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Brian Karem, the longtime White House correspondent and author of \u201cFree the Press: The Death of American Journalism and How to Revive It,\u201d just published<\/span><\/a> a fiery Salon piece declaring he\u2019s boycotting this weekend\u2019s White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner (WHCD). His reason? President Donald Trump is attending. \u201cI will not be attending,\u201d Karem writes. \u201cI have no desire to participate in this hypocrisy.\u201d He accuses Trump of \u201cdiscredit[ing], insult[ing] and abus[ing] reporters,\u201d closing off access, suing news organizations, and stacking the briefing room with \u201cright-wing propagandists posing as independent reporters.\u201d He laments a \u201cspineless and worthless\u201d corporate media that won\u2019t fight back hard enough.<\/p>\n If the press is truly under siege, if American journalism is dying, as Karem\u2019s book title insists, then why does one President showing up to a black-tie dinner feel like an existential threat? The truth is simpler, and far more American: The press has never been more free. It\u2019s just no longer the exclusive property of the old gatekeepers.<\/p>\n For decades, the press wasn\u2019t a marketplace of ideas \u2014 it was a cozy cartel. Three television networks, a handful of powerful newspapers, and the annual WHCD (affectionately, or not, known as \u201cnerd prom\u201d), where reporters mingled with the very officials they were supposed to hold accountable. Access was everything. Favors were traded over cocktails. Stories that challenged the narrative often died quietly in the editing room.<\/p>\n Karem himself is a product of that system. He successfully sued to regain his press pass during Trump\u2019s first term. He\u2019s covered administrations for years from inside the bubble. Yet now he\u2019s shocked that the man millions of Americans elected twice refuses to play by the old rules. Trump didn\u2019t invent presidential control over White House access \u2014 it\u2019s not a public utility, and never has been. Every president has shaped the briefing room to suit his style. What\u2019s different is that Trump says the quiet part out loud, and millions of Americans cheer him for it.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, legacy outlets spent years pushing stories that later crumbled: the Russian collusion narrative (later walked back by intelligence officials), the Hunter Biden laptop promoted as \u201cRussian disinformation,\u201d and COVID-era claims that shifted with the political winds. Trust didn\u2019t evaporate because of Trump\u2019s tweets. It collapsed because Americans could see the spin in real time. Gallup\u2019s latest poll shows just 28%<\/span><\/a> of Americans have a \u201cgreat deal\u201d or \u201cfair amount\u201d of trust in mass media \u2014 the lowest on record.<\/p>\n The internet shattered the cartel. X, Substack, podcasts, YouTube, and independent sites let anyone with a smartphone and the courage to speak publish instantly. Citizen journalists reach millions without begging corporate approval.<\/p>\n Substack alone has exploded past 35 million monthly active subscribers by 2026, with paid subscriptions growing rapidly as readers vote with their wallets for independent voices. Podcasts and newsletters from moms, veterans, and everyday Americans now influence the national conversation more than evening newscasts ever did. Legacy newsrooms are hemorrhaging staff and subscribers, not because of \u201cright-wing propagandists,\u201d but because competition works. When the old guard calls this the \u201cdeath of journalism,\u201d what they really mean is the death of their monopoly.<\/p>\n Viewpoint diversity has never been higher. Before 2016, newsrooms in Washington, D.C. and New York City leaned overwhelmingly one way \u2014 studies routinely showed that over 90% of political donations from journalists went to Democrats. Conservative perspectives were dismissed as fringe. Today, parallel ecosystems flourish. Trump didn\u2019t kill journalism; he accelerated its breakup into a true marketplace of ideas. Americans can now choose sources that reflect their values instead of being force-fed a single narrative.<\/p>\n Real-time corrections happen daily. The Hunter Biden story suppression, the lab-leak theory dismissal, and \u201ctransitory\u201d inflation spin were all exposed not by internal ombudsmen but by independent outlets and the American public.<\/p>\n Legally, the press has never been safer. The First Amendment remains untouched. Presidents have always limited access, issued criticism, and occasionally sued when reporting crossed into falsehood. Trump\u2019s \u201cenemy of the people\u201d line is protected speech, just as the media\u2019s daily insults toward him are. No journalists are jailed. No newspapers are shuttered. Contrast that with actual authoritarian regimes where reporters face prison or worse. Reporters Without Borders may wring its hands, but America still ranks among the freest nations on earth for press freedom.<\/p>\n The WHCA dinner itself proves the point. It\u2019s a celebrity schmooze-fest that raises scholarship money while reporters pose for selfies with power brokers. Karem and more than 250 colleagues (including Dan Rather and Sam Donaldson) signed a letter<\/span><\/a> decrying \u201cunprecedented attacks.\u201d Yet the event was never about \u201cvigorous press\u201d \u2014 it was about access and glamour. Boycotting Trump because he shows up exposes the hypocrisy: The dinner was fine when it roasted him in 2011 or when comedians mocked him in absentia. Now that he\u2019s back in the room as the elected president, suddenly it\u2019s unbearable.<\/p>\n Karem\u2019s Salon piece is revealing. He praises past colleagues for \u201cstanding up\u201d to Trump and laments today\u2019s \u201ccompliant reporters\u201d softened by buyouts and diluted by new voices. He wants the old rules back \u2014 where a small guild decided the narrative and everyone else followed. Americans rejected that model in 2016, 2024, and again now.<\/p>\n The press isn\u2019t dying \u2014 it\u2019s democratizing. It\u2019s becoming more representative, more accountable, and more responsive to the people it serves.<\/p>\n The question isn\u2019t whether the press will survive Trump. The real question is whether the old guard will adapt to a truly open marketplace or keep boycotting reality while the rest of us move forward.<\/p>\n The press has never been more free. And that\u2019s the American way.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Bethany Miller is the Director of Communications at NRB, managing editor of <\/i>The Conservateur, and a senior fellow at Concerned Women for America.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n