Hungary’s far-right autocrat, Viktor Orbán, has stated that the way to power is “to have your own media.”

During a 2022 speech in Budapest to the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, he told U.S. Conservatives to take that advice.

“Have your own media,” Orbán urged his audience. “It’s the only way to point out the insanity of the progressive left. The problem is that the western media is adjusted to the leftist viewpoint. Those who taught reporters in universities already had progressive leftist principles.”

Orbán had some ideas about who would be the answer to what he called the “mainstream” liberal media.

“My friend Tucker Carlson is the only one who puts himself out there. His show is the most popular. What does it mean? It means programs like his should be broadcast day and night. Or, as you say, 24-7.”

With Trump soon back in the White House, and people like Orbán cheering him on from the sidelines, can the hard right bring the media to heel?

In the past the answer would have been a speedy no. The United States has major constitutional protections of First Amendment rights, and a strong commitment to freedom of the press.

That’s why it has been next to impossible for a public figure to win a defamation case against the press. (Recall that ABC capitulated to Trump rather than fight in court.)

The Supreme Court has ruled in the New York Times vs. Sullivan case that even when a public figure is defamed, ruling in their favour would have a chilling effect on free speech.

In 1787, one of America’s founders posed and then answered a question touching on the foundation of the country’s democracy and the importance of a free press. Thomas Jefferson opined that if he had to choose between “a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

But the reality today is that Trump has every chance to browbeat and bully the press to its knees.
https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2025/01/03/Trump-Civil-War-News-Media/