June 1, 2016, by Dr. Rich Swier

Thomas Burr, the National Press Club (NPC) president, doesn’t thinks so. Burr attacked Trump’s recent comments that “the press should be ashamed of themselves” for investigating Trump’s fundraising for veterans. Trump called an ABC News reporter a “sleaze.” “You know my opinion of the media,” Trump said, “it’s very low.”

Burr, who worked for The Salt Lake Tribune before being elected as NPC president, stated:

Donald Trump misunderstands—or, more likely, simply opposes–the role a free press plays in a democratic society. Reporters are supposed to hold public figures accountable. Any American political candidate who attacks the press for doing its job is campaigning in the wrong country. In the United States, under our Constitution, a free press is a check on politicians of all parties.

If we are to demand that other countries respect the tradition of a free press we must also practice that here at home.

QUESTION: If the press holds public figures accountable, who holds the press accountable?

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Trump has previously called for making it easier for public figures to sue news organizations for libel, a change that according to Burr, “would practically suffocate a free press and potentially disable some news companies.” The legal definition of libel is:

A published false statement that is damaging to a person’s reputation; a written defamation.

Trump has never called for Congress to pass a law abridging the freedom of speech or the press. However, other nations have passed blasphemy laws, which have the effect of abridging freedom of speech and the press. Perhaps Mr. Burr should demand that other countries “respect the tradition of a free press”? The below infographic by PEW Research shows 47 countries with a blasphemy law:

snip

Perhaps the press needs to regain the confidence of the people. Rebecca Riffkin from Gallop reported in 2015:

Americans’ confidence in the media has slowly eroded from a high of 55% in 1998 and 1999. Since 2007, the majority of Americans have had little or no trust in the mass media. Trust has typically dipped in election years, including 2004, 2008, 2012 and last year. However, 2015 is not a major election year.

This decline follows the same trajectory as Americans’ confidence in many institutions and their declining trust in the federal government’s ability to handle domestic and international problems over the same time period.

Perhaps Mr. Trump is echoing the American voters distrust of the media during the 2016 election cycle? Perhaps Mr. Trump is saying what the American people have been thinking for a long, long time?

Free speech and a free press is all about telling the truth. Many Americans believe they are living in a time of universal deceit, where telling the truth has become a revolutionary act. @algernonpj

Perhaps Mr. Trump is leading a revolution, or perhaps an insurgency?

http://drrichswier.com/2016/06/01/is-don...alls-reporters/