President-elect Donald Trump is quite the controversial man, to say the least. His temper and lack of any political experience, have starred in a show of their own.
Trump, on numerous occasions, has distastefully announced his position against major media outlets. Recently, The New York Times and CNN were victims of his wrath. He voiced his distaste with both outlets the same way he started his campaign: through Twitter. According to Trump, the ‘failing’ New York Times published “highly inaccurate coverage” of what he refers to as the “Trump Phenomena”. Unfortunately, the slew of accusations does not end there.
Besides arguing with the third most read newspaper in the United States, as of 2013, Trump supported accusations against Jeff Zeleny, CNN Senior Washington Correspondent, of being a “[CNN journalist] who just doesn’t get it.” He then proceeded to state his profound disappointment in CNN in general: “I thought that CNN would get better after they failed so badly in their support of Hillary Clinton however, since election, they are worse!” Donald Trump tweeted on Nov. 29th.
It’s no surprise that the “failing New York Times” and “Crooked CNN” are the targets of Trump’s tangents. He utterly has no respect for the media–and anyone else for that matter.
Throughout his campaign, Trump repeatedly mentioned the “dishonest” media and their unspeakable pledge against him. It was then that he suggested opening libel laws.
For those that do not know, libel is a published false statement responsible for damaging a person’s reputation, commonly referred to as defamation. Such laws were established after the New York Times v. Sullivan Supreme Court case in 1960. The Times published a full-page ad which criticized actions of Montgomery, Alabama police officers and their actions toward civil rights activists. Police Commissioner, L.B. Sullivan, was outraged. He proceeded to sue the newspaper. The state court initially ruled in favor of the plaintiff, agreeing that the paper failed to represent Sullivan accurately. The Times appealed and the Supreme Court took the case and ruled in favor of the newspaper. Evidently, the First amendment granted press freedom, allowing them to publish what they please. In order to prevent further defamation cases, the court decided that libel cases will be prosecuted if the figure proves the ill nature of the fabricated story.
While some may argue that the present presence of media is far from what ‘used to be,’ that is not motive enough to coincide with Trump’s wish to repeal press freedoms.
Yes, the media is not as reliable as it should be. Yes, I believe that political ideologies influence media coverage. Yes, I understand that journalists and television anchors are not the ones who make final calls. Like all fields, the boss in the biggest office calls the shots. Producers dictate what is broadcasted based off the preferences of the corporations who own channels and sign their six figure checks.
As a journalist, I understand how the field works. I understand the importance of a deadline, and what the demands of us. I understand that sometimes, we mess up. That said, I cannot understand how people (Trump) want to repeal our freedoms.
In order to repeal libel laws, there are two options: the Supreme Court would have to overturn their ruling in Times v. Sullivan (which is very unlikely), or by amending the Constitution. Yes, amending.
While the chances of this actually happening are slim to none, the fact that Donald Trump is trying to limit our press freedom, a major component of a liberal democracy, is scary enough.
