"Journalists are not the enemy." Hot off of calling for more social-media censorship and supporting destructive speech regulations like FOSTA, newspaper editors would like you to know that Donald Trump's dissing of the news media makes them sad. More than 300 U.S. newspapers ran Thursday editorials that "call for an end to President Trump's sustained assault" on the press.
"Our role is to serve as a check on government," the Chicago Tribune declares. "The president ought to get used to it."
"Our democracy is endangered when citizens are persuaded to reject or ignore the professionals who provide news and information," warns The Athens News in Ohio.
And so on.
The editorials were organized by The Boston Globe and, as HuffPost describes them, "have each been constructed with different words but bear a shared message: Mr. President, 'journalists are not the enemy.'"
As a journalist (as well as general enthusiast for classical liberal principles and a person capable of making basic historical analogies), I too find the president's description of journalists as enemies of the people unsettling. But whipping up contempt toward the press has been a staple of right-wing talking points in this country for at least two decades. The president's preening anti-media tirades are not so much stirring new hatred within his base as stoking a longstanding sentiment.
So far, however, Trump's anti-press antics have mostly stayed in the realm of rhetoric. Meanwhile, the good folks in Congress, state government, and federal agencies are doing things all the time that actually infringe on freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and an open internet, while the vast majority of news outlets remain silent at best. Then, in places where we could use real reporting, popular journalists fall all over themselves to create petty drama and praise John McCain for his contributions to warmongering and spending.
Twitter's online speech norms were created and shaped by lawyers who were deeply knowledgeable of existing First Amendment case law in the U.S. It feels like journalists now want platforms to intentionally deviate from that: harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/upl… twitter.com/TonyRomm/statu…
While the ideals espoused in these editorials may be righteous, they ring a little hollow...
...and a little self-serving. Too many in media seem to have confused their own diminishing role as gatekeepers of all info and narratives with an existential threat to democracy. Yes, let's fight back against Trump and anyone else in government who seeks to suppress dissent. But maybe people wouldn't hate us so much if we fought as hard for everyone's dignity and right to speak as we do for our own tribe's.
Jack Shafer shares some of these concerns. "It goes without saying that press bashing, Trump-style, is alarming," Shafer writes in Politico. "But this Globe-sponsored coordinated editorial response is sure to backfire: It will provide Trump with circumstantial evidence of the existence of a national press cabal that has been convened solely to oppose him....The Globe's anti-Trump project is also an exercise in redundancy, not to mention self-stroking. Most newspapers have already published a multitude of editorials and columns rebuking the president for his trash-talking of the press."
FREE MINDS
But on to journalists doing good things... The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is under fire "for publishing confidential but legally obtained information about Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz." The Broward County Public Schools had requested that two reporters and the paper be held in contempt of court after publishing portions of a school district report that Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer had ordered redacted before the district made it public.
"At issue is a report released Aug. 3 based on Cruz's educational record, revealing what officials knew about him in the years leading up to his Feb. 14 attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where he killed 17 people and wounded 17 more," the Sun Sentinel explains.
But here's the kicker: The school district blacked out sensitive portions of the report only before posting it online, leaving the underlying data intact—a "method [that] made it possible for anyone to read the blacked-out portions by copying and pasting them into another file." More about what the Sun Sentinel found in that "redacted" information here.
University of Southern California journalism professor Philip Seib told the paper, "It sounds to me like the people who were in contempt were those in the government agency who allowed it to be disseminated in a way that any school child could have decoded."
FREE MARKETS
Marijuana vote in Utah hits a Mormon snag. In November, Utah voters will get to vote on whether the state should legalize medical marijuana. But only if a lawsuit filed yesterday by Mormon activists is successful. "In the complaint, opponents of Proposition 2—which would legalize marijuana for people with an array of health conditions—said the ballot initiative would tread on their freedom of religion," the Salt Lake Tribune explains. More:
The group says the measure would violate the religious beliefs of Walter J. Plumb, an attorney and active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who is the primary financier of the opposition campaign.
