So far, President Donald Trump has had a controversial presidency in just his first month in office. He faced national outcry after his divisive travel ban was initiated and has faced backlash from major news organizations with his constant attacks on the media’s "fake news."
Trump continued his attack on the media this past Friday by denying several news outlets such as CNN, The New York Times and The Guardian access to a press conference. In attendance were conservative news outlets such as Breitbart News and Fox News, all organizations that have shown support for Trump.
Such a scenario was humorously depicted on Saturday Night Live a few weeks ago, with a CNN reporter shown locked in a cage at the back of a press conference. However, what started as an entertaining skit has now become a shocking reality.
All Americans should be extremely concerned by this appalling turn of events. By hand-picking which news organizations are allowed access to White House briefings and information, Trump denies the right of well-known, prominent news organizations to provide the public with accurate information. By only allowing conservative organizations that have been proponents of the Trump administration, he diminishes the amount of truthful information that is reported to the public. If only one perspective is being reported, it skews the information in one direction without allowing contradicting opinions.
As the president, you cannot simply silence people you dislike or disagree with. Not only is this immature, it goes against fundamental American values. America is a democracy and we should have the privilege to express a multitude of political beliefs without ramifications. Organizations like CNN have an obligation and a right to report information from the White House to the American people. If they are being constantly denied access to this information, they may feel the need to try and lessen their criticisms on Trump in order to be allowed access to this information. This would only cause inaccurate reporting and threaten American journalism itself.
The media needs to be critical of the president in order to keep him in check. Trump seems unable to handle any kind of criticism at all and refuses to address the real concerns many Americans have over acts being committed by his organization. During Trump’s campaign, he claimed he was going to “Make America Great Again.” From what I have seen so far, it seems that Trump only intends to do this for people who think and act just like him, and not for all American people.
After news of the media ban came out, the executive editor of The New York Times stated that “free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest." I could not agree more. American journalists have the right to be critical and question their government. We have freedom of speech and freedom of the press for a reason, allowing journalists to act as watch dogs on government officials.
There are numerous news organizations with different political slants, and if democratic or liberal organizations are being silenced, then Trump is attempting to only let one perspective of his administration and policy be presented to the public. Anything that Trump disagrees with is not fake news, a concept he seems incapable of understanding. He only continues to polarize Republicans and Democrats by refusing to work with the other side, but instead name-calling and issuing blame. With all the blatant lies coming out of the Trump administration, Trump himself is actually the biggest perpetrator of fake news.
Madison Schultz is a sophomore majoring in English and communications. What are your thoughts on the press conference ban? Do you follow these news sources? How have your media intake habits changed since Trump has come into office? Please send all questions, comments and concerns to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
