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A few weeks ago, I wrote about Donald Trumps attacks on our nations news media and his attempts to position his Twitter account as the only official news outlet of the administrationeffectively a state-run media outlet built upon a social media platform. Unfortunately, since I wrote that piece, Trump and his entire administration have effectively tripled-down on their war against the American news media and have taken unprecedented actions to counter it.

If youve had a chance to watch any of Sean Spicers White House press briefings over the last month (I usually see them on CBSN), you have probably seen at least a couple of instances of Spicer directly arguing with and attacking individual reporters, much the way that Trump did with Katy Tur during the campaign. Spicer has already shown himself to be combative with the news media, and Trump himself continues to decry established media outlets, such as CNN and The New York Times as fake news and now, very fake news (emphasis mine).

This, of course, is just a small sampling of his tweets directed at delegitimizing the entire media apparatus of this nation. But that last one may be the most alarming: Trump has officially declared the news media the enemy of the American People. Let that one sink in just for a minute.

The American news media is effectively our liaison into the workings of our state and federal governments. Whenever reporters include quotes in newspaper or on-line reports, or sit down with officials in one-on-one interviews, they are giving the American people a brief glimpse into that representatives policy positions, personality, and method of governing. Reporters can communicate with inside sourcesoften anonymously for fear of reprisalsand find out more of what is going on behind the scenes, which is often how questionable policies and even outright corruption are revealed to the populace. The media also brings crucial information, such as product recalls, threats to public safety, and foreign policy, to the attention of the populace. Their ability to communicate effectively has only grown in the technological age, with social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook serving to provide additional ways for people to receive their news and stay informed.

It is perhaps this latter outlet which Trump is trying to monopolize and control. By labeling many media organizations as fake news through his Twitter account, Trump seeks not only to control his own narrative, but also the medias ability to effectively communicate with the American people. Every time Trump mentions a specific organization or reporter in a speech or in a tweet, he is singling that person or entity out for public ridicule, knowing that if they have a public Twitter account (the vast majority do), his supporters and followers will assail them with harassment. This is a way to not only undermine their credibility with the nation, but also an attempt to silence them completely. Individual journalists especially may feel pressured to disconnect from social media due to constant harassment and threats made against them. Donald Trump is both enabling and encouraging such behavior.

So maybe it should come as no surprise that, just a few days ago, the Trump Administration literally blocked a number of news media outlets from participating in a press briefing. Reporters from CNN, The New York Times, Politico, and The Los Angeles Times were all barred from entry. In fact, according to the report, Sean Spicer was literally hand-picking the news outlets he wanted in attendancea form of journalistic discrimination. This is potentially the beginning of a total media blackout of journalistic outlets the administration seeks to impugn. If Trump and his team can ultimately position the American news media as something to be shunned and discredited, his supportersand potentially a large chunk of the American populacewill be less likely to trust their reporting as the full gamut of their offenses comes to light. This in itself will make it much harder to eliminate the threats his administrations policies present to America.

The administration has also taken the media to task as of late for its very use of anonymous sources. On CBS Face the Nation recently, Reince Priebus declared:

This is disingenuous at best, given the administrations use of its own anonymous sources in an attempt to confuse the public. Furthermore, there is little question that, for certain types of stories, anonymity is the only way to get the story out there. Sources may be, depending on the story, risking their careers and potentially even their lives by simply speaking to a reporter. Outing the identities of these sources simply puts a target on their backswhich, given how vindictive this entire presidency has become, may be exactly what Trump and Priebus are hoping for, to squelch as much public criticism as possible.

