The Free Press: A National Security Issue?

• Author: Magnuson, Stew

Despite decades in the journalism profession, it wasn't until recently that I began to see what I do for a living as a potential national security issue: that a strong and vibrant free press in the United States strengthens the nation's security, but a weak free press could be a vulnerability.

Yes, I wrote about national security, defense and related topics. But it was just that: the subject matter I wrote about.

A change in the way I see my profession began in September aboard the HMS Queen Elizabeth, the U.K. aircraft carrier parked in New York Harbor to host the Atlantic Future Forum.

It was there that former Google CEO Eric Schmidt spoke during a panel about the importance of fighting foreign disinformation campaigns with the truth. Schmidt also served on the Defense Innovation Board and continues to advise the Defense Department. I will reprint his comments verbatim.

"I think one of the things we unfortunately need to recognize is a new vulnerability that exists.... I believe the best antidote to disinformation is access to better information.

"Traditional journalism has rightly been called the Fourth Estate since that phrase was coined in London centuries ago. But traditional journalism, you know, frankly, has not been treated kindly by the digital age, or frankly, by the business model innovations of the tech sector.

"And one of the things we're able to analyze is: where is Russian propaganda being consumed the most on a per capita basis? It's in the places where newspapers have died.

"In the United States, there's hundreds of counties that no longer have a newspaper. Those are the places that are turning to alternative sources of news, I think out of necessity, and not with knowledge, or awareness, that what they're reading is actually being sent to them from inside Russia.

"So, to me, part of the antidote is to recognize we need traditional news to prosper. We need to think more broadly about government and other initiatives that can help that happen."

Yes, the irony of a former Google CEO pointing this out should be noted, but there you have it. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his minions are actively looking for communities where newspapers have disappeared and are filling the information vacuum with carefully crafted misinformation campaigns designed to erode our confidence in democratic institutions.

Chaos and disorder is the goal. It's hard to imagine such a dour man as Putin "laughing with delight" but he at least...