On Walls and Whining

"We report, you decide." -- Fox News  

   The candidate has backed away from his attacks on major newspapers, despite the increasing exposure of his questionable business dealings, allegations of fraud, and personal attacks on those who disagree with him but are unable to fight back. Federal judges, for example, are ethically forbidden from commenting on cases pending in their courtrooms.
   Major newspapers, on the other hand, are ethically and professionally obligated to report to voters and the general public on the behavior of those seeking office. And the more a candidate assails what he perceives as negative coverage, the more a newspaper will print exactly what he says and does.
   President Richard Nixon tried to pressure The Washington Post into abandoning its coverage of the Watergate scandal. But the newspaper only increased its efforts.
   In Boston, the Roman Catholic Church tried to pressure The Boston Globe to lay off exposes of priestly abuse of children. It didn't work.
   Currently, Donald Trump has been assailing a federal judge who has ruled against him, and he has blamed news media as "racist" for running stories about his own remarks on people of various ethnic or religious backgrounds.
   In response, news media continue their journalistic responsibility to report accurately and in detail whatever a presidential candidate says and does.
   Recently, USA Today ran a story showing that Trump had filed thousands of lawsuits in the past ten years against those who disagreed with him or opposed his actions.
   But how many times has Trump sued major news media over reports of his activities? There was one, where the real estate mogul sued a publication, alleging libel. He lost, because the story was true, and therefore not libelous.
   Meanwhile, news media continue to report on what the candidate says and does, even when he criticizes the stories and the journalists who report them. In fact, they dutifully report that also.
   But has he sued major news outlets? Not yet. Perhaps because the targets are strong enough to resist such tactics, and have their own lawyers able enough to fight back through the courts. In addition, the sayings and doings about those same lawsuits will be duly published.
   Generally, libel is defined as a story that is false, damaging to a reputation and malicious or printed with a reckless disregard as to whether the allegations were true or not.
   Trump may well feel that a story damages his reputation. And he might well be correct. But if the story is true, and provably true, then his reputation deserves to be damaged.
   And it is the duty of responsible journalists to do just that. Their responsibility is not to propagandize for any political or corporate leader, but to inform the public of their sayings and doings. If they want print space and broadcast time to spread their message the way they want it spread, they can buy advertising space and time.
   The wall between a newsroom and an advertising department is higher than that between church and state.
   Or between the U.S. and Mexico.