Freedom of the Press… is it a Constitutional right?

Well, sort of.  This is what the First Amendment says:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

There is a huge outcry by the press right now because a reporter was ‘disinvited’ from a press conference after asking “inappropriate” questions of the President at an earlier meeting.

After listening to, and watching the reporter’s behavior, I believe it was indeed inappropriate.  Not the questions, so much, but the manner in which the reporter continued to shout them at the President multiple times AFTER the press had been dismissed.  Further, I think it was appropriate for the White House to take punitive measures against the reporter.

In short, the First Amendment says the Congress “shall make no law…”.  It does NOT say the President (or any other elected official, for that matter) has to tolerate bad behavior, nor does it say that elected officials may not take punitive actions when they see fit.  Freedom of the Press DOES allow the reporter to write about the incident from her perspective, but doesn’t give her or anyone else a license for bad behavior.

The reporter was wrong.  The White House is right.

The Press needs to report the truth, and behave themselves.

*** Gordon Howie *** is an author and CEO of Life and Liberty Media

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