And then earlier tonight, this story popped up on my Twitter feed. Sebastian Gorka, an Islamophobe who was also hired by Steve Bannon to serve as a terrorism advisor to Trump, personally phoned one of his critics with threats of a lawsuit for tweeting his criticism of Gorka. Michael S. Smith II, a regular contributor to discussions on terrorism and how groups like ISIS are using social media to leverage support, has tweeted criticisms of both Trumps and Gorkas handling of radical Islam. Gorka apparently expressed hurt feelings at being criticized by someone hes never met and threatened the lawsuit at the beginning of the conversation:

Which begs the question: Is the Trump Administration now seeking to pursue lawsuits against individual Twitter users who denounce and criticize their policies on the platform? If Gorka does indeed press for charges against Smith, it would certainly set that precedent. It would also send a clear and direct message to every citizen in the United States: Donald Trump is not to be questioned. In fact, Stephen Miller, Trumps senior advisor, recently said in so many words:

This should make every American tremble in fear. Welcome to the new reality under Donald Trump.

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Trump's Unprecedented War on the First Amendment Has Gone ... - Huffington Post

Organizers of a Celebration of the First Amendment Saturday afternoon at Floyds Eco-System had to set up extra chairs for the additional attendees who heard speeches, panel discussions, songs and poems about the Constitutional amendment that protects freedom of speech, the press and other such freedoms.

Designed to speak out against what many see as assaults on such freedoms, the crowd applauded and cheered when speakers discussed the right to protest against the government and freely express opinions. Floyd Countys Commonwealths Attorney Eric Branscom kicked off the speeches with a history lesson that talked about a President who wanted to suppress freedom of speech and the press and jail those who did not agree and was backed by the political party that controlled Congress.

Turned out he was talking about President John Adams in 1794 and control of the Federalist Party over Congress then. Branscom said it took Virginians Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who followed Adams, to implement a version of states rights and pardons to get those who disagreed with Adams out of jail and protest the then-new First Amendment.

Even so, Branscom said, it would take 165 years before the U.S. Supreme Court would fully overturn the legal challenges from the 1700s in the Times v. Sullivan case that reaffirmed freedom of the press and the other freedoms of the amendment.

Radford University media professor, author and former newspaperman Bill Kovarik introduced himself to the audience as an enemy of the people, citing a term used by current President Donald Trump, and then brought applause and cheers in a speech where he called for strong opposition and protest against the head of state.

We are friends of the people, Kovarik said, adding that the media must questions those elected to office locally, statewide and nationally.

I work in the tradition of Ben Franklin, Joseph Pulitzer, Ernie Pyle and Woodward and Bernstein, Kovarok said.

The press is not perfect, he said. Were watchdogs.

He said that being called an enemy of the people is dangerous speech.

The press is the Constitutions best friend, he added.

A panel on free speech included Branscom, Floyd County Sheriff Brian Craig, activist Tree Gigante and attorney and columnist Alan Graf, who answered questions from the floor and talked about protest.

Craig praised organizers of events like the Womens March in January for working with his department.

We know the people involved in these events, and we work with them, he said.

Graf said that he, as an attorney, has represented people charged with crimes because they protested legally.

When I came to Floyd, I told the sheriff that I also had sued the police over handling of protests, he said.

As a living, Craig answered with a laugh.

Gigante said protests in many cases are not only a right but should also be considered a duty.

Sometimes, she added, it may be necessary to violate the law to carry out that right.

Brancom said law enforcement must establish where the line is drawn between peaceful and violent protest.

What are the boundaries? Sometimes the limits must be it comes back to pushing against the government, he said.

A panel on freedom of religion consisted of Graf, who told the audience Im Jewish and I come from a holocaust family, Imam Abdullah Ferrom of Roanoke Mosque and Quaker Kim ODonnell.

ODonnell said her religion considers relationship with God a deeply personal thing. Our right to practice is a something we strive to protest.

Ferrom said Muslims work to peacefully co-exist with other religions but face a lot of distrust from others who cite their religion as justification for violence against his beliefs.

He cited threats of having a Muslim registry required in America as a threat.

If there such a thing as a Muslim registry, I will register as a Muslim, Graf said, which brought applause and comments of so will I from members of the audience.

The event also awarded youth and adults for essays, poems and songs about the First Amendments and threats against the freedoms it is designed to protect.

First place winners who were present read their essays or poems to the audience and sang their songs.

