The American press is ignoring this story because it's not a political hot button for either side of the political aisle. Wikileaks helped Trump tremendously during his election by releasing info on Hillary. And now the Trump administration is pursuing this prosecution.
I'm no media expert but this seems like a plausible explanation. Increasingly the American press seems to be less about "disclosing important news to people so they can judge what is happening in the world" as the article says and more about monetizing echo-chambers.
But American outlets have been covering in the story, in the sense that they're writing articles about it and assigning reporters to follow its progress. And many of those outlets have gone on record saying Assange is being treated badly and shouldn't be prosecuted.
It seems to me that the only thing the American press disagrees with the author on is the degree of hype that's warranted. They think the case is worth covering, but disagree that it's "an unprecedented attack on press freedom", "a crucial tipping point", "their future is wrapped up in his fate".
The plan to prosecute Assange began before Trump was elected. We all know that the majority of people working in government now are from prior administrations. If Trump directly tried to stop it, then he'd have to weather more inconvenient headlines about Trump-Russia conspiracy. If he indirectly tried to stop it, then we'd have more anonymously sourced leaks and whistleblowers. Either approach would lead to the house Democrats demanding another investigation. The American people would be embroiled in another impeachment debate. Biden and Harris would be making hardline statements about severe punishment for Assange, and it would hurt the Trump campaign goal of being the "Law & Order" side. The least risky thing Trump can do is allow the government to proceed with the prosecution & then try to get a deal in for him.
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The American press is ignoring this story because it's not a political hot button for either side of the political aisle. Wikileaks helped Trump tremendously during his election by releasing info on Hillary. And now the Trump administration is pursuing this prosecution.
I'm no media expert but this seems like a plausible explanation. Increasingly the American press seems to be less about "disclosing important news to people so they can judge what is happening in the world" as the article says and more about monetizing echo-chambers.
But American outlets have been covering in the story, in the sense that they're writing articles about it and assigning reporters to follow its progress. And many of those outlets have gone on record saying Assange is being treated badly and shouldn't be prosecuted.
It seems to me that the only thing the American press disagrees with the author on is the degree of hype that's warranted. They think the case is worth covering, but disagree that it's "an unprecedented attack on press freedom", "a crucial tipping point", "their future is wrapped up in his fate".
The plan to prosecute Assange began before Trump was elected. We all know that the majority of people working in government now are from prior administrations. If Trump directly tried to stop it, then he'd have to weather more inconvenient headlines about Trump-Russia conspiracy. If he indirectly tried to stop it, then we'd have more anonymously sourced leaks and whistleblowers. Either approach would lead to the house Democrats demanding another investigation. The American people would be embroiled in another impeachment debate. Biden and Harris would be making hardline statements about severe punishment for Assange, and it would hurt the Trump campaign goal of being the "Law & Order" side. The least risky thing Trump can do is allow the government to proceed with the prosecution & then try to get a deal in for him.