Our Free Press Under Attack

Guest article by Dina Doll

In a healthy democracy, journalists are not handcuffed for doing their jobs.
They are not dragged into courtrooms for showing up, asking questions, and bearing witness. They are not treated as threats simply because they point a camera toward power and refuse to look away.

Yet here we are.

This week, Don Lemon and Georgia Fort were arrested and charged under federal law with civil rights violations, including conspiracy to interfere with religious freedom and interfering with the exercise of First Amendment rights at a place of worship, while covering protests at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Not for committing violence. Not for inciting chaos. But for documenting what was happening, for talking to people on the ground, for doing exactly what journalism has always existed to do.

And that reality should stop us cold.

Because when a government begins going after journalists, history tells us something is deeply wrong.

We have only targeted journalists in this country during our most shameful chapters. During moments when fear outweighed principle. When those in power decided that controlling the narrative mattered more than the truth.

That is not coincidence. It is pattern.

Authoritarian systems do not begin by jailing everyone. They begin by isolating voices. They begin by making examples. They begin by teaching the public that speaking up carries a cost.

And journalists are always near the top of that list.

Why?

Because journalists give voice to the people.

They do not create dissent. They reveal it. They do not manufacture outrage. They document it. They do not invent injustice. They expose it.

When a journalist shows up, they bring sunlight. And sunlight makes lies harder to sustain.

Trump sees Don Lemon as a threat.

Not because Lemon suddenly changed who he is, but because his audience has changed.

Since leaving CNN, Lemon’s reach has exploded across social media. Younger people who never sat down to watch cable news are now watching his clips, sharing his reporting, and engaging with his long-form conversations. He is reaching people Trump cannot easily reach or control.

And Trump cannot shut Don Lemon down by calling his boss anymore.

The same is true for Georgia Fort.

They are independent.

They are not owned by a corporate parent that can be pressured behind closed doors. They cannot be silenced with a phone call.

The most threatening thing to an authoritarian regime is an independent reporter with a microphone.

The state is now alleging that Don Lemon interfered with parishioners’ right to worship.

But the truth runs in the opposite direction.

His presence protected that right.

Without reporters on the scene, there is no independent record of what happened. No documentation of how protesters were treated. No documentation of how parishioners were affected. No documentation of whether law enforcement actions were proportional or excessive.

Lemon did what journalists are supposed to do. He spoke with protesters. He also spoke with the pastor. He interviewed parishioners who were frustrated and hurt by the disruption. He allowed multiple sides to be heard in real time.

That is not interference.

That is accountability.
That is transparency.
That is how you protect rights, not undermine them.

Rights do not survive in darkness. They survive in public view.

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Dina Doll is an experienced attorney and legal analyst. She hosts the MissTrial podcast on MeidasTouch and co-hosts Unprecedented on Legal AF. Dina also serves as the legal expert for Access Hollywood’s Trial Files and provides regular legal commentary for CNN, NewsNation, and other national media outlets. In addition to her media work, she is a delegate to the California Democratic Party, a community activist, and a City Library Commissioner.