Michael Kovick closed the event with his second-place winning song.

Linville M. Meadows, Second Place

Will Bason, Honorable Mention

Andrew Finn, Honorable Mention

Alex Hicks, Honorable Mention

Leah Pierce, Honorable Mention

Kaci Marshall, Honorable Mention

Greg Arens, Honorable Mention

Jillian Greenhalgh, First

Cameron Callahan, Third Place

Julian Hensley-Buzzell, Honorable Mention

Isaac Byrd, Honorable Mention

Stella Sessions, Honorable Mention

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Crowd attends event celebrating the First Amendment - Southwest Virginia Today

Trump and his aides have dramatically escalated their feud with news outlets, blocking reporters from a briefing and promising to do something about unfriendly outlets.

By Matthew Nussbaum and Nolan D. McCaskill

02/24/17 10:45 AM EST

Updated 02/24/17 04:18 PM EST

President Donald Trumps long-simmering and self-proclaimed war with the mainstream news media exploded on Friday, as Trump doubled down on his declaration that the media is an enemy of the American people and press secretary Sean Spicer blocked certain media outlets from a White House briefing.

The latest barrage comes after senior administration officials amped up their attacks on the media in recent days, leaving press advocates and even some members of the presidents own party uncomfortable about the fight.

Story Continued Below

I want you all to know that we are fighting the fake news. Its fake, phony, fake, Trump said in his remarks at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. A few days ago, I called the fake news the enemy of the people, and they are. They are the enemy of the people. Because they have no sources. They just make them up when there are none.

With no clear differentiation separating the mainstream media from so-called fake news media, the president lashed out. He condemned the use of anonymous sources, which he claimed without evidence are fake accounts drummed up by an industry with its own agenda that everyday Americans must fight against. And he ominously vowed to do something about it. Just hours before, his administration delivered a briefing to push back on a CNN story but on the condition that the sources remain anonymous.

The White Houses disdain for the media reached new heights Friday afternoon when Spicer barred certain outlets, including POLITICO, from attending an off-camera gaggle in his office in lieu of the daily news briefing. Reporters from The New York Times, CNN, BBC and the Los Angeles Times also were barred, even as small, overtly political conservative outlets like Breitbart were permitted to attend. Time magazine and The Associated Press boycotted the briefing to show solidarity with their fellow news organizations, and the White House Correspondents Association condemned the White House move.

The episodes Friday mark the latest chapter in the Trump administrations attacks on the mainstream media long a talking point of conservatives that has gone to drastic new levels since Trumps ascension. White House chief strategist Steve Bannon regularly refers to the media as the opposition party and told the crowd at CPAC on Thursday that the corporatist, globalist media opposes Trumps agenda out of self-interest.

Clearly, this is an escalation. President Trumps charged rhetoric, inflamed rhetoric, is intended to undermine the work of the media in the U.S., said Carlos Lauria, program director for the Americas at the Committee to Protect Journalists, an international nonprofit that advocates press freedom. But it also emboldens autocratic leaders around the world.

He cited leaders in Egypt, Venezuela, Russia and Turkey who routinely accumulated new powers by marginalizing the independent media. The aim of such denigration, he said, is to inoculate the administration from legitimate criticisms by delegitimizing the media.

Such a framework is familiar in authoritarian countries where the media is undermined, marginalized and attacked, he said. Its very, very troubling. It sets a terrible example for the rest of the world.

Trump himself has said he considers the media to be a more prominent foe for him than the Democratic Party, and he often roused his crowds to rain boos on journalists assembled at his campaign rallies. He routinely used his Twitter account and the lectern to attack particular reporters by name. Even the more mild-mannered Mike Pence jumped in on the attacks, lambasting the media in his stump speech for allegedly being in cahoots with the Clinton campaign.

Trump on Friday cited polls conducted by CNN, CBS, ABC and NBC News over the past two years that signaled that he wouldnt prevail in the presidential election as evidence of the media conspiring to create a whole false deal to suppress GOP voter turnout.

