"USA on the way to Hungary"

On 12 January, a panel discussion on press freedom in the United States under Donald Trump took place at the Kreisky Forum.

The US president's attacks on journalists and the media are now legion. Trump has launched multi-billion dollar lawsuits against major broadcasters such as the BBC and other international media organisations. Some broadcasters appear to be willing to settle, while other independent media outlets are determined to fight back. But what are their chances?

Freedom of the press remains one of the essential pillars of American democracy - but it is currently under unprecedented political, legal and financial pressure. How resilient is the US media system? What does this increasing hostility mean for democratic institutions, public trust and the future of journalism? And how should the international community respond to the chilling effect Trump's strategy could have on global press freedom norms?

Under the direction of Raimund Löw, journalist, author and historian, head of Falter Radio, Gerhard Zeiler, President of Warner Bros. Discovery International and Hannelore Veit, journalist and author and long-time USA correspondent for the ORF, will be discussing at the Kreisky. Vive was joined by Jonathan Rauch, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation.