A REAL Journalist

[Kid Berwyn]

My Hero: S.V. Daté of HuffPost, who asked:

"Mr. President (sic): After three and a half years, do you regret, at all, all the lying you have done to the American people?"

Traitor moron called on the next raised hand he could find, who asked about the payroll tax.

Daté's question shut Trump the fuck up on August 13, 2020. Has not happened again to my knowledge.

[sop]

1. That's why the White House press corps is now mostly made up of rightwing influencers, podcasters and handpicked

corporate media hacks. The few remaining legitimate journalists are afraid to ask such questions for fear of losing access.

[GiqueCee]

2. Ya gotta wonder...

... is "access" to a pathological liar worth the price of one's self-respect?

[Kid Berwyn]

4. JFK did not fear the Free Press

As a former journalist himself, President Kennedy may not have liked what the journalists were asking, but he certainly respected reporters, editors and the First Amendment. Thus, he encouraged the televised press conference.



"The fact of the matter is that the time when President Kennedy started televised press conferences there were only three or four newspapers in the entire United States that carried a full transcript of a presidential press conference. Therefore, what people read was a distillation... We thought that they should have the opportunity to see it in full."

—PIERRE SALINGER, PRESS SECRETARY TO PRESIDENT KENNEDY, JOHN F. KENNEDY LIBRARY ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW

Source: https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/john-f-kennedy-and-the-press

[H2O Man]

3. Recommended.

I think this is a fine example of the distinction between an actual journalist and a corporate employee.

[Kid Berwyn]

5. Thanks, Brah. What Upton Sinclair said...

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

Truly the First Amendment was revolutionary -- the idea that the People have a RIGHT to know.

What JFK told the Newspaper Publishers Association:

The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. And no official of my Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know.

https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/american-newspaper-publishers-association-19610427

Gee. How many Presidents since have gone to bat against obscurantism in government and for the Free Press?