Freedom of the Press Does Not Mean Freedom from Criticism

On Friday, President Trump again attacked the media as dishonest in his speech in Florida. He followed it up with a tweet which said:

The Democrats, other leftists and the news media he attacked went berserk.

New York Daily News Trump’s spiteful crusade against media is traitorous

CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Trump’s Demonization of Press: ‘Somebody Is Going to Get Hurt’
ABCNews This Week: “There is a reason the founders put freedom of the press in the very first amendment to the Constitution,” host Jonathan Karl argued in an essay top closeout “This Week.” “As long as America’s democracy remains healthy, there will be reporters willing to pursue the truth – even if that means incurring the wrath of the most powerful person in the world.”

NYTimes “Donald Trump is demonstrating an authoritarian attitude and inclination that shows no understanding of the role of the free press,” [Carl Bernstein said].
Think Progress Trump calls media ‘enemy’ of Americans, then launches survey to see who agrees.

USA Today compared Trump’s tweet to Richard Nixon whom they said “resigned in disgrace.”
They used his tweet to get out all the negative spin they could.

They even got a RINO (Republican in name only) to comment:
During a Saturday interview with NBC’s Meet the Press from Germany, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said an adversarial tough press is required and warned suppression of a free press “is how dictators get started.”
And, FoxNews reacted:
Chris Wallace: Trump crossed the line calling media ‘enemy of American people’
Guy Benson agrees with Chris Wallace, Trump has “gone too far’.
So, the drama from the media & the left continues. And they say Trump has thin skin!

Trump did not and has not said that he is against the free press in America. He has done nothing to justify the cries of tyrant and dictator. All false, ahem, ‘fake news’. What he is doing is calling the press on their obvious bias, too often loose facts and negative attitude.

No one can deny that the mainstream media, particularly the ones Trump names in his tweet, are vehemently anti-Trump – right? You cannot deny that. The media and their leftist allies will justify this anti-Trump attitude by saying they have a duty to reveal dangerous politicians like Trump. But, they created that dangerous narrative out of thin air by constantly spinning his words and adding a negative attitude to the narrative. Who is Trump dangerous to? The leftist paper house which the media props up. They hate Trump simply because he exists – and he won! Think about the coverage of Obama, they loved him. Remember this famous quote? “I have to tell you, you know, it’s part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama’s speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don’t have that too often.” Not sure I heard the same thing about Trump after his election. No, they believe and further report every bad thing about Trump that they can spin and assume. With Obama, they covered up every bad thing and assumed everything he did and said was good. Where was that duty to report dangerous activity then, or against Hillary Clinton during the election? Trump is right to point out the media’s clear hypocrisy and poor, biased journalism. That’s why they react so fiercely.

A free and “adversarial tough press” is absolutely necessary to a free society. No one says that same press has to be good, it just has to be free. Right now, the American press is not good.
This has happened many times before in our country’s history. What Trump is doing is what other presidents have also done, he is calling them on it.
No one says a free press means a press that is free from criticism.
A good press would take the criticism and reflect the light on itself to improve. This press is so arrogant, they “blame the victim” (Trump), because how could anyone question this American media? Especially him!
Well, he is! And, just like Jonathan Karl of ABC said, the media should not stop being tough on Trump and I don’t think Trump should stop being tough on the media.