Trump Wants MSNBC Shut Down
The Night of the Long Knives (actually a long weekend in June-July, 1934) is best known for Hitler purging the Nazi militia (the SA) and the murder of its leaders, Ernst Röhm first and foremost. But it was also an opportunity for Hitler to eliminate other opponents as well— through extra-judicial executions, quickly approved by a Supreme Court no less supine to authoritarianism than our own John Roberts Kangaroo Court. Less talked about by historians was how Hitler used the purge to eliminate media critics, with newspapers unaligned with the Nazis, like the Münchner Neuste Nachrichten, either taken over or just put out of business. After that, the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, under Joseph Goebbels, controlled all media, ensuring that only pro-Nazi messages were broadcast or published.
Although the Communist media was brutally suppressed by the Nazis, Stalin liked what he saw and in the 1936-38 “Great Purge,” many journalists and editors who published content not in line with his policies— or favorable to Trotsky in any way— were imprisoned, sent to Gulags or executed. The newspapers Izvestia and Pravda became mouthpieces for Stalinist propaganda. After that all media was under strict state control. Any form of dissent or criticism could lead to severe repercussions, including execution. The case of the editor Mikhail Koltsov, who was executed in 1940, is a grim example, as were the deaths of dozens of poets and playwrights.
Even earlier than Hitler and Stalin, in 1926 ex-newspaperman Benito Mussolini ordered the closure of the newspaper Il Mondo after it published a series of articles warning about the dangers of fascism. Two years earlier, after the murder of socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti, who had criticized fascist violence, several opposition newspapers were shut down or taken over by fascist sympathizers. The Press Law of 1925 allowed the government to control newspapers by requiring them to publish official announcements and placing restrictions on what could be printed, essentially giving Mussolini's regime the power to censor content or shut down newspapers that opposed his regime.
After Kissinger and Nixon helped him seize power in Chile’s violent 1973 coup, Augusto Pinochet's regime closed down opposing media, like the newspaper El Clarin, half of whose staff was persecuted. The regime quickly moved to introduce censorship laws and controlled media content through the Ministry of the Interior. Journalists like Diana Aron were arrested and tortured for their reporting.
More recently. Trump crony Viktor Orbán has restructured Hungary’s media landscape through a new media law that established a Media Council with members appointed by his party, Fidesz. Even earlier, hundreds of private media outlets were donated to KESMA (the Central European Press and Media Foundation, a foundation run by Orbán allies), effectively centralizing media ownership under government-friendly control. This move was criticized for reducing media pluralism. Meanwhile, the Media Council has the power to fine or sanction media outlets not aligned with government views. In 2020, it refused to renew the license of Klubrádió, a station critical of the government, citing minor administrative errors, effectively forcing it off the airwaves. Basically, Orbán’s iron-fisted influence over the country’s media has turned it into a tool for government propaganda, with critical voices marginalized or silenced.
These examples illustrate how authoritarian leaders have historically used their power to suppress free media, often through direct control, legal mechanisms, intimidation or outright violence against journalists and media organizations. Each case shows a pattern where criticism or dissent in media is not tolerated, leading to the suppression or complete shutdown of media outlets. Last night, Rachel Maddow had Bishop Mariann Budde on her show, someone with a voice Trump very much wants silenced.
And then, there was this right afterwards, Trump using MSDNC, his nickname for MSNBC:
