The Trump Administration has made no secret of its disdain for the American news media. Last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson broke with tradition by inviting Fox News … and only Fox News… to cover a recent meeting at the Korean Demilitarized Zone. On his trip to South Korea, Tillerson allowed only one reporter, Erin McPike of the conservative Independent Journal Review to accompany him.
Last month, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer barred CNN, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the BBC, Politico, Buzzfeed and the Huffington Post and other outlets from a recent press briefing. Meanwhile, the President continues to retweet dubious claims from right-wing sources such as Breitbart and a myriad of conservative talk radio programs and to personally attack journalists who publish stories that cast the President in an unfavorable light.
What does this chaotic climate and preferential treatment by the President of the United States mean for the future of journalism? Joining 8 O’Clock Buzz host Brian Standing by phone with a local take on this climate is Mark Pitsch, President of the Madison Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and Assistant City Editor at the Wisconsin State Journal.
