Attacking A Nation;s Free Press is Playing With Fire

Today over 300 newspapers in the U.S. have joined together, publishing editorials fighting back against electoral vote winner Donny's frequent smear of the media as "the enemy of the people."  Donny has pushed this line of nauseating garbage in numerous tweets and speeches, even continuing to use it after five journalists from the Capital Gazette newspaper in the Anapolis, MD are on June 28, 2018.  Boasting the importance of a free press, they seek to fight against  our electoral vote winner's role in emboldening increasingly dangerous situations for those working in the news and the work they do.  While we agree with the sentiment of these editorials, we at TTWN wondering how many of them are going to state one obvious fact the mainstream media seems to overlook:  why Donny's calling the media the enemy of the people (or sometimes the true enemy of the people) is playing with fire and downright dangerous.

First, let's look at what makes this dangerous.  By making this smear electoral vote winner Donny is implying that the media and those who work in it are against the American people if they write or report on anything that puts him in a bad light.  Part of the goal is for Donny to get attention (like almost every time he tweets way too early in the morning).  However, there is also a more deliberate reason, as when 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl was told after the GOP primary when she asked him why he continues to attack the press and he replied that he did it so that when they publish something, the public won't believe them.   Now let's put aside why they didn't immediately report that to the public once he said it (off the record or not, the people should have the right to know that shit), a politicians creating a situation where the media is treated as an opposing force that must be stopped emboldens some in said politician's fan base to commit acts of violence against the media (most recently in the Capital Gazette shooting) as well as scenarios where they face increasing verbal (if not physical) violence while doing their jobs (way too many stories of attacks from those at Donny's rallies to count).  While some would say the latter is like professional wrestling and those doing it may be viewing a journalist like a wrestling vilain.  However, pro wrestling is scripted to some degree in terms of characters and this is real life so that alone should be cause for alarm.

This leads to something even more disturbing.  An Ipsos public opinion survey published earlier this month found that 43% of Repubs believe the President should have the power to "shut down news outlets engaged in bad behavior." The question that arises from this is what constitutes bad behavior worthy of something being shut down?  While some may claim it would be something in bad faith, judging form electoral vote winner Donny's words if he had the power he'd likely use it to shut down those who say bad things about him or report on something he's trying to cover up.  That is dangerous on a number of levels.

That danger also overlooks something that Americans should know but likely don't these days - journalism is the only profession protected under the First Amendment.  This means that they're supposed to speak truth to power and call out politicians when they fuck up.  Yes there are laws against slander and libel but this means the government cannot impinge on the media's freedom to do their jobs and hold people accountable just like they can't interfere with an individuals'freedom of speech.

At this point there may be a Repub or two reading this wanting to mock it with some Donny approved talking points.  They may want to shout, "You need to accept that Trump won?" or make some disparaging remarks about liberals ( or libtards as some would call them) while asking what the big deal is with the media whining.  For those people I have this to say, if Donny sets a precedent where the President can shut down news outlets, let's say a Democratic candidate wins in 2020 or later.  What's to keep the Democratic leader from shutting down conservative media outlets?

If thos eon the right are really sincere about freedom of speech (and not just merely wanting it for the right wing and oppression for everyone else) then they need to stand against this whether it';s their guy or not.

Yes there are legitimate criticisms of the mainstream media and their establishment bias.  However, they are not the enemy of the people and anyone who says otherwise is playing with a fire that, if not fought immediately and consistently, could burn down one of the few pillars of our society that should be upheld across the board.