After a tumultuous week that included news of a low job approval rating, President Trump's Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, sent shockwaves through the journalism world by barring certain outlets from a private gaggle on Friday. Let's start by defining what a gaggle is as it's a vital part of the surprising moment. According to Wikipedia, "a Press Gaggle is an informal briefing by the White House Press Secretary which is on record, but disallows videography." This is different from the formal press briefings that are usually broadcast on major news networks.

Therefore, just three hours after President Trump called out the media at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference Press Secretary Sean Spicer selected a handful of journalists to join him in his office for a private gaggle. Major news outlets such as CNN, LA Times, and The Washington Post were barred from this private gathering. Mr. Spicer argued in a private recording by a reporter that, "We’re going to aggressively push back. We’re just not going to sit back and let, you know, false narratives, false stories, inaccurate facts get out there." Echoing President Trump's earlier comments about, what he calls, the Fake News media outlets.

One media outlet, The Wall Street Journal, that was included on the short list of accepted journalists said in a recent article that this was, "an unusual move that underscores the increasingly strained relations between the new administration and the media." It is no secret that President Trump does not have a positive opinion of the media, having attacked journalists in various ways since the start of his campaign.There is a line that needs to be drawn. As an English major who has worked on countless articles for Odyssey and The Huffington Post this profession, and those who work in it, is so important and vital to our current society. Let me be clear though that there is a struggle and that fake news is ever prevalent and it becomes difficult to distinguish between real and fake news. This struggle is where President Trump should be putting his energy when it comes to this "fight" with the media.

The problem isn't with media outlets as a single entity, it is with the sheer amount of media outlets as a whole. On any given story you are bound to read multiple perspectives on the same topic. This is even truer when it comes to political topics due to the very nature that media outlets report the news. Unbiased news reporting has become a thing of the past. No matter what news site you choose to go to for your news there is bound to be a one-sided opinion on a news story. This, along with the increase in fake news writers, is the issue.

However, let's not get sidetracked here. While there is an issue of fake news and biased reporting, a bigger issue is what happened last Friday in the West Wing. Let's examine the rather long history that has existed between the press and the White House. According to whitehousehistory.org,

"Woodrow Wilson held the first formal presidential press conference in 1913 and saw it as a vehicle for uniting public opinion behind his programs. He hoped the press would be his partner (not adversary) in this endeavor. He also thought that the press from around the nation might channel the concerns of their readers to the White House. Wilson would not agree to be quoted, he spoke off the record, and only reporters were allowed in the room."

While every President has, in some manner, had a tough relationship with the press that relationship still exists. On Friday, President Trump and his Press Secretary changed that relationship and in doing so have put a dent in a component of the First Amendment that is so vital to our identity as Americans. According to the U.S. Constitution, the First Amendment states "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." There are many components to the First Amendment but the two of relevance here are Freedom of Speech and the Press.

The law does not exist in the United States. However, it is important to note that while it was incredibly wrong what Mr. Spicer did last Friday he is allowed, legally, to bar certain outlets from a gaggle. It is not about the legality of the situation, but rather the message it sends to the American people.

Mr. Trump, this is not the way to combat fake news. It only further perpetuates an overreach in power. The media, in some moments, represents American people and to bar them from what should've been an open gaggle sends a clear message to this American citizen: a complete disregard for facts.

The press is not the "enemy of the people" by any means.