Early this week, Esquire magazine reported that a Trump aide, commenting on speculation that the Trump administration wanted the press out of the White House, said, "We see the press as the opposition party."
Of course they do. The press has a different attention span to Trump, the king of Twitter. On Twitter, if you win the moment, you win the day. The press – however divided it is in its views of the world – still shares the belief that the truth is something which may be only revealed over time. I also note reports that since Vladimir Putin, the leader Trump is so taken with, took power in Russia in 2000, 21 journalists in that country have been murdered.
![Donald Trump's tweets have turned into a market factor.](/web/20170121131659im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/j/2/r/g/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtv6i8.png/1484872370015.jpg)
Shortly I am to give a speech to a group of lawyers and judges to mark the start of the legal year. I will be asking them to reflect on the presumption of innocence, a remarkable attribute of our legal system which has been around for hundreds of years. The question I will put to them is if, at the present time, our legal system did not have the presumption of innocence do they think the idea could be "got up" through legislation. What would the tabloids say? What would the shock jocks say? They'd say it's yet another case of a politically correct elite going soft on crims.
If we had not inherited the presumption of innocence as part of our legal system, I don't believe we could get it up politically at this time. That's where, in some ways, we are politically. Back around 200 years ago. But what must be remembered is that back then there were plenty of brave people about. Brave judges, brave lawyers. Brave journalists, too.
Trump reminds me of George IV (1762-1830) in his crass assumptions about material splendour, about seeking to reflect his image in big buildings, although George IV had much better taste. But George IV also disliked the press, or those parts of it not acting on his behalf.
Britain in 1812 was as split as the US is now and we are becoming. Back then, the division was between reformers and those wanting to maintain the political status quo. It was a political tension that had already triggered the French Revolution and would cause further revolutions across Europe. It was a period, like now, when the political stakes suddenly got a whole lot higher. A key way the British government maintained control was through spies and informers.
In 1812, the Hunt brothers, John and Leigh, publisher and editor of The Examiner newspaper, were imprisoned for describing George IV, then the Prince Regent, as "a violator of his word, a libertine over head and ears in debt and disgrace, a despiser of domestic ties, the companion of gamblers, and demireps, a man who has just closed half a century without one single claim on the gratitude of his country or the respect of posterity."
To the judge, a foul-tempered reactionary connected to the Prince, the issue of whether the Hunts' allegations were true was not even a matter that would be tested – they were an assault on the monarch and government of the day!
One difference between Donald Trump and George IV was that George IV read books. Another is that, in the area of surveillance technology, Trump has a lot more power. On the other hand, the Hunts served their two years in prison and emerged with a reputation that continues to inspire journalists today.
A big battle is looming in the US between Trump and the great organs of the American press like The New York Times and The Washington Post. I know who I'm barracking for.
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