From the student paper which gave us the column telling white people their “DNA is an Abomination” comes a “brave” editorial defending the news media from “demonization.”
Titled “We Stand with The Capital Gazette,” the editors of Texas State’s University Star express their solidarity with that Maryland paper, five employees of which were killed when a man with a “long-standing grudge against the paper” entered the its building and shot it up.
Although the editorial concedes there is no known connection with our current “anti-press environment” and the Gazette murders, it says “the nation must contend with the [anti-media feeling] and violent circumstances which preceded th[e] tragedy.”
The editors note they have been the target of public anger:
The more unique contention is that of the target: journalists and the violent returns for the service they provide.
Even when anti-press sentiment fails to escalate to the point of gunshots, as in The Gazette‘s case, intimidation, harassment and even assault befall a large share of workers in media.
Aside from circumstances where the reporting concerns the personal history of private citizens, far too many members of the general public still wish ill will on the press or would even contemplate materializing the fantasy against news outlets and their staff—including this publication.
Without mentioning President Trump by name, the editors say “animosity [towards reporters] is exacerbated by the positions of government officials” and add while the Gazette murderer “may or may not have directly been influenced by this rhetoric […] the environment it breeds […] is not safe, ideal or deserved.”
Now do police officers, et. al.
The remainder of the Star’s piece is much like what we’ve heard from the mainstream media in response to Trump’s denunciations of “fake news,” etc. While it’s certainly true the president’s bombast is at times wildly hyperbolic, his pre-election popularity and subsequent November 2016 victory were in large measure a result of his animosity to an unfair left-leaning press. Not to mention, consider why Fox News perpetually wins in the cable news ratings. (Hint: It’s not what progressive pundits claim.)
If you are cheering this, ask yourself what your life would be like with a media that only did things the president liked https://t.co/xkN2DvAcS6
— Chris Cillizza (@ChrisCillizza) July 13, 2018
(Above: Chris appears to have forgotten 2008-2016.)
The Star editors say “calls to remove the legitimacy or safety of journalists only benefits tyranny.” The latter protestation is moot for no government official has called for putting reporters lives in danger (unlike the reverse from numerous talking heads / politicians on MSNBC and CNN).
The former, however, is an wholly legitimate complaint, and no amount of self-serving “I’m beyond reproach” grievances will change that.
Russia launched a war against the United States of America in 2016. And won.
— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) July 14, 2018
(Above: Who was president in 2016? And didn’t the media mock a certain Republican presidential candidate in 2012 for warning about Russia?)
Who would the Star editors rather have — a president who merely verbally bashes the media, or a president who actively utilizes government power to go after it?
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