We now live in an age where political figures think they can control how the press works and how the average American thinks by shutting down any form of questioning.
On January 11th, 2017, President-Elect Donald Trump held his first new conference in quite a while. While news conferences are important to keep the media, and in turn the people informed, this press conference gave a scary look into the future of media. You can read the full transcript of that news conference here. What does the world look like when a political leader decides who can and cannot know information or ask questions at a press conference?
What I’m referring to here is Trump’s unwillingness to answer questions from CNN reporter Jim Acosta due to a pending conflict surrounding CNN, BuzzFeed, and materials that they’ve talked about concerning Trump and a few questionable actions on his part. You can read the BuzzFeed article here the BuzzFeed article here or hear more from YouTube news commentator Philip Defranco explaining more here:
So what does this mean for the press? Well, assuming that in the future, fellow journalists act the way they did during the press conference (and boy, do I hope that changes), Trump, and anyone else in power who decides to act similarly will decide who gets to ask the questions, what networks are allowed to report, and what kind of information gets out. There’s definitely problems going on here.
The first step to any form of dictatorship is eliminating the ability of the people and the press to ask questions. Hopefully, that’s not where America is headed within the next eight years.
The press is there for the benefit of the people. Even though we’re seeing a rise in fake news produced by ill-informed and/or ill-intentioned people, many reputable news networks, publications, and internet resources still work to serve the people. It’s their job to tell you what’s going on as it concerns the general public, and it’s certainly their responsibility to question everything.
The press is always going to question the government. It’s one of the ways that politicians, especially the president, are held accountable. Political figures will never make a move without someone asking “why?”, and that makes certain that they can back up their moves. This is crucial because they’re supposed to be working for the people, not for themselves.
When you start to eliminate people who ask “why?”, then you eliminate the voice of the people. The American people want to know why politicians make the moves that they do, despite Trump saying that the average American doesn’t care about his tax returns, for example. If nobody cared, the press wouldn’t ask.
And one can always argue that Americans are in their own little bubble when it comes to media. Any person of any background can find an internet source claiming to be “news”, but simply confirms their personal biases. This fake news problem was one of the biggest players in the election, no doubt. But, moving forward, it’s crucial that everyone just does their research. Google the source and it’s background before posting it to Facebook as “news”. Make sure the website knows their stuff, and it's cross-referenced with other reputable news outlets. Chances are, if CNN, NBC, NY Times, and Washington Post are all reporting the same thing, it’s most likely reputable news. On the other hand, if you are reading something from Breitbart, BuzzFeed, Huffington Post, or Fox News, you are most likely receiving information with a strong bias. The best way for you to stay informed on accurate information is to backup your source and trust networks who fact-check with transcripts, video clips, or written statements.
On another important note, fellow journalists need to be their peers’ first line of defense. In the future, when Trump or any other political figure shuts down an entire news network based on personal bias. The next reporter called on needs to ask the same question. Over and over again Acosta’s question should have been asked by fellow reporters in the room. They need to stand up for each other because they all serve the masses.
Know that your voice matters. Know that you too can question everything. Know that the press knows that you care about what’s going on.
