Support NeoGAF

[Steel]

This is straight up unconstitutional.

As fucked up as it is, it's not unconstitutional.

 

[Glass Shark]

Couldn't CNN take this to a federal court? It's a blatant violation of freedom of the press.

It's actually not.

 

[BahamutPT]

This is not unconstitutional OR illegal. Just scummy and very much telling of what's to come.

 

[RionaaM]

Holy shit, this is how freedom begins to end. Good luck North Americans, these are going to be some incredibly hard 4 years. Let's hope someone capable can fix the damage this motherfucker is causing in your country, because he seems intent on destroying everything.

 

[Link]

Trump is smart. He's painted the media as dishonest and his supporters eat that shit up.

Now, any credible news story on corruption or anything else can easily be dismissed as fake news.

Meanwhile he can curate whatever bullshit he wants about his numbers, his actions, and spoon feed it to his supporters directly through Twitter.

It's terrifying.

It really is. He's created a situation where he can't lose and is never wrong.

 

[zeemumu]

I'm fairly certain that this is perfectly legal. It's repulsive, but probably legal.

It's technically legal, which is the worst kind of legal.

 

[SerTapTap]

AP and Time did the right thing. The whitehouse should be blacklisted until they decide to play nice again.

wellherewego.gif

Now we get to see what the American news media is really made of. Do they go after this, balls to the wall, calling it out for the tinpot dictatorship it is? Or do they roll over and submit, business as usual?

WaPo and NYT's recent tagline changes seem to indicate they're going after it. They're still huge pussies in my eye but at least they're not rolling over.

They need to go way harder. They have nothing left to lose anyway. There is no longer a shred of doubt the White House will play nice as long as they pretend to be "impartial". They need to crucify this fucker and his minions.

 

[BitStyle]

https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/835205443861549056
https://twitter.com/jdawsey1/status/835206572733304832

Respect

 

[mightynine]

They aren't being silenced. They can still write whatever they want. They just don't have the access to attend the press briefings anymore.

Oh no, this isn't yet another step in trying to discredit the free press so that you should only believe Dear Leader, our President Bannon Trump.

 

[sflufan]

This is straight up unconstitutional.

I can 100% guarantee that there is nothing "unconstitutional" about this.

People REALLY need to start learning a bit more about the Constitution and what does or does not stem from it before they start throwing around the words "constitutional" and "unconstitutional".

 

[jelly]

They aren't being silenced. They can still write whatever they want. They just don't have the access to attend the press briefings anymore.

They can't ask questions though which is quite a big thing.

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

Insanity.

 

[kIdMuScLe]

What? You saying they shouldve just went along with everything?

I'm saying they should've cut off those trump surrogates instead of bringing them back on.

 

[smokeymicpot]

Silencing the free press like an actual dictator, isn't this illegal?

Nope just a dick move.

 

[Syncytia]

At this rate it'll be a mass execution.

Two birds with one stone.

 

[Boke1879]

Media take the fucking gloves off. This is all out war now

 

[Salvadora]

To the people saying this is illegal or unconstitutional, how?

 

[Darryl M R]

When they reverse on this I want them to explain their reasoning behind blocking certain outlets. You would have to either say that they are indeed fake, which sounds like they would be open to a lawsuit, or admit that they only want pro-Trump outlets.

 

[discospider]

so how about that white house correspondents dinner eh

At this rate it'll be a mass execution.

If there was actually a GoT style mass execution at the WH correspondent's dinner, I bet it would be cheered on by millions and Trump's approval wouldn't take a hit. I'm completely serious.

 

[ivajz]

wow.... how the hell can this happen in the modern western world? This is super scary... No idea how i would feel if i would live in the US.

Probably because the trump administration exists solely to do his twitter battles. This is pretty petty. It will not work out well for them. I would expect a big story to drop just before Trump does his address.

 

[Steel]

To the people saying this is illegal or unconstitutional, how?

It's flat out not. It's completely fucked up and a step toward fascism, but it's not illegal or unconstitutional.

 

[George Washington]

Thank you George. You must be dizzy from all that spinning.

It's truly sickening.

When 43 won re-election, I truly believed we could never have another incompetent President on his level again; wishful thinking on my part.

Enjoy the Trump 🚂; this is the demise of the Republican Party and the birth of something far more dangerous.

 

[Jenov]

Freedom of the press clause is to prevent the government from interfering with the distribution of information and opinions. Couldn't this technically be seen as the WH interfering with the distribution of information by blocking traditional reporting outlets?

 

[Shoeless]

Holy shit, this is how freedom begins to end. Good luck North Americans, these are going to be some incredibly hard 4 years. Let's hope someone capable can fix the damage this motherfucker is causing in your country, because he seems intent on destroying everything.

It's not all North Americans. We up here in Canada still have friendly relations between the government and press. At least until American tanks start rolling through Ottawa.

 

[Dead Prince]

When they reverse on this I want them to explain their reasoning behind blocking certain outlets. You would have to either say that they are indeed fake, which sounds like they would be open to a lawsuit, or admit that they only want pro-Trump outlets.

i'm a great negotiator.

 

[TumblingHippo]

CNN had a hand in normalizing this buffoon. Now they're getting their reward.

 

[boiled goose]

Guess they needed a safe space.

 

[Empyrean Heaven]

It's official. I now live in a fascist nation.

