With the increase of restrictions and pushback the press in the U.S. is facing, it is important that we look at the history of the press and understand its important role in holding the government accountable.

In this episode I walk you through the history of journalism and the different crackdowns we have seen through time and around the world.

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To give feedback on this episode or to recommend an episode topic you can email me directly at mackenzieatkinson@thatspoliticspodcast.com.

Sources:

History:

• Gershon, L. (2016). When did the media become a “watchdog?” JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/when-did-the-media-become-a-watchdog/.
• Communications: Media as government watchdog. (2026). https://libguides.francis.edu/c.php?g=182134&p=4371035#s-lg-box-13600553.
• Milton, J. (1644). Areopagitica.Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/608.
• Grant, T. Journalism. (2026). Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/journalism.
• UNESCO. (2023). The Swedish freedom of the press ordinance of 1766: The world’s first legislation guaranteeing free communication of information. United Nations. https://www.unesco.org/en/memory-world/swedish-freedom-press-ordinance-1766-worlds-first-legislation-guaranteeing-free-communication.
• Norman, J. (2026). Avvisi: Hand-written newsletters conveying political, military and economic news. https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=3609.
• History of Newspapers. (n.d.) The Texas A&M University System Open Digital Publishing. https://odp.library.tamu.edu/mediacommunication2e/chapter/history-of-newspapers/.
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington D.C. (n.d.). The press in the third reich. Holocaust Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-press-in-the-third-reich.
• The Carlsbad Decrees. (n.d.) Deutschland Museum. https://www.deutschlandmuseum.de/en/history/calendar/1819-09-20-the-carlsbad-decrees/.
• Imperial Press Law. (1874). German History in Documents and Images. https://germanhistorydocs.org/en/forging-an-empire-bismarckian-germany-1866-1890/imperial-press-law-may-7-1874.
• Carpenter, K. (2019). The Six Acts and censorship of the press. History of Parliament. https://historyofparliament.com/2019/08/20/the-six-acts-censorship-of-press/.
• The Peterloo Massacre. (n.d.). The University of Manchester Library. https://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/services/imaging-services/projects/peterloo/.
• Alien and Sedition Acts. (1798). National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/alien-and-sedition-acts.
• Bomboy, S. (2025). A look at early landmark free press censorship cases. National Constitution Center. https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/a-look-at-early-landmark-free-press-censorship-cases.
• Bomboy, S. (2024). On this day, an early victory for the free press. National Constitution Center.
• Espionage Act of 1917 and Sedition Act of 1918. (1917-1918). National Constitution Center. https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/historic-document-library/detail/espionage-act-of-1917-and-sedition-act-of-1918-1917-1918.
• Communication: News & censorship. (n.d.). PBS The War. https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-war/communication-news-censorship.
• America’s war coverage. (2001). The News Media & The Law (pg. 8). Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. https://www.rcfp.org/journals/the-news-media-and-the-law-fall-2001/americas-war-coverage/.

Modern news:

• Debusmann Jr, B., Matza, M. (2026). Trump says he is banning CNN and Politico from White House. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6e30580jqjpo.
• Weissert, W. (2026). Trump says he is bannign CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-trump-says-he-is-banning-cnn-msnow-and-politico-from-the-white-house.
• Houghtaling, E. Q. (2026). Trump’s ban on White House press backfires immediately. The New Republic. https://newrepublic.com/post/215671/donald-trump-media-ban-backfires-microphones.
• News networks refuse to provide pool coverage of White House after CNN was banned. (2026). NBC News YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR6FL4TGysk.
• Bauder, D. (2025). The Associated Press, banned from White House press pool, renews request to court for reinstatement. The Associated Press. https://www.ap.org/media-center/ap-in-the-news/2025/the-associated-press-banned-from-white-house-press-pool-renews-request-to-court-for-reinstatement/.
• Gerstein J., Cheney, K. (2026). News outlets Trump banned from White House file lawsuit. Politico. https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/21/news-outlets-trump-banned-from-white-house-announce-lawsuit-01085995.
• Hegseth, P. (2025). Memorandum for resident and visiting press assigned to the Pentagon.
• Vile, J. R. (2025-2026). Pentagon rules for the press, 2025-2026. Free SPeech Center at Middle Tennessee State University. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/pentagon-rules-for-the-press/.
• Scialla, C. (2026). The digial media oligarchy: Who owns online news? FAIR. https://fair.org/home/the-digital-media-oligarchy-who-owns-online-news/.
• Index of US maintream media ownership. (2021). The Future of Media Project. Harvard University. https://futureofmedia.hsites.harvard.edu/index-us-mainstream-media-ownership.
• White House Instagram Post. https://www.instagram.com/p/Ddt0hDWDsSq/?stkn=MXhhZ204ZXAxMXF3Mw==.
• De Coster et al. v. Amazon.com, Inc. (2023). https://www.amazonantitrustlitigation.com/en.
• Yousif, N., Halpert, M. (2025). Bezos focuses Washington Post opinion section on free markets and liberties. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y44gw5gpro.
• Johnson, T. (2025). Jeff Bezos exerts more control of Washington Post Opinion, says focus will be on “personal liberties and free markets”. Deadline. https://deadline.com/2025/02/jeff-bezos-washington-post-opinion-1236302292/.
• Collins, E. (2016). Murdoch nudges Bloomberg to mount presidential run. Politico. https://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/rupert-murdoch-michael-bloomberg-2016-run-218281.
• Robertson, K., Grynbaum, M. M. (2025). Lachlan Murdoch, the meida prince who would be king. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/business/media/lachlan-murdoch-fox-news-corp.html
• Abramowitz, M. J. (2017). Press Freedom’s dark horizon. Freedom House. https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2017/press-freedoms-dark-horizon.