Quality journalism and a free & independent press are always a key ingredient to an open and honest society. I’m so grateful to the men and women who do the hard work of reporting on all subjects.
If you don’t already, please consider subscribing to one or more publications. It’s best to subscribe to at least one quality news source from each side of the political spectrum, as long as they uphold proper journalistic standards. No, they are not perfect and all will make mistakes, but the best ones admit it and make it right.
Presidents and the media are always going to be somewhat at odds. But for a President to denounce the independent journalists who work hard at investigating and reporting is a clear sign of authoritarianism and repression. That is how all dictators and authoritarians through history have worked, and Trump is no different.
Thanks to Bob Lai for sharing his many years of experience here.
Originally shared by Bob Lai
The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!
— Donald J. Trump, via Twitter
I’ve spent 30 years working in television news, a career I’m proud of. I grew up watching Walter Cronkite and other anchors who defined the industry – Howard K. Smith, Chet Huntley & David Brinkley.
I watched, with millions of Americans, our nation’s triumphs as we landed men on the Moon and saw them return safely to the Earth. I saw our less pleasant moments, as well: the assassinations of John F. Kennedy; his brother, Robert; civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr.; the VietNam War; Watergate.
I have been part of the news business through national tragedies like the Challenger and Columbia disasters, through the attacks on 9/11 and at the Boston Marathon. I have seen visits by foreign heads of states and popes. I’ve been there for earthquakes and devastating fires. I’ve seen bodies pulled out of the water, and seen Americans beheaded (yes, we cut that down for you folks at home).
And, in a slight tangent, I am a union member. It was union members who stood to on 9/11 – New York’s first responders and construction workers – who looked at the debris and said, “Let’s get to work.”
And that’s what journalism is. That’s what journalism does. It embodies both the freedom of speech, but of the fourth estate – the press – to allow our democracy a unique and valuable asset, the ability to self-examine, celebrate our triumphs and recognize our shortcomings, together, as one nation, indivisible. Liberty and justice for all follow because we are honest with ourselves, not because we’re paying lip service to the Stars & Stripes.
When you are the Commander-in-Chief, it’s almost a given that you will have a contentious, if not combative, relationship with the media. Democrat or Republican, it doesn’t matter. The press is not there to be your cheerleading section or inflate your ego.
Bawling like a spoiled and ill-mannered child about how the ‘fake media’ is being grossly unfair to your wealthy, privileged backside and that of your wife, daughter, sons, and cabinet picks doesn’t make you look like the leader of the greatest free nation in the world. It makes you look like a spoiled and ill-mannered child desperately seeking approval for pooping in his diaper.
A great nation is unfraid, but it is also honest with itself and with others. If you’re running in the opposite direction because you don’t like what you’re hearing, Mr. Trump, the problem is with you, and not the media.