Press freedom
CNN and its correspondent Jim Acosta recently won a US court ruling that required the White House to reinstate Acosta’s press pass that was revoked following a run-in with President Donald Trump. To those who never gave Trump a chance, the ruling was a great victory and a blow in the name of press freedom.
I could not disagree more forcefully. I think the ruling conveniently ignored the facts of the case and, worse, pandered to the illusion of press freedom without truly understanding what it is and appreciating the responsibilities required and demanded of those who practice and invoke it.
Let us consider the facts minus the disdain that certain sectors of America have heaped on Trump ever since he won against the hopes and expectations of these sore losers. Let us define the roles of Acosta and Trump in the brouhaha that not only was a huge embarrassment for America but also exposed the hypocrisy of its press as an institution.
Acosta is a news reporter. Trump is a news source. Acosta is free to ask any question he wants. That is a guaranteed right under press freedom. But that does not take away the right of Trump, as both a public official and as a citizen, to answer any question according to how best he thinks a question may be answered.
As a news reporter, it is the duty and responsibility of Acosta to report the answer of his news source, in this case Trump, as accurately and as faithfully as he can. That is demanded and required of everyone who practices this noble profession. Now Acosta may not agree with what Trump says, may even think the president wrong.
But not even press freedom gives Acosta the right to argue against any answer a news source gives, much less attempt to change it to hew to what he thinks the answer should be. But unfortunately, that is precisely what happened. Go ahead, check the tapes, review the videos.
The bone of contention was Trump’s description of a caravan of thousands of Central Americans who were then walking all the way to the US border to seek asylum. Trump described the caravan as an invasion. Acosta thought otherwise and engaged Trump in a debate on that point.
Rather than being the hero the anti-Trump hordes have come to regard him, I think Acosta is more of a disgrace and an embarrassment to the profession of journalism. It is exactly people like him --arrogant, self-righteous and biased-- who have given journalism such a bad name. And why CNN is rapidly losing the credibility it took years for others before him to build.
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