Defenders of Democracy Unite: Press Forms Voltron Against White House
Journalists are done with their First Amendment rights being violated.
If the current occupant of the White House holds a press conference and no one is there to broadcast it, does it make a sound?
The answer is no. It does not.
In fact, our Dear Leader had to glom onto New York City's popular Mayor Zohran Mamdani to get some of that sweet, sweet media spotlight he craves after all the broadcast news networks, even Fox, pulled their White House pool coverage.
They did this out of solidarity after the current occupant threw a temper tantrum and kicked news organizations CNN, MS NOW, and Politico out of the White House, stripping them of their press credentials for having the audacity to report accurately on our toddler-in-chief.
The three news organizations have also filed a lawsuit to regain access in a clear First Amendment violation, where the media is being kept from doing its primary function—informing the public.
As a result, all news agencies finally formed Voltron and became the Defenders of Democracy by removing their people from the White House press pool and cutting off the sound to the White House live feed. Even C-SPAN, which just gives you news straight, no chaser, was like "No me gusta," and peaced out.
In a statement, C-SPAN said:
C-SPAN stands in solidarity with our colleagues as they seek to simply do the work that America’s Constitution guarantees them the freedom to do and upon which our democracy depends. The answer should always be more access to our government, not less. That openness serves the American public and strengthens our democracy.
NABJ President Errin Haines: 'We Have to Push Back'
If you ask Errin Haines, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, and editor-at-large for The 19th, about news orgs finally joining forces against their suppression, she'll tell you, it's about time!
"The message that has finally, gratefully, been received is that an attack on any one of us is an attack on all of us," Haines told THE BLACK SNOB. "If we don't stand up today, anyone that doesn't stand up today, it could be them tomorrow. ... People are ready to lock arms and be in solidarity again, in the rejection of this president's ongoing attack."
Haines, whose org put out a press release decrying the White House's actions shortly after the toddler kicked the three news agencies out, said the orange tan man has a history of attacking and maligning the press, particularly Black women.
"Every time one of them tries to ask a question on behalf of the American people, it's demeaned, it's dismissed, right?" said Haines.
After his numerous attacks on the media, Haines said this response was overdue.
"Certainly, this dates back not only to his first term in the White House," Haines said. "But throughout his career he has been somebody who has had an adversarial relationship with the press even as he recognizes that he has used it to his advantage at various points in his own rise."
Haines believes the "tipping point" between the President and the press may have been the violence that occurred during the White House Correspondents' Dinner in April when a gunman entered the event's venue, getting past security. It was the first time political violence had happened at the annual press event.
Haines said the president's rhetoric has had a "trickle-down effect" in which aggression and hostility toward journalists have become "normalized," spreading at the local level, affecting journalists' ability to do their jobs.
"Frankly, we are talking about a climate where trust in our profession has been eroded," Haines said. "But that erosion has been accelerated by a president who calls us fake news, who says that the press is the enemy of the people. Once that starts to kind of seep into our democracy, into our society, that can contribute to the erosion of trust, and so it is so important for us (to push back)."
What's next? With CNN, MS NOW, and Politico suing for access, the courts will determine whether their First Amendment rights were violated, while Haines charges that journalists, as always, will keep doing their jobs.
"You saw those White House correspondents literally turned away at the White House gates. And what do they do? They go across the street, and they keep reporting," said Haines. "Our journalists are going to keep showing up. The Black women journalists who have been disrespected? They will keep asking the questions. They keep showing up to do their jobs every single day with grace and with excellence and with integrity."