New writing 4

Natalia Schack

Prof. Peter Lindmark

Comm 200

News Writing 4

February 7, 2020 

Journalism has been around since the first amendment has been established, and during this interview with Donald Trump he tried to violate the freedom of speech. He may not have done this with the intent to remove the reporters ability to speak freely without being harassed for the statement. In this news segment Jim Acosta was a CNN reporter in the white house for a news conference, and as Jim was asking questions that were questioning President Trump. President Trump responded in a horrible way, and could have gone about the issue in a whole different way. In the article, “White House pulls CNN reporter Jim Acosta's pass after contentious news conference,” published on November 7, 2019 in the CNN Business column, Brian Stelter writes, “Trump insulted Acosta and called him a "terrible" person”. Calling someone a terrible person for doing their job seems to be a little harsh to me. After this occurred Jim Acosta was banned from the White House for doing his job. CNN also put out a statement that said they will be standing behind Jim Acosta since he was just there for his job. In the past President Trump has said in multiple statements that CNN is “fake news”, and we should believe anything they put out. This could be true, however, CNN has been known for their brilliant reporting skills and information from around the world. According to cnn.com, which collects national news and reports about things around the world. They cite their sources and they have created a whole website to show their sources and reliable intel. I don't understand how the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) is standing by and supporting President Trump when he was completely ignoring the first amendment, which a president should understand the most. Washington bureau chief of New York times said, "the president should not pick and choose who covers him, and he should certainly not force out a representative of one of the country's leading news organizations, one that tens of millions of Americans depend on for their news."(Stelter). This statement made by the chief of New York Time was very true and should be listened to by people in the White House. People don't get to decide how they look to the public just because you can decide what can and can’t be seen. This then falls on the reporters from both sides of the presidential standing. Democrats are working to show everything that President Trump has done, and the Republicans are working to shade or hide the truth and only post the positives. This all goes back to the whole point of Jim Acosta being there from CNN to report and find the truth. 

Jim Acosta has been named to be the most aggressive reporters, however, I believe this is not true since it has been around for decades. However, Acosta being aggressive gained him some followers and of course some haters. The followers have said they are glad to see President Trump being held accountable for his actions, and on the other hand the haters of Acosta say that he should have his credentials revoked indefinitely. In this case I am on the side of the Democrats, CNN, and Jim Acosta. I think that the way Trump handled the situation was completely childish and unprofessional. CNN has continually had Acosta back through the confrontation, and they have put out numerous statements. This one states, “This President's ongoing attacks on the press have gone too far. They are not only dangerous, they are disturbingly un-American.". The news conference was broadcasted on CNN and all other channels, so everyone saw how disrespectful and rude he was being to reporters. Many people have thought that this was a strategy to reflect the democrats latest victories (Stelter).

This story went viral because of the monument of the story behind it. Trump has had many people disapprove of the way he has run the country, and most people follow just to see his flaws, for which I am guilty. I see this as very unethical and is not complying with the rights of every american citizen. Only people with an ethical view would have seen that yelling at a news reporter doing his job is wrong and unprofessional. The legality of this situation is just wrong, since american are giving freedom of speech or as others know it as the first amendment. Trump is taking the freedom from Jim Acosta’s reporting by yelling at him, calling him terrible and rude, and then after banning Acosta from the White House. However, this isn't the only reason it went viral, people who follow Trump were very upset with the way Acosta went about this reporting. It doesn't matter if people see it as all right or unethical, it is still against the first amendment. Donald Trump is the president of the united states and he should understand how to not take away someone's freedom of speech no matter his stance on a news agency. 

Citations APA Style: 

Stelter, B. (2018, November 8). White House pulls CNN reporter Jim Acosta's pass after contentious news conference. Retrieved February 9, 2020, from https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/07/media/trump-cnn-press-conference/index.html

CNN's Reliable Sources. (2014, February 26). Retrieved February 9, 2020, from https://www.cnn.com/shows/reliable-sources