![]() The report, titled The Trump Administration and the Media, outlines a lengthy list of actions by Trump and his administration in which he repeatedly denigrated media outlets and journalists, discredited accurate reports, called for the boycott of news organisations and made changes in libel laws to punish critical reporting. The standard for defamation against a private citizen is somewhat lower: you just have to show that the defendant was negligent about whether the material was false or not.Washington, DC – In disparaging tweets and antagonistic responses to journalists’ questions, United States President Donald Trump has been habitually attacking the news media, branding their reports as “fake news” and the “enemy of the people”, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Thursday.Ī new report by the leading rights organisation says Trump’s rhetoric, which has become all too familiar since he took office, has been amplified during the coronavirus crisis in the US – a pandemic that health experts say the Trump administration initially downplayed and was slow to address. The current standard for defamation in the United States against public figures is “actual malice” – meaning that you have to show by “clear and convincing” evidence that an outlet either knew it was printing false material or recklessly disregarded whether the material was false or not. And it fits right into Trump’s history of frivolous litigation against those who say things the Great Man doesn’t like. It places all media outlets under threat of litigation from the politicians upon whom they are supposed to report. But Trump’s solution here is not just petty and counterproductive: it’s tyrannical. Now, we all hate the mainstream media’s leftist bias. Should we be worried about what a President Trump would do to freedom of the press? The Daily Wire‘s Ben Shapiro says absolutely, warning conservatives not to let their disdain for the biased mainstream media be channeled in a dangerous direction by “Great Man” Trump: But should they become what appears to be a taxpayer-funded private police that helps Trump manage his image? Because that’s what this current incident feels like to me.” “One can certainly appreciate that the Secret Service has a difficult job, in terms of protecting the lives of political candidates and leaders. “But I’m interested in the fact that Donald Trump is essentially using our taxpayer dollars to curtail the press,” writes Lewis. Lewis notes that Morris seems to have played some role in escalating the situation, allegedly swearing at the agent and even putting his hands on him, though that did occur after the reporter was blocked from performing his constitutionally protected job of reporting the news. The entrance to the penned area is generally monitored by the Secret Service detail, which also screens attendees at his events and personally protects the candidate.” Morris’ sin, apparently, was to attempt to leave the “pen”, where the press was forced to stay during Trump events, in order to photograph a Black Lives Matter protest.Īccording to Time, “Trump has a strict policy requiring reporters and cameramen to stay inside a gated area, which the candidate often singles out for ridicule during his speeches. After getting out of his designated press “pen,” Time‘s Chris Morris was apparently “choked and slammed to the ground” by a tax-funded Secret Service agent at the rally. He’s also infamously praised Vladimir Putin, whose record on freedom of the press is grim indeed - though Trump assured everyone that he’d “never kill” reporters like Putin allegedly has…Īs Roll Call‘s Matt Lewis stresses, an incident at a Trump rally Monday highlights a disturbing trend at Trump’s events. ![]() Trump has recently announced that as president he would “ open up the libel laws” in order to go after media outlets who publish “a hit piece, which is a total disgrace,” and “sue them and win money.” Such a chilling statement seems to fall in line with Trump’s habit of legally threatening opponents. But as many have begun to ask, is Trump crossing the line? Has he crossed over from (rightly) challenging the biased media into violating the freedom of the press? And he’s no different when it comes to the press. One thing’s for sure, Donald Trump is a fighter - a vicious and relentless fighter, whose modus operandi is to ridicule and threaten those who challenge him.
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