While our media whined about losing a privilege, not a right, a missile from the Gaza trip destroyed an apartment building in Israel. Did I hear about it on the news? No. I read it on a friend's blog, who lives in Israel. Instead, I was subjected to over-the-top outrage over a prima donna reporter.
Presidential press conferences are not a Constitutional right. Really. It's an option.
A single reporter from one network tossed from the conference is not stepping on the First Amendment.
More news outlets don't have entrance to these conferences than do. Most citizens certain don't.
Other reporters from the same network still have access to these conferences.
The reporter in question wasn't asking a question, he was picking a fight; he was behaving like an activist.
A press conference is not an activist conference.
The truth is that the president did respond to the reporter's accusations.
The reporter rejected the answer given. That isn't the reporter's job. The reporter's personal opinion became the news story. The reporter is never supposed to be the story. Demanding capitulation is not a reporter's job. The reporter's job is to report not analyze and assess. It is not a reporter's job to tell the audience what their opinion should be. The audience is supposed to be able to listen to the reported news and form their own opinion. Reporters do not own the moral high ground. Strange but true.
The reporter in question behaved in an unprofessional manner, disrupted the conference, and interfered with other reporters doing their jobs.
As a curious side note, where was the outrage when the last president insulted the media and tossed reporters out of press conferences? The interesting things one finds when doing homework.
Dear Media, stop acting like petulant children and do your job: Report the news, good and bad, without giving your opinion. We survived the last president and the president before that and the president before that and the one before that and the one before that and... Get the picture? We'll survive this one, too. Yes, both sides of the mainstream media bring out the snark in me.
To all those not in the media: You are intelligent. You have access to almost everything the media does via the internet. I stopped watching the news media when I realized I was reading and hearing the news as much as two and three days, and sometimes a week, before it was reported on television or reported by the major outlets. Doing your own homework can be time consuming. With practice, it becomes faster. It's also interesting to discover how much more there is to a story than the media reports. Sometimes, the "rest of the story" tells a great deal more than the original story. Most people I know are pleasant and simply trying to live life the best way they know how. Most of the people I know are helpful.
Exceptions exist, and I've bumped into them. These are exceptions, not the rule. Unfortunately, sometimes these exceptions collect in a mob, but they're still the exception. I noticed that the media presents the exact opposite picture, making the exceptions appear to be the rule.
Thanks to all the amazing, awesome, wonderful people. Thanks to those who make my life better and more pleasant. We're in this together, for good or ill. Fred Roger's mother gave great advice: Tragedies happen. Look for the helpers. (paraphrased) Helpers are everywhere. God bless the helpers.
