In our ideal world, the American government and the American press are both servants of the American public: they work for us. However, these two institutions always seem to be interlocked in a sort of twisted custody battle over who’s lying to whom. Who can we trust? The inclination nowadays seems to be simply no one.

While these two parties grapple with each other for the prize of the public’s trust, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has become a unique tool the government can use to spy on its journalist opponents. 

This espionage and intimidation by the government does not toe the party lines. Under President Barack Obama, the DOJ seized records from the Associated Press in an attempt to find out who within the Obama administration had been leaking information to the American public. The American Civil Liberties Union called the DOJ’s actions an “unacceptable abuse of power” in a 2013 statement.  

An administration later, under President Donald Trump, the DOJ wielded its power to obtain private correspondence logs from journalists at CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post in 2017. While there has been no confirmation as to why certain journalists’ call logs were obtained, The New York Times believes the DOJ was attempting to find leaks of classified information regarding the 2016 election.

When the New York Times learned the Biden Justice Department was continuing an attempt to seize their records, the DOJ barred them from informing the public of the oversight until March 3. 

President Joe Biden has gone on the record stating he will no longer allow use the power of the precedent to spy on journalists. 

Time will tell if this promise will come to fruition. Current precedent seems to allow the DOJ to thoroughly investigate journalists when classified information becomes available to the press. And, in some cases, this is understandable. Once information is put into newsprint, it is at the disposal of not only American citizens but also American adversaries.

And the “national security” precedent has been used by both of Biden’s predecessors. Both Trump and Obama managed to justify their actions by claiming they were motivated to stop internal leaks and protect national security. The power imbalance between journalists and the government complicates the situation.

For example, the New York Times members who were spied upon by Trump’s DOJ did not realize it at the time. The Biden administration had to inform them of the actions after the fact. The same institution that conducts espionage has to self-report. If Biden’s successor is not forthcoming with the actions of the previous administration, any action against journalists by the current DOJ could go unnoticed.

At a fundamental level, governmental overreach in obtaining correspondence is disturbing. Every American citizen has the right to privacy. If government officials wish to stop leaks within their departments, the effort needs to remain internal. To go after journalists for their findings not only infringes upon our right to privacy but also the First Amendment’s guarantee of a free press.

It may be difficult for contemporary America to eagerly defend the press right now. If a random person, let’s say you, clicked on this article, chances are, you would not trust it.  Most Americans do not trust the media, plain and simple. Gallup reports that around 60 percent of Americans have “not very much” or no trust at all in mass media. 

The distrust of news seems to stem from the buzzword “bias.” Americans are vigilant toward finding whether institutions have ulterior motives; however, potential bias needs to be scrutinized as harshly, and more, in governments that spy on journalists as it is within the news itself. Every politician could have a vested interest toward knowing what goes on within newsrooms around the country.

However, if journalism becomes increasingly overseen by the institutions of the government, it could lead to limited discourse on foundational issues. The news sheds light on problems so the American public can make informed decisions on the way they consider current events, particularly the events of government. Too much governmental oversight of journalism damages objective reporting. News outlets could potentially begin to diminish major stories under fear of legal blowback. 

A press free from government interference allows Americans to be informed on the issues politicians might not want exposed. Today’s rationale of spying at the behest of national security could evolve into the DOJ being used as a weapon to keep potential scandals and misdeeds from being reported. If the government decides to use its power to hinder the flow of information, the foundation of a free press in an objective democracy will perish.