The lawsuit takes issue with a provision of the ballot measure that would prevent landlords from not renting to a medical marijuana cardholder, saying that could create an issue of Mormon property owners being forced into renting to people who use cannabis. Plumb's "religious beliefs include a strict adherence to a code of health which precludes the consumption and possession of mind-altering drugs, substances and chemicals, which includes cannabis and its various derivatives," the complaint states.
Trump has revoked the security clearance of CIA director turned Trump critic John Brennan. "Former national security officials often maintain their security clearances to advise their successors," NPR notes. Trump also offered up a list of nine other folks whose security clearances he was considering revoking.
A Georgia cop deployed a stun gun against an 87-year-old woman who was using a knife to cut dandelions. "She told us she was smiling at them to tell them that she wasn't a threat...and she was trying to get closer to them to communicate with them, and that's when they tased her," her grandson told ABC News.
Government policies are making the future of porn worse.
Happy birthday to Madonna, who at 60 is still pissing people off with her outfits.
Elizabeth Warren has a "plan to save capitalism." Sigh.
I covered the case of Trudy Munoz, who was released from prison after being convicted with bad science but will now be deported.theappeal.org/trudy-munoz-de…
- An FBI robbery investigation leads to "an unprecedented grab for Google location data."
- The Masterpiece Cakeshop battle never ends.
- The Federal Communications Commission has killed Alex Jones' "Radio Liberty" station, but the move is unrelated to recent social media drama. "According to documents in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Austin this week, Radio Liberty had been illegally broadcasting over a local FM station from 2013 until it ceased pirating the airwaves in December and switched to online streaming and a call-in 'listen line,'" The Week reports.
Share your thoughts with the world by posting a message on the Liberty Tree.
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. -- Plato (429-347 BC)
TRY THE LIBERTY TREE AD FREE
"FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM AND LIBERTY"
and is protected speech pursuant to the "unalienable rights" of all men, and the First (and Second) Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, In God we trust
Stand Up To Government Corruption and Hypocrisy
NEVER FORGET THE SACRIFICES
BY OUR VETERANS Note: We at The Liberty Tree cannot make any warranties about the completeness, reliability, and accuracy of this information.
Don't forget to follow the Friends Of Liberty on Facebook and our Page also Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr, Me We and Google Plus PLEASE help spread the word by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.
LibertygroupFreedom 
The Patriot is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with the mission to Educate, protect and defend individual freedoms and individual rights.
Support the Trump Presidency and help us fight Liberal Media Bias. Please LIKE and SHARE this story on Facebook or Twitter.
WE THE PEOPLE
TOGETHER WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Join The Resistance and Share This Article Now!
TOGETHER WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Help us spread the word about THE LIBERTY TREE Blog we're reaching millions help us reach millions more.
Help us spread the word about THE LIBERTY TREE Blog we're reaching millions help us reach millions more.
‼️️ ♻️ PLEASE SHARE ♻️ ‼️️
Please SHARE this now! The Crooked Liberal Media will hide and distort the TRUTH. It’s up to us, Trump social media warriors, to get the truth out. If we don’t, no one will!
Share this story on Facebook and let us know because we want to hear YOUR voice!
Facebook has greatly reduced the distribution of our stories in our readers' news feeds and is instead promoting mainstream media sources. When you share with your friends, however, you greatly help distribute our content. Please take a moment and consider sharing this article with your friends and family. Thank you
Please SHARE this now! The Crooked Liberal Media will hide and distort the TRUTH. It’s up to us, Trump social media warriors, to get the truth out. If we don’t, no one will!
Share this story on Facebook and let us know because we want to hear YOUR voice!
Facebook has greatly reduced the distribution of our stories in our readers' news feeds and is instead promoting mainstream media sources. When you share with your friends, however, you greatly help distribute our content. Please take a moment and consider sharing this article with your friends and family. Thank you
No comments:
Post a Comment