Letting the Fascists Speak for Themselves: The Enabling of Authoritarians and the Need for a Partisan Press

Abstract

This article analyzes the historical media practices and conditions during the rise of the worst authoritarian movements—namely, fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. It then compares these to contemporary media practice during and since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, considering the impact of sociotechnical systems that increasingly penetrate and govern media discourse. It argues the press should not double down on journalistic objectivity but rather embrace a “little-p partisan” press—interested and invested in political outcomes. The press must engage in vociferous criticism and earnest argumentation, and such journalistic practice must not be perceived as a deviation from the false ideals of “normal times.” The perception of such deviation, and strategies to avoid these conventions like irony or satire, only leave the press more vulnerable to accusations of bias and weakened against liberal society’s greatest threats.