And so Trump's control of the media starts...

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/07/media/trump-cnn-press-conference/index.html

Whatever one's views of CNN, this is a president who has constantly attack the press, talked of shutting down networks, called them an "enemy of the people", calls any negative press "fake news" and now he's banning journalists from the White House if they challenge him on anything. @Paladin is no doubt overjoyed.

Can't people see how dangerous this is?

They don’t care because he hates all the same people he hates. Then when he runs out of them, he’ll turn on his followers for not being loyal enough.

Trump Blasts Media for Reporting Things He Says

"Time and time again, Jim Acosta has asked me questions and then turned around and reported my answers," Trump said. "He is a horrible person."

The outrage of fake tears that pours forth over this would leave one to think the tears when combined would be bigger than the Atlantic and Pacific combined.

Acosta has been an asshole for two years.

Trump has been the most open President. He's constantly talking to the press. In fact some people say that's one of his faults. He won't shut the hell up.

John Stewart was right on the money when he said: "I think the journalists have taken it personally. They're personally wounded and offended by this man. He baits them and they dive in, and what he's done well, I thought, is appeal to their own narcissism, to their own ego."

Trump uses the media and they go with it because they are hell bent on trying to score that "gotcha moment" against Trump.

Acosta was a fool to behave the way he did in that press conference and guess what? By giving Trump an excuse to yank his pass Trump has diverted a huge chunk of the conversation away from the mid-terms to this now fake outrage story. Once again Trump's opponents play right into his hands.

Whether or not Acosta is an "asshole" doesn't mean his questions were invalid. They were perfect valid. And since when is being an asshole a reason for being banned? It's not...and you damn well know it. Tell me what was wrong with his questions? They were entirely about White House policy.

As for Trump being the most "open" president....

You're stupid to think Trump is not the most open President when it comes to the media. You may not like his answers but he's constantly talking to the press.

Far more than Obama (who went after reporters, spying on them, investigating them and jailing them while none of you said shit about it) and far more than Bush.

And it's not his questions that are the problem. It's his behavior. The guy is a leftist and he acts like it. He's being doing it for two years and someone finally said enough.

In two years Trump yanks the press pass of one reporter! That reporter is still free to report. He's not in jail, he's not being investigated, he's not being spied on, but he's free to bitch all he wants about Trump. He just won't be in the White House press pool anymore. And you act like the world is ending because of that. Go fuck off.

You didn't answer my question. Were Acosta's questions reasonable? Because if they were then he's been banned simply because the President doesn't like to have to answer tough questions on his own policy. That's what you're trying to squirm away from addressing. Is it correct to ban someone for asking a legitimate question?

I've said that since almost the beginning. Trump trolls the press and they fall for it every single time.

The questions don't actually matter. Trump answers all sorts of questions. Just watch this press conference. He was answering everything, including initially Acosta's questions, but because he knows that Acosta is easy to bait into spouting off he went and did it and Acosta played right into it.

Acosta wasn't banned for the questions. Notice that Trump did not ban anyone else including the person he said asked a racist question. Trump specifically went after Acosta and CNN. Acosta should be ashamed of himself not because he asked questions but because he once again allowed Trump to play him like a fiddle.

Trump is purposely trolling the media in order to deflect from other things and they keep falling for it.

Reaction in some Facebook journalism groups I belong to are pretty evenly split between "Acosta was asking the tough questions" and "Acosta was grandstanding yet again and it finally caught up to him".

I'm not saying Acosta wasn't asking tough questions. They all were because they are trying hard to catch Trump saying something really stupid but as much as they like to think Trump is an idiot he's not. He's been in showbiz and he knows how to play people. That's exactly what he did to Acosta.

Have you actually went full retard? The guy wasn't pulled up for asking questions but for being a leftist? Well that must be fine then. A free press obviously doesnt include having a left leaning slant

I have no idea if Acosta is an asshole or solid guy. I dont really care.

The reason Trump went after Acosta was because Acosta was pointing out clear flaws and misdirection in the campaign ad. Given Acostas line of atrack was valid, there really is no reason for him to get shot down, other than the fact your man doesnt like his mistakes being highlighted.

You have different ideas about journalism than I do.

oh noes

America in general has gone full retard. Zombie's post perfectly encapsulates the level of contemporary political discourse. It goes something like this:

"You're a leftist!"

