SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Press Corps to President-Elect Trump: Rules Are Ours to Set--Not Yours
"When you shout down or ignore a reporter at a press conference who has said something you don't like, you're going to face a unified front," letter warns media-hostile Trump
Jan 18, 2017
As Donald Trump prepares to take office, the U.S. press corps has offered the president-elect--whose relationship with the media is dicey at best--"a backgrounder on what to expect from us over the next four years."
The open letter published Tuesday at the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) reminds Trump that cracking down on access won't stop the media from doing its job: "We are very good at finding alternative ways to get information; indeed, some of the best reporting during the campaign came from news organizations that were banned from your rallies," it reads.
The letter, penned by CJR editor-in-chief and publisher Kyle Pope, also warns Trump that "off the record and other ground rules are ours--not yours--to set" and that "we decide how much airtime to give your spokespeople and surrogates."
And it vows:
We're going to work together. You have tried to divide us and use reporters' deep competitive streaks to cause family fights. Those days are ending. We now recognize that the challenge of covering you requires that we cooperate and help one another whenever possible. So, when you shout down or ignore a reporter at a press conference who has said something you don't like, you're going to face a unified front. We'll work together on stories when it makes sense, and make sure the world hears when our colleagues write stories of importance. We will, of course, still have disagreements, and even important debates, about ethics or taste or fair comment. But those debates will be ours to begin and end.
The letter cites multiples examples of Trump's hostility toward the fourth estate, including his shouting matches with journalists, having banned members of the media from his rallies, blasting specific news outlets on Twitter, and threatening to loosen libel laws "so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money."
Just this week, there was considerable media outcry after news reports suggested the Trump team was thinking of moving the press corps--referred to as the "opposition party"--out of the White House. Echoing Pope's letter, CBS News chief White House correspondent Major Garrett had this to say in response:
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
As Donald Trump prepares to take office, the U.S. press corps has offered the president-elect--whose relationship with the media is dicey at best--"a backgrounder on what to expect from us over the next four years."
The open letter published Tuesday at the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) reminds Trump that cracking down on access won't stop the media from doing its job: "We are very good at finding alternative ways to get information; indeed, some of the best reporting during the campaign came from news organizations that were banned from your rallies," it reads.
The letter, penned by CJR editor-in-chief and publisher Kyle Pope, also warns Trump that "off the record and other ground rules are ours--not yours--to set" and that "we decide how much airtime to give your spokespeople and surrogates."
And it vows:
We're going to work together. You have tried to divide us and use reporters' deep competitive streaks to cause family fights. Those days are ending. We now recognize that the challenge of covering you requires that we cooperate and help one another whenever possible. So, when you shout down or ignore a reporter at a press conference who has said something you don't like, you're going to face a unified front. We'll work together on stories when it makes sense, and make sure the world hears when our colleagues write stories of importance. We will, of course, still have disagreements, and even important debates, about ethics or taste or fair comment. But those debates will be ours to begin and end.
The letter cites multiples examples of Trump's hostility toward the fourth estate, including his shouting matches with journalists, having banned members of the media from his rallies, blasting specific news outlets on Twitter, and threatening to loosen libel laws "so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money."
Just this week, there was considerable media outcry after news reports suggested the Trump team was thinking of moving the press corps--referred to as the "opposition party"--out of the White House. Echoing Pope's letter, CBS News chief White House correspondent Major Garrett had this to say in response:
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
As Donald Trump prepares to take office, the U.S. press corps has offered the president-elect--whose relationship with the media is dicey at best--"a backgrounder on what to expect from us over the next four years."
The open letter published Tuesday at the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) reminds Trump that cracking down on access won't stop the media from doing its job: "We are very good at finding alternative ways to get information; indeed, some of the best reporting during the campaign came from news organizations that were banned from your rallies," it reads.
The letter, penned by CJR editor-in-chief and publisher Kyle Pope, also warns Trump that "off the record and other ground rules are ours--not yours--to set" and that "we decide how much airtime to give your spokespeople and surrogates."
And it vows:
We're going to work together. You have tried to divide us and use reporters' deep competitive streaks to cause family fights. Those days are ending. We now recognize that the challenge of covering you requires that we cooperate and help one another whenever possible. So, when you shout down or ignore a reporter at a press conference who has said something you don't like, you're going to face a unified front. We'll work together on stories when it makes sense, and make sure the world hears when our colleagues write stories of importance. We will, of course, still have disagreements, and even important debates, about ethics or taste or fair comment. But those debates will be ours to begin and end.
The letter cites multiples examples of Trump's hostility toward the fourth estate, including his shouting matches with journalists, having banned members of the media from his rallies, blasting specific news outlets on Twitter, and threatening to loosen libel laws "so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money."
Just this week, there was considerable media outcry after news reports suggested the Trump team was thinking of moving the press corps--referred to as the "opposition party"--out of the White House. Echoing Pope's letter, CBS News chief White House correspondent Major Garrett had this to say in response:
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.