harmed by media policies must be part of rebuilding and reshaping the system.
This isn't just about history. It’s about what kind of media future we’re building—and who gets to access it.
Public media is one of the few remaining sources of free, high-quality information that isn’t locked behind a paywall. From PBS to community radio, public broadcasters provide accessible news, especially in rural areas, urban neighborhoods, and places where reliable political coverage is hard to come by. And while people often focus on outlets like Fox News when talking about free access, it’s public media that has the greatest potential to inform without corporate or partisan spin—if it's protected.
So when the FCC is weaponized or weakened, it's not just journalists who are affected. It’s all of us. It’s our access to information and thus our ability to stay informed, vote with confidence, and understand the systems shaping your daily life. This article serves to reveal and spotlight typically invisible systems. At Mañón Media, we often work with visionaries who are pioneering new ways of thinking—storytelling platforms, justice-centered PR, community-rooted communication—but those ideas don’t always target obvious parts of society. Our focus is to educate all of us along the way so that any change sought is truly grounded in the needs of the people.
📖 Read the full article here:"Reckoning with the FCC's History of Structural Racism" – The Objective
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