"You're a neo-con!"



Somewhere along the way, people forgot they're actually all Americans.

Make America Great Again!

The issue here is that Trump lies, and lies frequently. The press - god help us - are the ones who are able to call him out on this and SHOULD BE. So whether Acosta "let himself get played" or "is a leftist" is not the issue. The issue is that folk like Zombie are comfortable with the President lying and removing those who call him out on it.

This is the highest office in the land and Zombie doesn't think integrity is a needful component of it.

Bullshit.

I never say lalalalalala.

I say:

This reads that his being a "leftist" is his main sin, and that in and of itself amounts to bad behavior. Care to clarify?

Trump is being "school on Saturday"........no class! Hey, I calls 'em as I sees 'em.

Now here's the thing... where does the rest of the press corp stand on this? When Obama tried to limit Fox News from press events citing that they are just a media wing of the Republican party, the other news corps objected to this and rightly so. Obama immediately realized that a critical news outlet is still a news outlet and worthy of access.

When was Trump's last press conference? A few weeks after inauguration?

The spying program that OBAMA ENDED was a carryover from the Bush administration... and I'm sorry, which reporter did Obama throw in jail?

Yes, Acosta was confrontational, but the fact is Trump was trying to prevent a line of questioning that he didn't like. That's how journalism and a free press is supposed to operate. No media outlet should be obsequious to any White House.

Contrary to what you believe a reporter's job is to report the news in an impartial manner, not with a left or right slant. Acosta's questions asserted, in Trump's opinion, a false premise, yet Accosta persisted in putting it forth. Trump had enough of it. Game over. Add to that Acosta's physical abuse of an intern and his press pass should indeed have been revoked. Bye-bye...

What Acosta did was give Trump a chance to refute his premise. Quite frankly, a LOT of Americans saw his last campaign ad as overtly racist and his accusations of the asylum seekers being a caravan of raiders looking to loot an d pillage as ridiculous. Instead of refuting the optics, he shut him down and revoked his press pass. He didn't like the line of questioning because he had no reasonable response.

#1 - Acosta has been grandstanding in press conferences for the past two years. He was allowed to ask a question, but when told to hand the mic over, he became belligerent, combative, and refused to comply. When the intern walked over the get the mic, he should have immediately handed it over to her instead of resisting her efforts. Let me repeat - Acosta should not have resisted the intern in any way. In my opinion, Trump should have had the Secret Service escort Acosta out immediately.

#2 - Acosta has no right to be there. He, and the rest of the press corps, are there at the pleasure of the President. Trump is under no obligation to allow any representative of CNN, or any other media outlet, access to the press briefings. If Trump wanted to invite only Fox News, Breitbart, InfoWars, and the Wall Street Journal, he would be well within his discretion to do so.

#3 - Even if Acosta is there, Trump is under no obligation to allow him to ask questions. Acosta isn't entitled to anything.

#4 - Ejecting Acosta isn't an attack on the freedom of the press. CNN is free to continue to lambast Trump on a daily basis for the next two years, and Acosta can bitch and moan to his heart's desire on social media with no interruptions.

#5 - the lamestream liberal media is beyond insufferable, their narcissism unchecked, their willingness to use misleading reporting practices to manipulate public opinion and push liberal agendas dangerous and destructive, and it was high time for them to be taken down a peg or two.

I've seen the video now.

Acosta didn't hit that intern on purpose. He touched her but it was her movement taking back the microphone that caused it.

Acosta is an asshat, but he didn't "assault" the intern, Huckabee's stupid tweet notwithstanding.

And that was what I meant about being a leftist in a earlier post.

He grandstands. He's not there as a reporter. He's there as a leftist activist.

Obama did not end spying on journalists. You're wrong on that.

Here's some articles on Obama and the press. While you're counting press conferences maybe you can learn something.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/...ld-trump-targets-journalists-thank-obama.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...4e693b38637_story.html?utm_term=.6952e0602b94

https://www.baltimoresun.com/entert...g/bs-ae-zontv-trumpvpress-20170304-story.html

https://variety.com/2018/politics/news/trump-press-war-obama-administration-reporters-1202782264/

Holding the political elite to account is the role of a journalist, he's there to put the POTUS on the spot. Whilst you have essentially none of the press regulation which other countries enjoy then you have to be consistent, either the first amendment is valid or it isn't