However, today, Bezos, who has throttled the Post’s opinion page and now slashed the newspaper’s staff, seems determined to demonstrate that a free press, an essential component of democracy, can be killed off in broad daylight. Defunding National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System, as Trump has done, is not merely about cultural grievance. The point is to apply structural pressure, eroding the shared facts on which democratic argument depends. Accurate reporting no longer compels action, because facts can be published, verified and still fail to trigger a response. We are witnessing a systemic attack on the US institutions and the American public’s ability to hold power to account.

Source: Taipei Times February 10, 2026 17:21 UTC