Is the Press "The Enemy of the People?" What would Ibsen say?

Below are three links to articles describing the Presidents aversion to facts and his publicly labeling the media "The Enemy of the People."

When I heard the phrase reported from one of the President's tweets, I was reminded of the play from Norwegian Henrik Ibsen called "An Enemy of the People." It is a play I used as an instructor in English class. It is a story about a town doctor who is condemned by the leaders of his community as "An Enemy of the People" for accurately reporting that the public town baths are contaminated with pollutants, jeopardizing the health of the people who bath in them. This report threatens  the economic well being of the town who depend on the revenue from tourists to the baths. The people, spearheaded by the town leaders (including the lead journalist and the town mayor who is the doctor's brother) turn on the doctor for jeopardizing their livelihoods. Despite feeling extreme pressure, the Doctor continues his quest for the truth and will not back down.

The honest members of the press need to do the same thing as the doctor in that play. Do not back down. If their reporting of an event is honest and with a goal to inform the uniformed, they must go on. Do not back down to the school bully or his followers just because he is the President of the United States. Only through hard work and persistence will the people hopefully realize when the President's alternative facts are false and demand a change in direction that either the President will oblige or he will be replaced in the next election. Remember the one fact and comfort the President hates to admit. He was not the choice of the majority of the American People. Another person (I think you know who) received close to three million more votes than he did. There is a light at the end of the tunnel if he continues on his present course.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/02/17/trump-calls-the-media-the-enemy-of-the-american-people/?tid=sm_fb&utm_term=.2cd136e9f420

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/16/us/politics/trump-fact-check.html?_r=0

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39015559?ocid=socialflow_facebook&ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbcnews&ns_source=facebook