Freedom Of The Press

A Salute To The Major News Media, Resisting Trump Presidency Efforts To Intimidate Truth And Facts!

Ronald 12 Comments

America is blessed with a basic set of freedoms, as stated in the First Amendment to the US Constitution–the right to freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and to petition the government for redress of grievances.

Tragically, the Trump Presidency has massively violated the First Amendment, leading to legal and judicial challenges, many which have been won, but at great financial and emotional cost.

Now, the Trump Administration is investigating and suing NY TIMES journalists for exposing the dangers of the new Air Force One “gift” from the Middle East nation of Qatar, showing how unsafe the plane is for protecting the President, other government officials, and news reporters that travel with the President.

Crazily, Trump wants to prosecute these reporters, despite the fact that their exposure of the issue about the plane involved protection not only of him, but of national security in a broad sense.

So this blogger and author, once again, as often in the past, salutes the major news media that will NOT bend to Trump, and will continue to commit themselves to exposure of truth and facts without any ideological basis.

Specifically, although not only, these pathbreaking and great news media include:

NY TIMES
WASHINGTON POST
LOS ANGELES TIMES
CABLE NEWS NETWORK (CNN)
MS NOW
NBC NEWS
ABC NEWS
CBS NEWS

Already, there is a challenge to the independence of CBS News, controlled by Larry Ellison and his son, David Ellison, who is trying to gain control of CNN, as part of a massive merger, being resisted by 12 Attorneys General of states in court.

The Decline Of Honest Journalism: Washington Post, CBS, And Potential Threat To CNN!

Ronald 17 Comments

American Democracy is in dire danger, with the decline of honest journalism, and with major news sources compromised.

The Washington Post, owned by Amazon tech entreneur Jeff Bezos, has just cut one third of its staff, including such departments as sports, local news, international news, and previously moving opinion columns toward a right wing slant. This was the newspaper which exposed the Watergate Scandal under President Richard Nixon, and has won the second most Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism, only behind the New York Times.

CBS News has become a disaster under Bari Weiss, no longer a beacon of decent, honest journalism, and if Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow were still alive, they would be in shock, as retired 94 year old Dan Rather, most assuredly, is now.

CNN is in danger of being taken over by the same Billionaire Larry Ellison family that now controls CBS News, and could lead to the destruction of the original, award winning cable news channel, created in 1980 by Ted Turner.

With the decline of so many reliable news sources, and Donald Trump interfering with freedom of the press, the future looks gloomy for upholding truth and facts, and maintaining the Constitution and the rule of law in the future!

All News Outlets Except One Refuse New Pentagon Media Restrictions!

Ronald 1 Comment

Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense (or War insisted by him and Donald Trump) has pushed out all access to Pentagon information, by forcing all journalists to leave their long determined rights to have ability to question and investigate what is going on in our government, regarding military matters and national security.

Except for the one case of One America News, an extremist right wing MAGA Republican news outlet, ALL other news and journalistic websites and their reporters no longer will be able to gain information, except through outside connections, undermining the idea of a government accountable to the population of the nation. Corruption and abuse will flourish as a result!

So 40 news outlets, from left wing to right wing, including
Fox News
Newsmax Media
Daily Caller
Washington Examiner
(all right wing oriented)
join other, more reputable outlets including
NBC News
ABC News
CBS News
CNN
MSNBC
Associated Press
The Economist
The Guardian
The Hill
Huffington Post
New York Times
Los Angeles Times
NPR
PBS Newshour
Politico
Real Clear Politics
Wall Street Journal
Washington Post,
Washington Times
and numerous lesser known news outlets in their unity against the Pentagon mandate!

This is massive interference with Freedom of the Press!

Renaming Defense Department As War Department A Bad Sign For Future!

Ronald 2 Comments

Pege Hegseth, the Fox News weekend host, now heading the Pentagon, has brought the “wrecking ball” to that government agency, and has promoted renaming the Department of Defense as the Department of War.

