{"id":2735,"date":"2017-07-20T19:58:38","date_gmt":"2017-07-20T19:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/?p=2735"},"modified":"2017-07-20T20:02:49","modified_gmt":"2017-07-20T20:02:49","slug":"free-press-is-under-attack-by-the-administration-so-will-reporters-get-their-mojo-on-and-fight-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/?p=2735","title":{"rendered":"Free press is under attack by the administration, so will reporters get their mojo on and fight back?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

TERRY MOSHER<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note:<\/strong> This is partly what was just written by Brian Karem and published in Editor\u2019s Notebook. I thought the part where he talks about the changing game that is taken place by this administration was spot on, and worthily for you to digest and give some serious thought about to what is happening in our country right now.<\/p>\n

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Lester Holt, the venerable NBC anchor is an example of a steady influence and calm hand who apparently nearly became physically ill when he saw my interaction with Sarah Sanders recently in the White House press briefing room. \u201cSurely we can take these hits,\u201d he said. Well we can\u2019t and stop calling me Shirley. To be honest I\u2019ve had a lifetime goal of disgusting everyone I know and I\u2019ve apparently taken it to a new level by nearly making someone physically ill that I don\u2019t even know.
\nHolt is a respected journalist and has earned it with a healthy career of solid reporting. But Holt and others are slow to understand the changing game we\u2019re playing. The vitriol aimed at the press will soon escalate beyond the violence of being throttled by a congressman-elect in Montana. Somewhere in the U.S. right now is a young reporter going about his or her business who may have to pay a far higher price than merely being beaten \u2013 just because they\u2019re doing their job. In Russia and other countries it isn\u2019t unusual to find reporters killed. The day that happens in this country we\u2019ve lost the high ground forever and we\u2019ll be remembered as a nice experiment in self-governing that died in the dust of the vitriol and anger brought on by this last presidential election.<\/p>\n

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The reporter\u2019s job is \u201cobtaining the basic information quickly and accurately . . . “<\/em><\/p>\n

-Walter Cronkite<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If we have lost our mojo, then there is but one way to get it back: stand up and be accountable. We do not have to fight every fight that comes our way, but we have to selectively stand up for our rights while continuing to investigate and question a very different presidential administration than any we\u2019ve ever encountered.
\nOn one hand there are career bureaucrats in the executive branch of government who are doing a commendable job. As a very highly placed cabinet appointee recently told me, \u201cI signed on for this because I truly believed we might have another Teddy Roosevelt as president. Many of our major problems exist because of the \u2018swamp\u2019 mentality. Insurance companies, banks and the media are too large. I thought we\u2019d have a trust buster in our president \u2013 not someone who\u2019d so quickly lose my trust.\u201d
\nThere are good men and women trying to do their job \u2013 and parts of the president\u2019s message remains sound and good for the Republic \u2013 even according to the administration\u2019s worst critics. But there are staffers suffering right now under the deluge of tweets, daily scandals and fights with the media \u2013 all of which serve to bury the president\u2019s message and obscure whatever good he can potentially do for the country.
\nHis fight with the media serves as a distraction from some of the failures \u2013 but it isn\u2019t something we can afford to ignore. Our audience \u2013 if we want to keep them \u2013 would like to see us stand up for ourselves when appropriate to do so.
\nWith that said, Sean Spicer also has a point. He is calmer and the press is also calmer when the cameras are turned off. McCurry takes responsibility for turning the cameras on and apologized to the press for that action. But you can\u2019t go backward. The need for information \u2013 quickly and accurately can only be found in a press room and on camera.
\nThis president has had fewer news conferences than anyone since Ronald Wilson Reagan. He is responsible to the Republic for which it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all to give us an accounting of his activities on behalf of the electorate. When the president has reduced his communications with the public to a 140 character tweet several times a day the on-camera press briefing is all that remains of any accountability of this administration.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“I’m not advocating rudeness,”<\/em><\/p>\n

-Sam Donaldson<\/p>\n

That frustration is compounded by the fact that those conducting the briefing often rely on very simple statements to explain why we cannot get questions answered. \u201cThe tweet speaks for itself,\u201d is very common as is, \u201cI haven\u2019t had a conversation with the president about that (whatever the issues of the day are).\u201d
\nWhat good are these interactions with the public if we cannot even get the most basic questions answered? Did the president have a private meeting with Putin? What was discussed? Why weren\u2019t other Americans present? Is our president engaged in espionage? Pinochle? Tiddly Winks? What?
\nSo, Lester Holt, sorry for the indigestion I caused you \u2013 but after more than 35 years in this business I for one am not going to roll over for anyone on this issue. I don\u2019t want to be part of the story, but I will not back away from someone telling me I\u2019m the enemy of the people either \u2013 and we cannot back away from holding the president accountable for all of his public actions.
\nFor the thousands of letter writers who\u2019ve encouraged us to stand up \u2013 do not worry. We will pick our battles and we will continue. Yes, we will \u2013 on occasion \u2013 have to weather the hits. But I\u2019m hardly unique in saying we must occasionally stand up for what is right.
\nSam Donaldson was well known for his battles with several different administrations. He, Helen Thomas, and scores of others used to battle daily for access and straight answers.
\n\u201cI\u2019m not advocating rudeness,\u201d Donaldson once said. \u201cBut I\u2019m far more worried about those who are disinclined to ask the hard questions.\u201d
\nWe must push forward. We got our mojo workin\u2019.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TERRY MOSHER Editor\u2019s Note: This is partly what was just written by Brian Karem and published in Editor\u2019s Notebook. I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-column","category-mosher"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2735"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2736,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2735\/revisions\/2736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}