Reporters, he said, are very smart, very cunning and very dishonest people who cry First Amendment when their stories are criticized, or, in the presidents word, exposed.

I love the First Amendment. Nobody loves it better than me. Nobody, Trump said. I mean, who uses it more than I do? But the First Amendment gives all of us it gives it to me, it gives it you, it gives it to all Americans the right to speak our minds freely. It gives you the right and me the right to criticize fake news and criticize it strongly.

As you saw throughout the entire campaign, and even now, the fake news doesnt tell the truth. Doesn't tell the truth, he continued. I say it doesnt represent the people. It never will represent the people. And were gonna do something about it, because we have to go out and we have to speak our minds, and we have to be honest.

The escalating attacks have worried even some in the presidents own party and Cabinet, drawing rebukes some harder than others. Defense Secretary James Mattis recently said he had no problem with the media, and Pence told reporters in Europe that the White House remains dedicated to a free and independent press. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Trumps enemy of the people line was reminiscent of the language dictators use to discredit a free press.

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), one of Trumps most vocal critics within the Republican Party, spoke out against Trumps latest broadsides against the media.

The First Amendment is the beating heart of America because free and vigorous debate is what our country is all about. Its messy, but its beautiful, and it depends in large part on a free press that reports facts and defends truth with intellectual honesty and high standards. It doesnt matter if youre in the Oval Office or on the school board, every public servant should celebrate the First Amendment and teach it to our kids, Sasse said in a statement to POLITICO on Friday.

Five weeks into his presidency, Trump has been plagued by damaging leaks detailing West Wing infighting, tough calls with foreign leaders and overall dysfunction coming from the nascent administration.

Over that time, Trumps used the term fake news to describe mainstream media outlets that he does not like has increased significantly.

The term first gained wide use after the election, when it was connected to hoax articles published on websites not affiliated with actual news organizations. Many of those articles, including pieces claiming falsely that Pope Francis endorsed Trump and that Hillary Clinton was involved in a child slavery ring run out of a Washington pizza parlor, gained significant traction on social media. Some, like the pizza story and a fabricated story alleging pro-Clinton voter fraud in Ohio, were even touted by prominent Trump supporters and surrogates. Many of the stories were written in favor of Trump or critical of Clinton, or both.

The trend was so startling as to warrant a rebuke from President Barack Obama in his farewell address.

Increasingly, we become so secure in our bubbles that we start accepting only information, whether its true or not, that fits our opinions, instead of basing our opinions on the evidence that is out there, he said.

But, very quickly, some prominent conservatives sought to weaponize the term fake news and used it to describe mainstream media outlets both muddling the conversation about the hoax stories and sowing confusion among news consumers.

Before long, Trump was berating the mainstream news media as fake news on his Twitter feed and in speeches. He first used it on Twitter on Jan. 13 and has tweeted the term 21 times. Conservative outlets have followed suit, with The Federalist publishing a piece on 16 Fake News Stories Reporters Have Run Since Trump Won. But unlike the hoax stories that sparked the conversations around fake news, these included mistakes by mainstream outlets, which in almost every case were corrected or clarified.

CNNs reporting Thursday night on revelations that the FBI had rebuffed a White House request to push back publicly on reports that the Trump campaign and associates had contacts with Russian intelligence officials during the presidential election seems to have sparked the latest White House attacks.

In his remarks, Trump also alluded to a Washington Post report published earlier this month. Citing nine current and former officials, the Post reported that then-national security adviser Michael Flynn had discussed lifting sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. during the presidential transition, a revelation that eventually led to his resignation. The report was accurate and ultimately led to Flynns firing. But even though Trump fired Flynn for misleading Pence about the conversations which was only revealed by the Posts reporting he still decried the story.

There are no nine people. I dont believe there was one or two people, Trump said. He provided no evidence to refute the Posts account but suggested he has insight because he knows the sources.

Nine people, he continued. And I said, Give me a break, because I know the people. I know who they talk to. There were no nine people. But they say nine people. And somebody reads it and they think, Oh, nine people, they have nine sources. They make up sources. They're very dishonest people.

