The Republican-led Senate passed a resolution affirming its commitment to protecting freedom of speech and condemned recent attacks on journalists and members of the media. In a resolution brought forth by Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, lawmakers affirmed that the press is not the enemy of the people, which passed by unanimous consent.
More than 300 U.S. newspapers run editorials on Thursday that promote press freedom to counter Donald Trump's attacks on the media, in a move coordinated by The Boston Globe. President Trump has often attacked some media reports as “fake news” and called journalists the “enemy of the people,” and “very dangerous and sick,” in a tweet earlier this month.
Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump's chief White House strategist, went on a tirade against the media during an interview with The New York Times. Bannon, who spearheaded the far-right website Breitbart News until he took over as Trump's campaign CEO in August, lambasted the press and said it had been humiliated by the results of the 2016 election.
Billionaire Warren Buffett's company is making another foray into US newspapers, agreeing to buy 63 newspapers from Media General Inc for 142 million dollars.