That was the name of the department that deals with military and security matters from 1789 to 1947, but renamed the Defense Department under President Harry Truman in 1947.

But Donald Trump and his crony, Hegseth, want to promote a war like imperialistic image, and are aggressively engaged in hostile actions toward nations in the Western Hemisphere, including attacks on speculated “drug boats” of Venezuela and Panama regarding the Panama Canal Treaty, as well as pushing the idea of Canada becoming the “51st state”, thereby causing the worst relations with our northern neighbor in more than a century and a half of peaceful neighborliness.

Additionally, there is growing fear of Trump and Hegseth pushing for control of Greenland, taking it away from Denmark, which it has been part of for the past two centuries, thereby causing tensions with NATO.

Additionally, Hegseth has attempted to force journalists who report on the Pentagon to agree to limitations on freedom of the press, but the good news is that journalists of the left and the right have refused enmasse to agree to such limitations.

The idea of reviving the Department of “War” needs to be repudiated in every way possible, and the idea of US invasion of sovereign nations and territories needs to be repudiated vehemently by all civilized nations, as there should not be any caving in to the concept of US imperialism being revived!

Shocking Abuse Of Power: Censorship Mounting In Wake Of Charlie Kirk Assassination

Ronald 56 Comments

The Charlie Kirk Assassination is, shockingly, leading to a massive abuse of power by Donald Trump and his administration.

The latest shock is that comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC late evening program has been preempted indefinitely, because ABC has been threatened at losing its Federal Communications Commission license to operate, if they did not yank his program, due to comments made about Charlie Kirk.

This censorship follows CBS canceling comedian Stephen Colbert’s late evening show, effective in the late Spring 2026, but who can say that Colbert might not be “canceled” sooner than then?

CBS already made a legal settlement with Donald Trump, as did ABC earlier, over Trump’s accusations of unfair treatment. And CNN may soon be linked with CBS as part of a massive media merger, a danger sign for freedom of speech and press, and the First Amendment. Also, Trump has sued the New York Times for $15 billion for what Trump calls their lies about him,

The Washington Post under Jeff Bezos fired a columnist for her comments about Charlie Kirk, and there have been other media people who have been dismissed, and powerful corporate interests are rapidly consolidating control of news media into fewer hands, of billionaire oligarchs.

Additionally, universities are going after professors and staff, in a reaction that is shocking, along with many corporations, dismissing staff for their comments posted in only one week since the Charlie Kirk tragedy.

This unfortunate situation, leading to what looks like a move toward totalitarian control, reminds of the Reichstag Fire in Nazi Germany in 1933, which moved Adolf Hitler toward absolute power over his population.

America is in a constitutional crisis, deeper than ever, as we near eight months of this second Trump term!

How critics and opponents will be able to continue to resist is seen as a living, endless, nightmare!

Trump Threatens News Media And First Amendment: Alarming Development!

admin 4 Comments

Donald Trump has been critical of news media for years, due to their reporting of his antics and illegalities and immoralities.

But recently, he has indicated his intention to shut down critical news media if he is returned to the Oval Office.

This threat to the First Amendment and freedom of the press is highly alarming, and no decent person should think that it is acceptable that he could go ahead and try to shut down the press, both print and cable!

Trump has issued threats against such reputable sources as the NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, NPR and PBS among others.

In his world, only right wing media, such as FOX NEWS CHANNEL would exist, and yet even that network has come under attack from him during his Presidential campaign.

If Donald Trump is returned to the White House, the nation will be in the grips of an authoritarian Fascist regime, so it cannot be allowed to occur!

Pulitzer Prize Board Upholds Awards Of 2018 To NY Times, Washington Post, On Trump-Russian Collusion In 2016 Presidential Election!

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The NY Times and Washington Post, the two “national” newspapers, have received the most Pulitzer Prizes for Journalism in American history–with the NY Times winning 132 and the Washington Post 65.

