CNN Sucks, Enemy of the People, and Freedom of Speech

In 1976 72 % of Americans stated that they had trust in the media. In 2007 this trust was about 53 %...and 54% do not believe that the press does anything to protect democracy. Study after study had led Roy Moore and Michael Murray to clearly come to the conclusion in their book when they state “Americans largely do not trust the news media”

Has this mistrust in the new media turned to outright hate? CNN’s Jim Acosta came face to face with this disdain while trying to broadcast from a recent Trump rally in Florida.

Acosta obviously had his hands full at the rally.

Acosta tweeted, “I’m very worried that the hostility whipped up by Trump and some conservative media will result in someone getting hurt. We should not treat our fellow Americans this way. The press is not the enemy”

It is not hard to argue that this behavior, although perhaps a bit rude, is protected by the First Amendment as free speech. But Acosta’s point in Tweet is that certain recent speech might lead to violence. Speech that leads to violence is not protected – the fighting words doctrine, established in Chaplinsky vs New Hampshire. Fighting words according to the Supreme Court are words that “inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace.”

On a daily basis President Trump through one means or another speaks out about his scorn for the press, and on a number of occasions in speeches and Tweets has referred to the press as enemies of the American people. While origins of this claim can be linked to tyrannical positions in the past and present of dictatorial leaders, recent origins of the conservative position on this are likely linked to the words of Pat Caddell taken up by Fox News during times leading up to the Presidential election of 2012.

Notice the scroll underneath…it states “Mainstream” media…which in Fox News circles refers to all other organizations except Fox News. Looking through the actual transcript of Caddell’s speech to the conservative, right-leaning group, Accuracy in Media, he uses the word “mainstream” four times, although condemning ABC, NBC, and CBS, (notably not mentioning CNN by the way) does not necessarily exclude FOX News from bias, nor does he praise FOX News for its balanced approach to reporting the news. He does however claim that there was an apparent bias in the news coverage towards President Obama in 2012. But the “enemy of the people” quote is definitely there.

Granted, the recent CNN news coverage has been very negative towards Trump. A quick Google search will easily demonstrate this, and Fox News is always quick to point this out.

But one has to realize that if negativity exists, the news by its nature is going to focus on the negativity.

And pinpointing and determining bias and which way in which that bias leans is a bias endeavor in itself.

Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote on potentially dangerous speech and perhaps the fear that Acosta has for the aggressiveness that he encountered in Florida.

Fear of serious injury cannot alone justify suppression of free speech and assembly.

Those who won our independence by revolution were not cowards… no danger flowing from speech can be deemed clear and present, unless the incidence of the evil apprehended is so imminent that it may befall before there is opportunity for full discussion….the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence.

Those who adorn themselves with t-shirts reading “Fuck the Media” and put up the middle finger, should continue their speech. Those media representatives, like Acosta, who report, should continue their reporting.

There are indeed conflicting opinions these days. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer recently spoke on the issue of free speech.