 

[Sophist]

Silencing the free press like an actual dictator, isn't this illegal?

The said medias are not silenced at all; They are still free to write/publish anything they want.

 

[Syf]

Propaganda briefings

 

[whyamihere]

Safe spaces etc etc etc etc

His supporters will eat this up, but this won't play well at all to Trump-curious voters that are the reason he's president.

 

[SerTapTap]

CNN had a hand in normalizing this buffoon. Now they're getting their reward.

It's funny the neo nazis hate CNN so much, they spent so much time attacking Clinton and pretending Trump was normal. They can't handle even watered-down truth.

Safe spaces etc etc etc etc

His supporters will eat this up, but this won't play well at all to Trump-curious voters that are the reason he's president.

Those people are such fucking idiots I'm not sure this will effect them. More importantly, the different variety of idiots that stayed home will hopefully go and vote next time.

 

[Sblargh]

You can't ask questions, but you can write vaguely about what these incoherent messages without clarification mean.

 

[Veitsev]

To the people saying this is illegal or unconstitutional, how?

Its not.

 

[darkwing]

I guess Spicey couldn't stand the heat

 

[tedrotheredro]

Bret BaierVerified @BretBaier

Some at CNN & NYT stood w/FOX News when the Obama admin attacked us & tried 2 exclude us-a WH gaggle should be open to all credentialed orgs

 

[Evil Monkey DTT]

If Republicans have any morals they know this is wrong, but here they are just fucking sitting there.

 

[RoKKeR]

WTF

 

[UberTag]

When they reverse on this I want them to explain their reasoning behind blocking certain outlets. You would have to either say that they are indeed fake, which sounds like they would be open to a lawsuit, or admit that they only want pro-Trump outlets.

It'll be the same BS logic answer they give for justifying why certain Muslim countries that harbor terrorists are exempt from the Muslim ban.

 

[BriGuy]

It's not illegal, but it's another huge pile of evidence to add to the mountain of why we're a failing democracy.

Whether the Trump administration lasts 4 years or 8 years (or six months), the country that's left behind isn't going to be the America you remember.

 

[Plinko]

This is yet another dictatorial/authoritarian move. Check it off the list.

Bret BaierVerified @BretBaier

Some at CNN & NYT stood w/FOX News when the Obama admin attacked us & tried 2 exclude us-a WH gaggle should be open to all credentialed orgs

Wow--good for Baier.

 

[plagiarize]

President Snowflake seems like a more and more apt term for Trump than any others I've heard yet.

 

[boiled goose]

It's flat out not. It's completely fucked up and a step toward fascism, but it's not illegal or unconstitutional.

Umm from 1st amendment entry on wikipedia

The Free Press Clause protects the right of individuals to express themselves through publication and dissemination of information, ideas and opinions without interference, constraint or prosecution by the government.

See Bartnicki v. Vopper, 532 U.S. 514 (2001)


I'm pretty sure news outlets can sue the government and argue this is interference and constraint from the government.

 

[ahoyhoy]

Freedom of the press clause is to prevent the government from interfering with the distribution of information and opinions. Couldn't this technically be seen as the WH interfering with the distribution of information by blocking traditional reporting outlets?

No, they aren't required to provide access to all news outlets, however established they might be.

In fact, they aren't required to provide access to ANY news outlets. They only do so so as to try to spin stories effectively and prevent public backlash at being seen as opaque and secretive.

The President only really needs to address Congress once a year. That's about it.

 

[rjinaz]

It's not really a press briefing at this point anymore, is it?

No. It's state sponsored news.

 

[VendettaRed07]

I can 100% guarantee that there is nothing "unconstitutional" about this.

People REALLY need to start learning a bit more about the Constitution and what does or does not stem from it before they start throwing around the words "constitutional" and "unconstitutional".

Pretty much.

There's nothing legally different about Obama not giving access to Breitbart but allowing CNN and NY Times to come in vs. Trump doing the opposite.

The White House can do this. It's just that the office up until this point wasn't a completely irredeemable piece of shit that did not respect freedom of the press at all.

 

[Iolo]

The stupid part is that the press briefing provides an opportunity for the White House to get their own narrative out there (and bash the press). Can't do that as easily if nobody is covering you. (No, not everybody reads alt-right sources.)

 

[Shake Appeal]

They've overstepped here. This is not going to go down well.

 

[Blader]

Aside from the scary implications of a White House press secretary only granting briefings for far-right/fake news outlets, I don't see how it behooves the administration to do this in the eyes of the public. When you ban mainstream media outlets from press briefings, the only message you're getting out there is that you've banned mainstream media outlets from press briefings. The whole point of these gaggles is to clarify questions, concerns, positions, etc. on a number of issues. When you're not providing that clarification, then your hands are off the wheel in the eyes of most people.

The average American is not getting their news from Breitbart and InfoWars and the Washington Times. Many of these people will only get "Trump administration refuses to grant press briefings" in their news now, instead of, "President Trump does x, y, z."

The stupid part is that the press briefing provides an opportunity for the White House to get their own narrative out there (and bash the press). Can't do that as easily if nobody is covering you. (No, not everybody reads alt-right sources.)

This was a much more succinct version of what I was trying to get at :lol

 

[Anoregon]

If Republicans have any morals they know this is wrong, but here they are just fucking sitting there.

lol.