Trump even used coverage of his attacks on the media to further attack the media.

They dropped off the word fake. And all of a sudden, the story became: The media is the enemy, he recalled of the coverage. They take the word fake out. And now Im saying, Oh, no, this is no good. But thats the way they are. So Im not against the media. Im not against the press. I dont mind bad stories if I deserve them. And I love good stories. But we wont I don't get too many of them. But I am only against the fake news media or press. Fake. Fake. They have to leave that word.

Trump has never offered a definition of what he means by fake news beyond stories he dislikes.

Lauria, of CPJ, pointed to Trumps attacks on the use of anonymous sources as absolutely inappropriate and shows a misunderstanding of roles of the press.

Some of the most important investigations in U.S. history, including Watergate, have involved anonymous sources, he noted.

Richard Nixon, who also labeled the press as the enemy, was forced to resign in the wake of reporting on the Watergate scandal by The Washington Post.

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White House goes to war with the media - Politico

President Donald Trumpcriticized the media again on Friday while speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

Trump claimed it was wrongly reported that hecalled the media the enemy of the people last week, saying hed actually called fake news the enemy. But he has branded such reputable media outlets as the The New York Times, CNN, NBC and others fake news.

The president argued that the First Amendment gives him the right to criticize fake news and criticize it strongly.

[The media] say that we cant criticize their dishonest coverage because of the First Amendment, Trump said.

I love the First Amendment. Nobody loves it better than me, he added.

Trump also said he thinks news outlets should not use anonymous sources, despite using them himself to make claims that have been proven false.

The presidents comments were likely a thinly veiled jab atCNN. The news outlet recently wrote that the FBI had rejected a White House request to dispute reports that Trumps campaign team had contacted Russian officials prior to the election.

Trumps war with the media is going to get worse, Trump adviser Steve Bannon said Thursday at CPAC.

Every day is going to be a fight, Bannon said.

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Donald Trump: The First Amendment Gives Me The Right To Criticize 'Fake News' - Huffington Post

I love the First Amendment, President Donald Trump proclaimed on Friday at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference.Nobody loves it better than me, he added.

The effusive remark comes from the same person who called venerable media outlets like The New York Times and NBC News long considered pillars of the same free press protected by the First Amendment the enemy of the American people. Other phrases he and his staff have used to describe journalists prone to criticizing his administration:out of control, opposition party, dishonest and fake news.

Weeks before Trumps CPAC speech, curators at Ground Floor Gallery in New York City a space dedicated to emerging artists decided it was time for genuine First Amendment defenders to speak out. They began soliciting artwork for a show they calledMarked Urgent, inviting artists to submit workassociated with any and all types of correspondence and communication.

Ground Floor Gallery

Now, more than ever, we need to empower journalists to hold our government accountable and to provide us with the facts we need to remain informed and involved citizens, the gallery wrote online. As passionate arts professionals vested in critical thought and freedom of expression, we feel compelled to respond.

Marked Urgent opened on Friday, Feb. 24, the same day Trump chastised news outlets for using anonymous sources, despite having used them himself to make claims that have been proven false. The pieces on view at Ground Floor are on sale for$75, $25 of which will be donated to the Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide and defends the right of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal.

Ground Floor Gallery

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We were thrilled that our artist network was just as enthusiastic about this concept as we were, Ground Floor co-founders Krista Saunders Scenna and Jill Benson told The Huffington Post.

We received over 70 submissions in just under three weeks and selected 39 artists for the show, they added. With submissions ranging from embroidered newsprint to collaged envelopes and sculpted stationery, the work is as inventive as it is topical. All in all, its been an incredibly empowering show to organize and gratifying to know we can help an organization doing such important work every day.

Marked Urgent will run through Sunday, Feb. 26. To see a full list of the participating artists, head to Ground Floors website here.

Ground Floor Gallery

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These Emerging Artists Are More Than Ready To Defend The First Amendment - Huffington Post