Daphne Caruana Galizia

[firstfloor]

[rogue06]

Time to re-post this.

Liberals for the most part ignored how poorly Obama treated the press and the press itself largely smiled and masochistically took what he handed out because he was the Obamessiah and most of it was directed toward conservatives.

Source: WHY IT'LL BE HARD FOR TRUMP TO SURPASS OBAMA'S RECORD OF CHILLING PRESS FREEDOM

Many in the mainstream media are reacting with righteous indignation over comments from a senior Trump adviser suggesting the administration views the traditional media as an opponent. But if we're to take these apostles of press freedom seriously, they should first explain why the Trump Administration is worse than the Obama Administration.

After all, the Obama Administration literally tried imprisoning an uncooperative journalist, monitored journalists' every digital move, and "hammered" at least one challenging reporter with IRS audits.

Let's rewind the tape.

The Obama Administration began with lofty promises of being "the most transparent administration in history." Instead it ended up setting a record, by the Associated Press's count, for denying the most Freedom of Information Act requests.

As the administration's popularity began tumbling early into its first year, the Obama White House declared war on Fox News. The White House director of communications, Anita Dunn, warned they would henceforth treat Fox News "like an opponentthe administration sought to deny Fox News' participation in executive branch news-making events -- which only failed after other networks admirably refused to participate if Fox News were excluded.

As you'll see in the montage above, President Obama blamed Fox News and talk radio for virtually every problem his administration encountered, warning in his waning days that these "domestic propagandists" were far more damaging to America than any interference from hostile powers like Russia.

When Fox News's State Department correspondent, James Rosen, reported accurate information about North Korea leaked by a member of the Obama State Department, Eric Holder ordered his movements to be tracked, his phone records seized, and went "judge shoppingthe Washington Post wrotethe Freedom of the Press Foundation reported. After the Supreme Court rejected Risen's appeal of an earlier order mandating he testify about the source of information he reported, Risen faced jail time.

After an outcry, Holder finally backed down.

The Associated Press experienced similar surveillance. For two months, the Department of Justice tracked 20 AP reporters' calls, ostensibly over their reporting into a Libyan terrorist's failed plot. Why was reporting on a failed plot so threatening? The AP said it was because the administration wanted to announce the news itself.

Obama himself was notorious for granting interviews with journalists whom he knew would treat him gently -- like Steve Kroft. When Obama accidentally exposed himself to a mildly challenging interview with a local reporter in Saint Louis, that reporter was later "hammered" with IRS audits.

With the Obama Administration, the message to the media was always clear: Report negatively about us, and we'll use the powers at our disposal to make you suffer consequences.

If those journalists currently complaining about the Trump Administration found no such fault with the Obama Administration, perhaps it's because they were all too willing to toe the line.



Source

© Copyright Original Source

Now imagine if Trump started tracking a bunch of reporters phone calls, not because they were publishing classified information, but merely because they had published a story that Trump wanted to be the first to release. Or sicced the IRS after reporters who asked tough questions. The howls of outrage would be heard far and wide and those would be the lead stories for days on end as scowling left-wing pundits and politicians would be calling for impeachment.

Compare that to the "crime" of calling something "fake news"

[Jedidiah]

Yeah, expecting the press to be unbiased and honest is very much the same as trying to silence or discredit them.

[rogue06]

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[Cow Poke]

I bet you read that in the press!

[rogue06]

A couple pieces by the rabidly anti-Trump New York Times:

Source: If Donald Trump Targets Journalists, Thank Obama

labeled one journalist an unindicted co-conspirator in a criminal case for simply doing reporting and issued subpoenas to other reporters to try to force them to reveal their sources and testify in criminal cases.



Source

© Copyright Original Source

Source: Only Nixon Harmed a Free Press More

Source

© Copyright Original Source

[*Both stories continues at the above links*]

And yet ff wants us to believe that Trump is committing a "crime" by calling news outlets "fake news"

[Cow Poke]

A couple pieces by the rabidly anti-Trump New York Times:

Source: If Donald Trump Targets Journalists, Thank Obama

labeled one journalist an unindicted co-conspirator in a criminal case for simply doing reporting and issued subpoenas to other reporters to try to force them to reveal their sources and testify in criminal cases.



Source

© Copyright Original Source

Source: Only Nixon Harmed a Free Press More

Source

© Copyright Original Source

[*Both stories continues at the above links*]

And yet ff wants us to believe that Trump is committing a "crime" by calling news outlets "fake news"

And JimL is having a cow that Trump is trying to "shut down" the media. He must have slept through the Obama era.

[rogue06]

And JimL is having a cow that Trump is trying to "shut down" the media. He must have slept through the Obama era.

In this thread it is ff. And I'll bet it he thought what Obama was doing was okey-dokey

[Cow Poke]

In this thread it is ff. And I'll bet it he thought what Obama was doing was okey-dokey

Yeah, I know it's FF in this thread - but maybe FF faxed JimL the talking points, cause this was one of Jimmy's hot buttons for a while.

True, instead we have a narcissistic authoritarian boob who advocates for the shutting down of the free press.

...Oh, perhaps its his attempt at tearing down democratic institutions such as free speech, freedom of the press, or maybe its the rampant corruption taking place within the swamp of his administration? Seriously, what were you expecting that he has delivered on you dupe?

Seems a new found tactic from those who would like to take down the free press is to anonymously disseminate to the press seemingly authentic documents, wait for them to be revealed to the public, only to expose their inauthenticity after they've been published and thereby discrediting the media and destroying the careers of the journalists involved.

[firstfloor]

https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...rate-situation

[rogue06]

What happened to her was horrible but your attempt to compare it to Trump calling out various networks and reporters for publishing/broadcasting bogus news stories was a joke.

[firstfloor]

What happened to her was horrible but your attempt to compare it to Trump calling out various networks and reporters for publishing/broadcasting bogus news stories was a joke.

When you hear claims of fake news from Trump, you should always look closer. He is a pathological liar.


http://www.independent.com.mt/articl...lta-6736178572

[firstfloor]

And,

https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...urnalist-media

[rogue06]

To say that you're stretching things in an attempt to make a connection is an extreme understatement

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