WASHINGTON (PAI)News Guild President Bernie Lunzer has stepped forward with a strong defense of his unions members, their media and their reporting in the face of continued vilification and worse by GOP President Donald Trump, his minions and his followers.
Lunzers statement on the morning of August 16 joined a nationwide effort by more than 300 newspapers, started by another Guild-represented newspaper, The Boston Globe, to speak out in defense of themselves, their reporters, their readers and the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of the press.
We all must recognize this president as the clear and present danger he is, Lunzer said.Dictators typically attack both unions and a free press on their way to more heinous actions.
On this day, this union of journalists stands in solidarity with all who call out President Trump for his deplorable attempts to weaken a free press and the FIRST Amendment. Its his capitalization.
Newspapers from coast to coast, large and small, agreed, including non-union papers such as the San Diego (Calif.) Union-Tribune and the Plattsburgh (N.Y.) Press-Republican. So did the now-union Florida Times-Union, one of only two papers that backed Trump in 2016. Even USA Today published an op-ed citing journalists investigative work benefiting readers.
The united front against Trump comes after his years of hate directed at the media, both from the Oval Office and when he ran for president. Trump repeatedly denounces fake news any story he doesnt like -- incites his supporters to physically, verbally and electronically threaten reporters, and ducks and dodges tough questions. He also threatens retaliation.
Ironically, Trump used and uses newspapers notably the gossip columns of the New York City tabloids and his so-called TV reality shows to publicize his name and brand. He keeps his name before the public by ruling the news via vicious, vitriolic tweets and taunts.
All that combined to produce Lunzers statement and the nationwide editorials.
Journalists are on the front lines in a war on freedom of the press because President Trump has taken every opportunity possible to impugn our craft, our mission, our publications us. But he has gone beyond simply calling us names and discrediting us. Never one to know a limit, Trumps hatred and disdain, and the way he expresses them, have become dangerous, Lunzer said.
We have believed for some time that the president's words will result in physical attacks on journalists. Words have consequences, he warned.
While Lunzer did not say so, Trump supporters have physically attacked journalists. Last year, GOP congressional candidate Greg Gianforte in Montana, now a rabid pro-Trump supporter in Congress, slugged and injured a Guardian reporter who asked for Gianfortes position on GOP repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Montana GOP voters elected Gianforte.
During the campaign, Trump supporters at rallies snapped up T-shirts, later pulled from the market after protests from the Radio-Television News Directors Association, advocating lynching of journalists.
And journalists were among more than 100 people rounded up, at the orders of the Trump Justice Department, by Washington, D.C., police for allegedly rioting after protests during Trumps inauguration. Judges later threw out the rioting charges, after juries acquitted the first groups tried. Most of the rest, including the reporters, had charges later dropped.
We are a community of serious journalists, constantly seeking truth and disclosing falsehoods, Lunzer continued. The president doesnt share our goals and generally does everything he can not only to obscure the truth, but also to disparage the truth tellers. We believe this atrocious behavior has to be seen for what it is reckless and endangering.
The Boston Globe has called on fellow news organizations to speak outtoday. They think enough is enough. We do, too.
This is not a political statement based on disagreements. We like a good disagreement and strong discussion. Our words are harsh but they need to be. They reflect the hatred President Trump has fomented against us and our profession.
We will continue to cover the news related to this president and do so in an objective, fair way. But we cannot be silent when he has dubbed us the enemy of the people, a term used previously by dictators.
We want a civil society where people receive trusted, credible news. We will continue our mission. But we all must recognize this president as the clear and present danger he is.Dictators typically attack both unions and a free press on their way to more heinous actions. On this day,Aug. 16, 2018, this union of journalists stands in solidarity against Trumps acts and threats, Lunzer said.
Trump promptly accused newspapers of collusion. Editorial boards at the Los Angeles Times -- now a Guild-represented paper and the San Francisco Chronicle, citing that threat even before he spoke, did not join the others. Why give them (the president and his loyalists) ammunition to scream about collusion? the L.A. paper asked. They were the exception.
Reporters and editors are human, and make mistakes. Correcting them is core to our job. But insisting that truths you dont like are fake news is dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy. And calling journalists the enemy of the people, is dangerous, period, the New York Times, a Guild-represented paper, said.
Source: PAI