When President Donald Trump first called the media "enemy of the people" last year, it elicited outrage. Arizona Republican Senator Jeff Flake said it was an example of an "unprecedented" and "unwarranted" White House assault on the free press.
The second, third and fourth times Mr Trump used the phrase, it barely merited a shrug. Such is the unique talent of this president - an ability to take an action or opinion that once seemed outrageous and turn it into a new kind of normal.
Even if the line doesn't generate headlines anymore, however, journalists still take note. And when a newsroom in Maryland was sprayed with bullets just a few weeks ago, the perils of the profession - even in an established Western democracy, and with or without the president's instigation - were put in stark relief.
New York Times publisher AG Sulzberger clearly wanted to drive this point home in his previously secret meeting with Mr Trump nine days ago.
It’s a man looking over his family during the British Raj in India. There were many cases of cannibalism and he feared someone would try to kill and eat his children or wife. I acknowledge this is a difficult picture to look at— but I included it for a reason. Many people in the US/West aren’t even aware of the terrible famines that swept through India and which are comparable to the holocaust in deaths (an estimated ~30 million people have died in famines in India). This was taken from the Great Famine of 1876–1878, which was far worse than the infamous Bengal Famine. It was caused by a crop failure/drought and was exacerbated by the crown’s export of wheat abroad. In total, 5.6 - 9 million people died (it’s hard to get exact figures). And within huge statistics like these, are forgotten stories. These are individuals and families, who slowly faced the despair of knowing they had no food and would have no food in the near future. They faced the horror of knowing there was
Comments