Either some journalists come from the future, or the path to eroding a democracy is always the same: persecution of the press, lawsuits against media outlets, revocation of broadcast licenses, promotion of false news, and self-censorship.
That’s why when President Donald Trump began following the same script, Ann Marie Lipinski, director of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, did not hesitate to seek advice from colleagues in countries with declining democracies.
Lipinski moderated the panel “Doing Journalism in Countries with Declining Democracies” on the second day of the 26th International Symposium on Online Journalism (ISOJ). The guests were Carlos Dada, co-founder and head of El Faro in El Salvador; Gülsin Harman, an independent journalist from Turkey; Arfa Khanum, senior editor of The Wire in India; and András Pethő, co-founder, editor, and executive director of Direkt36 in Hungary.
“We are very fortunate to have these brave journalists with us today to tell us what is happening in their countries and to give us, as American journalists, an idea of what we can expect and how to respond to it,” Lipinski said.
Pethő outlined the evolution of media control under the government of Viktor Orbán. He explained that since taking office in 2010, and even during his first term from 1998 to 2002, Orbán has implemented a systematic strategy to take control of the media.
This has included the purchase of independent media outlets by business people who support the government, the creation of a propaganda machine spanning print, digital, and television media, and the financial suffocation of critical outlets through the withdrawal of state advertising and the imposition of regulatory restrictions.
“The good news is you can still survive and you can still do independent journalism,” Pethő said. “But we are limited mostly to the digital space. It is difficult for us to reach people who still depend on broadcast or print media.”
His team has managed to publish impactful investigations that have sparked public debate and exposed corruption at the highest levels of power.
The experience of the press in Turkey was analyzed in depth, showing how censorship does not only come from the government but also from self-censorship within media organizations and the adaptation of media owners to those in power.
“I will say that the spell of doom for the Turkish media was not necessarily and solely the government pressure,” Harman said. “What really changed the nature of Turkish media was when the owners of legacy media decided that there was a new boss town and they might get along with him.”
Harman warned that something similar could happen in the U.S., mirroring Turkey’s history, where media donors may start ignoring emails, and colleagues—who were once thought to uphold the same integrity standards—begin to take other paths where they are offered significantly more money.
Harman recounted how her own path in journalism has been marked by resistance but also by difficult decisions, such as choosing to stop signing her stories to protect her safety.
Over the past decade in Turkey, hundreds of journalists have been arrested or forced into exile, and critical media outlets have been arbitrarily shut down. However, Harman chose to end her remarks with a quote from Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci: “I am a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.”
Khanum warned about the deterioration of democracy, evidenced in her country by the growing persecution of journalists and comedians. She condemned threats and intimidation against comedian Kunal Kamra and the arrest of journalist Dilwar Hussain Mazumdar after covering a protest.
She explained that in the 11 years of Narendra Modi’s government, the country has seen a significant reduction in press freedom. State media have been instrumentalized to reinforce the official narrative, while dissenting voices are harassed with lawsuits, social media censorship, and violence.
“Coming here and speaking in front of you has some risks. I could be blamed for defaming India on an international platform,” she said. “Anything you say against the government these days is considered anti-national, anti-Hindu, or anti-Modi.”
Khanum is not optimistic. According to her, when journalists face dictatorial governments, the trend is not toward improvement; rather, over time, they simply learn to deal with them better.
Dada provided an overview of El Salvador’s history and explained how the rise to power of President Nayib Bukele in 2019 weakened public institutions he once believed were strong and independent.
“El Faro was born in democracy as a media to cover a country living in democracy, starting to live in democracy with all the rules of democracy,” he said. “That no longer exists.”
According to Dada, journalists became the enemy overnight, and the government began persecuting media outlets, accusing them of money laundering and surveilling them.
Even so, Dada and his team at El Faro have remained committed to good journalism and to resisting attacks. “That’s what sustains this world – resilience,” Dada said. “Even if the price to pay is higher, there is something good in all this.”