I have about an year and a half more until I graduate with a bachelor’s in Journalism and Integrated Media and I can go out into the world and report on news that will inform, teach and enrich readers from across borders.
However, President Donald Trump said journalists are “among the most dishonest human beings on Earth” in his speech at CIA headquarters.
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A Journalist's Job
There are many journalists I admire, many who placed themselves in hostile environments in order to share a story, many have even lost their lives in midst of war, hostage, and violence so that we are aware of what goes on in and out of our country.
As a journalism major, the most important thing they teach me is to know a journalist’s job is not a selfish job but a job in which you serve to share the truth, inform the public and carry the role as a watchdog over those who carry power.
Hearing Trump’s comments about “fake news” and engaging in a war against media, shows his self-consciousness and his lack of trust in one of the most freest press in the world. There are countries such as North Korea and China where the media is censored and overruled by the government. I am blessed to live in a country where I can go online and easily have access to what goes on in my city, state and country.
Trump is Wrong
Trump is wrong because journalists are not dishonest but courageous, hardworking, and credible individuals who are simply doing their job. The freedom of press is something I can give credit to the founding fathers of this country for allowing me to pursue a profession in the media industry.
During a press conference, Trump shut down Jim Acosta, reporter for CNN and berated him by exclaiming how he and CNN is “fake news” and refused to take his question. Gathering much attention for his comment nationwide, Trump belittled Acosta in a room filled with other journalists who work for equally credible news networks all doing the same job. These reporters shared the same duty in protecting the First Amendment for their fellow Americans, and I believe shunning a reporter does the opposite from this.
How Trump Hurt Journalists
“There is a large percentage of the population that don’t believe us. Anytime a Jim Acosta raises his hand and tries to get the attention of the president-elect, there is a sizeable part of the population that says, ‘There they go again.’” says Ken Auletta writer for The New Yorker.
Auletta raises the concern that Trump is beginning a trend which humiliates journalists and creates the image in which journalists and the media as a whole have an agenda to report Trump poorly. With this idea being instilled in the mindsets of his supporters, journalists now have to stick up for themselves so they can do their job.
The Reporters Committee For Freedom Of Press published a statement where Executive Director Bruce Brown reminds journalists of their role in “promoting the significance of the First Amendment and the media’s essential role in a functioning democracy.”
Our country needs journalists; we are needed in order to maintain the social responsibility of protecting our democracy. So Mr. Trump, I hope to someday have the privilege of sitting through a presidential press conference and prove to you that journalists are some of the most HONEST human beings on Earth.
