Reporters from Time magazine and The Associated Press chose not to attend in protest of the White House’s actions https://t.co/0kixlsnzVu— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 25, 2017
"We have great respect for the press
when it comes to government. That is something you can't ban an entity from – Conservative,
Liberal or otherwise. I think that's what makes a Democracy a democracy versus
a dictatorship." Sean Spicer December 16 2016
On Feb 24 2017 the White House held a press
gaggle instead of its daily press briefing
and barred NYT, Politico, CNN, LA Times, Buzzfeed, BBC, the Guardian and Daily
Mail from attending. Allowed to attend were Breitbart News, Hearst, McClatchy, Wall Street Journal, Washington
Times, One American News Network, AP, Time, and TV
networks CBS, NBC, Fox and ABC.
AP and Time heard in advance and boycotted the gaggle. Alarmingly, when some journalists gathered
outside in frustration, they were removed by Secret Service, on the order of
the White House.
It's not unusual to hold in camera press
gaggles, but it is unusual to cherry-pick who can attend. Gaggles with the
press secretary usually limit the pool of reporters when they conflict with the
president's travel arrangements, in which case they often happen on Air Force
One.
This gaggle, however, simply replaced the
daily press briefing. The motive was ludicrously transparent. They wanted to
avoid uncomfortable questions about the FBI's refusal to accommodate the White
House demand that coverage of possible relationships between Trump staff and
Russia be censored. They also wanted to minimize damage done by Donald Trump's
manic, rambling, non-sequitur-packed, contradictory, nonsensical tirade against the media at CPAC, where he
revved up the crowd of adoring fans into virtual hysteria.
Much like Mitch McConnell's attempt to
muzzle Elizabeth Warren in Jeff Sessions' confirmation hearing, and as all the
Trump Administration moves have done so far, this one backfired on the White
House. Interest in the Russian connection has ballooned and liberal
outlets have gotten good publicity already over this gaggle. Public outrage has
flared up again, and legitimate media are expressing their disdain.
Wall Street Journal issued a statement
saying that it had attended not knowing about the exclusions and "had we
known at the time, we would have participated, and we will not participate in
such closed briefings in the future." Executive editor of McClatchy Washington said the same.
Marty Baron, Executive Editor of The Post called it appalling and added "This is an
undemocratic path that the administration is travelling… We are currently
evaluating what our response will be if this sort of thing happens again."
The Committee to Protect Journalists and
the National Press Club condemned the move and White House Correspondents Association
president Jeff Mason said, "We encourage the organizations that were
allowed in to share the material with others in the press corps who were not. The
board will be discussing this further with White House staff." New York Times White House correspondent Peter
Baker wrote to the WH press corps email list, "Congratulations to Time and
AP for not attending today's gaggle in protest."
Ben Wizner, Director of the Speech, Privacy
and Technology Project at the American Civil Liberties Union said that this is "Another
disturbing example of the Trump administration’s contempt for the vital role a
free press plays in our democracy."
Is there a sector of western democracy that
the Trump Administration has not assaulted in some way in the past month? Each one is worse than the last as
Bannon gains power and Trump believes more and more that he can get away with
anything.
It's clear that they and their close team are
trying to replicate Vladimir Putin's assault on freedom of the press. But
they're missing a couple of important factors, the first one of which explains
why they're missing them. Putin is a nasty and dangerous man but he's really
intelligent, insightful and strategic, which none of the Trump camp are.
Secondly, Putin does love to boast, but not about his underhanded moves. Trump
and Bannon can't stop themselves. Thirdly, Putin never exposes himself in writing—i.e.
in tweets.
Again, Trump can't stop himself. Fourthly, most
Americans aren't as brain-washable as Russians seem to be. Alexander
Solzhenitsyn wrote, in The Gulag Archipelago, “In keeping silent about evil, in
burying it so deep within us that no sign of it appears on the surface, we are
implanting it, and it will rise up a thousand fold in the future. When we
neither punish nor reproach evildoers, we are not simply protecting their
trivial old age, we are thereby ripping the foundations of justice from beneath
new generations.”
That appears to be happening again in
Russia, as Putin's popularity increases for no reason that has any sense or moral good
to it, but it will never happen in America.
Bannon, Trump, Priebus, Conway, Spicer can all
rant and rave about the corrupt press as much as they want. But they're only
reaching a negligible number of Americans in comparison to the huge number they
are inspiring to take a stand. Most of America, and the whole world, can see
the truth. An enormous amount of pro-democracy activity is happening at every
level, people of all ages, including the youth, getting involved in politics
beyond just voting, going to town hall meetings, voicing their protest, joining
and/or volunteering for pro-democracy organizations. Democratic politicians are
stepping up in response to demands from their electorate that they fight.
Hillary Clinton has resurfaced, as have the
Obamas. And of course the FBI is
continuing with its investigation into the Russian Connection.
The stupidity, the lies, the constant
denials are intensely frustrating. Trump's attempt to disenfranchise the press
as part of a larger strategy to disenfranchise every non-white and every poor
and middle-class white in America is terrifying. But it's feeble in the face of
the sleeping giant that his dictator-type tactics have awoken. To quote
Representative John Lewis:
We must work together to make a way out of no way. #goodtrouble pic.twitter.com/LPk18qCoIS— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) January 30, 2017
