Journalist Lionel Barber warns of pressure on media in the US — Daily Maverick
In the United States, independent media face economic, technological, legal and political pressure, while the actions of President Donald Trump’s second administration pose a particular threat to press freedom. This assessment was expressed by British journalist and former Financial Times editor Lionel Barber in a column for Daily Maverick.
The author writes that the Trump administration is filing multibillion-dollar lawsuits against news organizations, trying to identify information sources through subpoenas, and publicly criticizing journalists and editors. Barber notes that courts have so far protected the media, but expresses doubt about future rulings by the US Supreme Court, where the conservative majority has a long-term advantage.
Judicial safeguards for the press
Barber recalled two key US Supreme Court rulings. In the 1964 case New York Times Co v Sullivan, the court established that an official can win a defamation lawsuit only by proving “actual malice” on the publisher’s part — meaning that it knew the information was false or acted with reckless disregard for the facts.
In the 1971 case New York Times Co v United States, known as the “Pentagon Papers” case, the court significantly limited the government’s ability to prohibit the publication of classified defense materials. In the author’s view, these rulings set a high threshold for restricting the work of the media.
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Settlement of lawsuits
In 2024, Walt Disney Co agreed to pay $15 million to Trump’s presidential library and $1 million in legal costs to settle a lawsuit against ABC News. The lawsuit was filed after host George Stephanopoulos said that Trump had been found liable for rape, whereas a New York judge found him liable for sexual abuse.
In 2025, Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to Trump’s presidential library in a dispute over the editing of a CBS interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The company did not admit wrongdoing. Barber links Paramount’s decision to settle to the company’s need for federal government approval for its planned multibillion-dollar merger with Skydance Media.
At the same time, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and BBC, according to Barber, did not agree to settle multibillion-dollar lawsuits filed by President Trump. The author also notes that The New York Times is challenging in court the Pentagon’s decision to restrict reporters’ access, while the BBC is contesting a $10 billion defamation lawsuit over a documentary about the events of January 6.
