The Rise of American State Media
American state media is a major concern for advocates of the 1st amendment. The Constitution’s framers created the First Amendment as a revolutionary guarantee of free speech and a free press. They explicitly forbade the government from silencing voices or controlling the flow of information.
The founders didn’t foresee a future where the state flooded public spaces with its own messaging through sheer volume.
Today, America is facing an unprecedented transformation of state media, not through law, but through ownership. Donald Trump’s return to political power in 2024 comes with a dangerous first. He is a President-elect who owns a publicly traded media company, Trump Media & Technology Group. This isn’t just another outlet. It’s a privatized state media empire with Trump himself at the helm. It is reshaping the relationship between government, media, and the American people in front of our eyes.
What “American State Media” Looked Like Before Social Media
Before the digital age, direct communication from the government to the people was limited. The White House press office issued statements, and the public could tune into C-SPAN for a transparent, unfiltered view of government proceedings. These outlets served a functional purpose, not a performative one, and maintained a narrowly defined role.
However, social media changed everything. Government agencies like the White House, CDC, and Pentagon created accounts to distribute information instantly and directly to the public. While this doesn’t technically violate the Constitution—there’s no law against the government having a Twitter account—it introduced a troubling dynamic:
- Volume and Noise: Government messaging became a firehose, dominating public feeds.
- Blurred Lines: Official announcements and propaganda look identical on social media, eroding trust in information.
By leveraging the scale of these platforms, the government became an active content producer, overshadowing citizens and private journalistic institutions. But even that shift pales in comparison to what Donald Trump is creating now.
Trump, Truth Social, and the Dangerous First
Donald Trump is no longer just a politician. He is the owner and operator of Truth Social, a publicly traded media platform controlled through his company, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG).
This is unprecedented for three key reasons:
- Personal Ownership: In authoritarian states like China or North Korea, media is “state-owned,” but it isn’t personally owned by the head of state. Trump’s Truth Social combines government messaging with private enterprise, creating a media empire explicitly tied to his political power.
- Monetization of State Media: Truth Social isn’t just a platform—it’s a profit engine. Citizens could feel compelled to invest in Trump’s media company, sacrificing their constitutional freedoms to “own” part of the President’s megaphone.
- Decentralized Amplification: Truth Social’s user base is small, but Trump’s partnership with Elon Musk (via Twitter/X) and his network of unknown affiliate accounts create a centralized messaging ecosystem unmatched in American history.
In short, Donald Trump is on track to become the first American President to privatize state media, using it to directly control messaging, suppress competition, and reshape the public sphere.
Even worse, this isn’t temporary—Trump’s media empire could pass to his children, allies, or future Presidents.
Trump’s Lawsuits and the Media’s Dilemma
Trump’s media ambitions go beyond Truth Social. He wants to unilaterally control American state media. His lawsuits against Disney/ABC and CBS/Paramount are seen as defamation cases, but they reveal something more sinister:
- In reality, Trump isn’t just the subject of their reporting—he’s a competitor in the media space.
- These lawsuits function as anticompetitive harassment, attacking the credibility and financial stability of publicly traded media companies.
This creates a conflict journalists struggle to articulate: Donald Trump, the political figure, is also Donald Trump, the media owner. He competes for attention, credibility, and trust in the public sphere. By suing competing outlets, he blurs the line between defamation claims and outright business warfare.
For independent media voices who often dismiss the “corporate press” as the root of all evil, nonetheless, this should serve as a wake-up call. While the corporate press undeniably has its problems, consider this: a future where the only remaining media outlet is Donald Trump’s privatized, state-owned network would be far worse.
The Editorial-Advertising Dilemma
Traditional media operates under a principle known as the “Chinese Wall”—a strict separation between editorial content and advertising revenue. This firewall protects journalistic independence and prevents financial incentives from influencing reporting. Something has to be done before American state media is a crushing reality we can’t escape. This separation between the editorial and advertising departments ties their hands.
- How can traditional outlets compete against a President with a centralized, monetized media empire?
- How can they counter Trump’s narrative without compromising their own standards?
The media must confront this challenge head-on. They cannot afford to dismiss Trump’s privatized state media as just another business venture, nor can they ignore the anticompetitive tactics behind his lawsuits. If they don’t act, we risk losing what little remains of a free and independent press.
A Dangerous Precedent
Donald Trump’s ownership of Truth Social is not just another story—it’s a dangerous precedent. For the first time, a sitting President will control a privatized, state-operated media empire, with no accountability, no transparency, and no competitors.
If this trend continues, future Presidents—Republican or Democrat—will inherit not just the power of the office, but the power of a personally-owned media network. This isn’t just state media; it’s a new form of authoritarian control, and it poses a direct threat to the First Amendment.
Ultimately, the corporate press must recognize this for what it is. Meanwhile, independent media voices must rethink their knee-jerk distrust of traditional outlets. Above all, citizens must understand that freedom of the press doesn’t mean freedom for one man to own the press.
If we don’t act now, Donald Trump’s state media empire won’t just overshadow the First Amendment—it will replace it.
