Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Time for Federal Licensing of Journalists
It’s overdue. Most important jobs that involve the public have standards — not any old schlemiel can be a brain surgeon or a cosmetologist, you know. A federal credential would not only ensure reporters are vetted so they’re fair and accurate, it would make it easier to deal with those who practice journalism in unorthodox ways.
For example: At many public events, there’s a space for the journalists, so you know who’s reporting on the event; they have tags around their neck, indicating they are legitimate.
But some people think they can just flout the rules and write about something without the necessary tags, and so you get stories like this:
A Donald Trump campaign staffer and a private security guard removed a POLITICO reporter from a campaign rally here on Thursday evening for reporting at the event without the campaign’s permission.
A campaign staffer spotted the reporter typing on a laptop outside of the press pen at the San Jose Convention Center and asked the reporter, who was attending on a general admission ticket, if he had press credentials. The Trump campaign has refused to credential the reporter for multiple events.
That’s how it should be, right? It’s obvious this guy was trying to write something about the campaign, and permission had not been granted. He didn’t get the message. If you don’t have the proper laminated badge around your neck, what makes you think you can write about something?
It would make it easier to do something about those James O’Keefe types, too. They shouldn’t be allowed to do that.
Published in General
I’m sure I don’t know. Have you checked the reporter’s Politico story for this vital information?
What a reference! Bravo sir.
Many thoughts about the thread, but I’ll boil it down to this: if this campaign event was private, i.e. not publicly funded, then the Trump campaign had to right to expel the reporter even if we don’t like it or find it odious.
First Amendment issues are tricky, especially in regards to private, by which I mean non-governmental, events. To take an example: if ACORN had known James O’Keefe was coming to do an expose they would have had the right to bar him from the premises despite his First Amendment rights to speak about what they’re doing. The same is true for David Dileiden and Planned Parenthood.
I find James’s post, and many of the supporting comments, extraordinarily weak tea because their point seems to be professional reporters are sacrosanct and can do whatever they choose under the First Amendment which is the sort of argument used to, say, publish a Hulk Hogan sex tape by Gawker.
I’ll also note that I find it odd that the two prominent libertarian members on Ricochet that I’m most acquainted with seem to believe a, if not the, primary reason for opposition to certain of their opinions is based on irrational racial animus.
Where and how did I do so?
Comment #65
http://ricochet.com/time-federal-licensing-journalists/comment-page-4/#comment-3353048
It is of great discredit to Ricochet’s membership that the comment has 7 “likes”.
I don’t understand how that calls people racist.
Not playing this game.
Humbug. You said people here, “the usual suspects” in your words, would object if Hillary Clinton ejected reporters from Stormfront.
Stormfront, which I have never visited on grounds of sanity and human decency, is defined by Wikipedia as “a white nationalist, white supremacist and neo-Nazi Internet message forum, notable for being the first major hate website”. While Wikipedia should always be regarded with a jaundiced eye I find nothing objectionable in the definition presented based on what I’ve heard about it.
Politico is not similar to Stormfront in that is not a message forum nor a hate site – no matter how bad the reporting there may be. You could have used National Review, The Weekly Standard, Breitbart, Taki’s Magazine or any other right-leaning publication as a comparison and not crossed the line you did.
The only reason to bring Stormfront into the conversation is to tar people defending Trump as white nationalists, white supremacists and neo-Nazis by association.
Ah, I selected two top Alt-right websites, having never been to Stormfront myself I was unaware that it is a hate site. I apologize to those who are offended.
To be fair – Wikipedia also says Vdare is a “hate” site. I have read things on Vdare and while it’s not my taste or philosophy, I would not call it racist or hateful. So I don’t find Wikipedia descriptions on politics to be all that insightful.
You can’t apologize for other people being offended by your statement but you can apologize for offending people. There is a difference.
That’s not an apology. You should apologize to everyone for lowering the level of discourse and implying there are racists lurking on this site having no evidence. I’m not offended, I’m disgusted with this kind of irresponsible banter. So apologize to the disgusted – apologize to everyone. Or…just go away.
Again I made the mistake of not vetting my sources properly, I never called anyone a racist. Please refrain from taking this to the next level of direct personal attacks.
Can someone define racism, please?
Because I am pretty sure that, depending on the definition, everyone – or no one – can be called a racist.
In the context of Stormfront: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.
I didn’t go through the comment thread, so I don’t know if this was already mentioned, but just in case anybody was looking for an example of left-wing politicians doing exactly the same thing:
http://www.therebel.media/notley_lashes_out
Not to distract everyone from yet another round of “is Trump a racist or just kind of a jerk,” but is there an association or other formal body that responds to allegations of professional misconduct by journalists? I know journalists aren’t licensed or credentialed—nor, IMHO, should they be—but if Katie Couric hadn’t been laughed to scorn for her anti-gun “documentary” was there any group that might have been asked to revue and perhaps censure her, or the network in some way?
I ran out of time to elaborate on the point of my anecdote in comment #135, so I’ll do so now, which may or may not help you understand why people regard it as offensive.
At this point, the left has been making so many accusations of racism, so casually, that anything resembling such an accusation has become fighting words, sure to generate a hostile response.
It certainly does with me- and it did with a lot of people, because the Missouri state police was eventually forced to retract that report linking Tea Partiers with “Stormfront.”
But the damage was done, and I think this is yet another reason why people support Trump- they’re tired of being subjected to endless, baseless accusations that they cannot disprove.
This is it. When the Left and the media (but, I repeat myself) impugn the character of Mitt Romney — Mitt Romney! — I think people are justified in being skeptical about every last little snowflake offended by Trump or his campaign. These “journalists” lie to us. And one of the most effective tools they use to slant reporting is spin by omission. I sincerely doubt we have the whole truth about this incident, especially when the Left spins things like the left-wing mob violence in San Jose as Donald Trump’s fault. The rioters just can’t control themselves because Donald Trump! They’re forced to stomp on vehicles and push pregnant women to the ground because.. Donald Trump! Rii-iight.
Ever see mob violence at a Tea Party rally? No, not even a little. The Left owns mob violence. And they don’t like it when a Republican pushes back.
It’s a tad long for the purpose, but I’d suggest this message for:
What they really, really, really hate—with the white hot heat of a thousand Suns—is when you are no longer intimidated by their accusations. That’s when they switch to physical violence. When they figure out that’s not going to work either, they’ll flame-out and sulk like the intellectual adolescents that they are.
Thanks- and for adding that missed word into my comment, since added in an edit.
Well said.
I don’t know the answer, but I doubt there is … seems like we’d all know about it if there was. Some newspapers have an Ombudsman now (or whatever they call it) … someone who is supposed to objectively assess complaints of viewpoint bias. I’ve never heard of broadcast journalism doing the same, so Couric has only public scorn to motivate her (which is why she went days and days hoping it would blow over). Someone pointed out already (where I can’t remember) that she’s journo Royalty and thus the dinosaur media circled their wagons around her . . . then she had to come clean and they all lost what few shreds of credibility they’d retained. As someone might have said, “Sad.” [:-)