In 2018, both newspapers won the Pulitzer Prize once again, for their reporting of the Donald Trump Presidential campaign in 2016 colluding with the Russians and Vladimir Putin to help defeat Hillary Clinton.

Donald Trump was and remains outraged by such accusations, although a Senate Republican committee in 2019 reaffirmed the truth about that election, that Trump’s narrow victory in three states was fixed!

But now, the Pulitzer Prize Foundation has upheld the correctness of the awards given four years ago, a reaffirmation of freedom of the press and promotion of the truth!

Journalism Essential Protection To Preserve American And Foreign Democracy From Authoritarianism

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Journalism is an honorable profession, and the promotion and protection of the institution and the people who spend their lives promoting truth and facts is essential, in order to preserve American and foreign democracies from authoritarianism.

Of course, there are those journalism sites and individuals who choose to use their influence to peddle lies and mistruths, (such as Fox News Channel, Newsmax, One America Network), but it will not take away the validity and reality that major news sites ARE reliable, no matter how much naysayers claim otherwise.

All human beings make mistakes, and no journalism source is 100 percent accurate, but history tells us that reliable journalism sites are correct more than 90 percent of the time.

When one sees the shutdown of the Hong Kong democracy newspaper, and the crackdown on all expressions of truth, facts, and democracy in many nations around the world, it makes the defense of freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and the right to vote ever more urgent into the future.

So the struggle against authoritarianism requires recognition in America of such news sources that have proved their value and accuracy over the long haul, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and a multitude of other news sources!

Another Opportunity To Salute The New York Times, Today 169 Years Old, A True National Treasure To Freedom Of The Press!

Ronald Leave a comment

This author and blogger has hailed the New York Times numerous times over its courage and principle in always seeking the truth, and has celebrated its birthday many times, and it is time to do so again, on its 169th Anniversary!

The New York Times is a true national treasure to freedom of the press, the best guardian against dictatorship and authoritarianism.

The paper has won 130 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper, and has saved America with its investigations and revelations on government and its leaders since the middle of the 19th century, along with the best, most thorough discussion of foreign affairs, as well as culture and finance.

It was responsible for exposing Watergate, along with its “sister” competitor, the Washington Post, which has won 69 Pulitzer Prizes, the second most of any newspaper, and founded on December 6, 1877, so almost 143 years old.

The fact that both newspapers are seen as the enemy of Donald Trump and crooked Republicans in 2020 is a badge of honor.

The New York Times–“All the News That’s Fit to Print”–will survive Donald Trump, and will report on all authoritarian regimes around the globe, as it has done through the years.

It is not a perfect newspaper, and neither is the Washington Post, and they have both admitted shortcomings over the years.

But to be well informed and understand public affairs, one MUST read the New York Times and Washington Post, or give up a claim to being knowledgeable on all kinds of public issues!

The So Called “Liberal News Media” Are True Heroes, Constantly Explain Facts And Truth!

Ronald 33 Comments

Donald Trump, as usual, condemns the “liberal news media” as a “hoax”, as “fake news”, as journalists who are out to get him, as if it is the job of news media to be “nice” to Presidents and other political leaders.

If one went back to the past, ask Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and other Presidents how they reacted to constant harsh criticism from the media of their time periods.

Of course, they did not like it, but NONE of them acted the way Donald Trump has, which is a threat to democracy and freedom of the press!

The news media, often called “liberal”, is only called that because they refuse to support corruption, racism, nativism, misogyny, homophobia, corporate wrong doings, religious hypocrisy, and lack of ethics and morality among public figures.

They are out to report the truth, the facts, and take a lot of flack from those who choose to ignore the fact of their accuracy and honesty, with an occasional, human trait, error, but not intended, not endemic, and not evil spirited!

It was the news media that saved us during Watergate, and it is the news media that is doing heroic service in working to prevent a Trump dictatorship, which he would love to impose on the American people.

Journalists worldwide and in this nation have often sacrificed their safety and even lives, in their mission to inform, and nothing will stop them from their commitment and willingness to sacrifice for the common good!