To the Polls in November! A Free Press Demands It!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Access to breaking national news is a commodity of monetary and practical value in Donald Trump's White House.

Trump raised eyebrows and alarms less than two months ago when his media company began selling early access to Trump's "Truth Social" posts, social media blurbs that often contain nuggets of sensitive government information that can move the world markets.  For up to $100,000 per month, banks, hedge funds, financial firms, algorithmic (wtf?) traders, and presumably anyone with money to burn and/or an insatiable curiosity about the big brain of Donald John Trump, can purchase insider information about the operations of OUR government and make a quick profit through venues like stock, commodity, and prediction markets.

Trump moves the markets through his postings, and then cashes in on those movements by selling early access to investors for exorbitant fees - a scheme devoid of ethical boundaries.  (He and his family also engage in massive amounts of personal stock trading.)

The matter is headed to court with at least one federal lawsuit already having been filed.

But in addition to selling priority access to news he and his administration generate, Trump, being Trump, also uses access to news for rewards and revenge.  He has favorite news outlets and reporters to whom he offers more access to than others, and he also uses the power of his office to deny press access to the ones whose news coverage angers him.  Yesterday he went on a tirade about "fake news" (stories he does'n like) as he barred three major news outlets - MS NOW, CNN, and Politico - from White House news access, and this morning White House security physically barred MS NOW personnel from coming onto the White House grounds.

As a taxpayer, I would like to know what the man who represents my country on the world stage is up to, and I don't trust Fox News, Newsmax, or Breitbart to provide me with a "fair and balanced" view of what is going on in the People's House.  Freedom of the press is guaranteed in the very First Amendment to the US Constitution;  it's the cornerstone of our Bill of Rights; it's damned important in the maintenance and well-being of democracy - and one tyrannical politician with a social media account cannot be allowed to supersede OUR right to be informed on the activities of OUR gvernment by a free and unfettered press.

The concept of press freedom was established on these shores before the United States was even formed, and today it remains an integral part of who we are as a people and a nation.   Survival of a free press is key to our survival as a democracy, and if the Justice Department and the courts will not act to protect one of our most basic freedoms, the voters must.

To the polls in November!  A free press demands it!