US union sends solidarity to BBC journalists following President Trump’s legal threat
NewsGuild-CWA has shared a message of support with BBC journalists following Donald Trump’s threat to sue the UK public service broadcaster for defamation.
The US president has said that he plans to pursue between $1 billion and $5 billion in damages despite the BBC apologising for the splicing of two sections of a speech given by Trump hours before the Capitol riots on 6 January 2021.
The NUJ has described Trump’s threat as a “mega-SLAPP”, consistent with the US president’s attempts to intimidate domestic and foreign media. The Trump administration has routinely sought to undermine journalism, defunding public service broadcasting, targeting independent media, barring global news organisations, and seizing control of the White House press pool.
NewsGuild-CWA, which represents 27,000 journalists and communications professionals in the US, has joined the NUJ in backing BBC journalists and defending media freedom.
Jon Schleuss, NewsGuild-CWA president, said:
“President Trump’s repeated lawsuits and threats of lawsuits targeting newsrooms at home and abroad directly contradicts the United States’ 250-year fight in support of a free and independent press.
“It’s essential that newsrooms make corrections and acknowledge mistakes, however, threatening or filing lawsuits against newsrooms is an embarrassing tactic for the leader of a nation where a free and independent press is an essential pillar of democracy.“The NewsGuild-CWA stands with our family at the National Union of Journalists and BBC journalists and media workers. We join the NUJ’s call defending the professional integrity of NUJ members at the BBC and support their demand for sustainable funding to safeguard public service journalism.”