(TNS) Despite the First Amendment’s guaranteed freedom of speech and freedom of the press, there are still legal limitations on both.
There are laws against so-called “hate speech,” libel, and slander. You can’t yell “fire!” in a crowded theater. And you cannot falsely accuse someone or lie about a product.
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Unless, of course, you’re an elected official. Or a major Left-wing establishment newspaper.
As Attorney General William Barr hints that there might actually be some prosecutions related to the FBI’s bogus investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign, some are suggesting similar scrutiny for the “mainstream media” that, for years, has pushed one lie after another about President Donald Trump and his administration.
But…but…freedom of the press!
Got it. But where does press freedom end and legal liability begin when you’re knowingly pushing a false narrative that is doing real harm to society, keeping Americans riled up, at each other’s throats and on the brink of societal breakdown?
Michael Goodwin, writing in the New York Post, notes:
Thankfully, the accountability fallout from the Russia misconduct has started, with Attorney General Bill Barr suggesting possible prosecutions of FBI agents and perhaps others.
But what of the media? After all, The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and the broadcast networks were spectacularly wrong in their coverage. …
Pulitzers and other journalism prizes lionized some reports that are now as discredited as the Steele dossier. Yet the news organizations still protect the secret sources who misled them and act as if they themselves did nothing wrong.
One glaring example. The Times reported last May that the FBI sent a female investigator “posing as research assistant†to spy on the Trump campaign in 2016. The woman, who called herself Azra Turk, met with George Papadopoulos in a London bar. …
The Times’ story also says Turk and another informant, Stefan Halper, “failed to glean any information of value†from several meetings with Papadopoulos, but that is not true, according to the inspector general. He says one of the FBI’s most significant “inaccuracies and omissions†was the failure to tell FISA judges that Papadopoulos repeatedly denied to Halper and Turk that the campaign was collaborating with Russia or WikiLeaks.
Did the Times reporters know about that exculpatory information, or did their FBI sources lie to them? Either way, the paper now knows its May story was wrong on key points, yet it remains uncorrected. …
Days after the 2016 election, the Times issued an apology of sorts to subscribers for failing to realize that Trump could win. “Did Donald Trump’s sheer unconventionality lead us and other news outlets to underestimate his support among American voters?†the publisher and editor wrote. …
So now it’s time for a second apology — a sincere one. And an honest inquiry into how the paper continues to get the big stories so wrong.
Again, these media outlets — every one of them committed to Trump’s defeat and removal from office — are seriously dividing our country. The shameless lies have become a domestic security issue.
It’s one thing to pontificate and rail about the president in a clearly-marked editorial; it’s another to purposely push propaganda disguised as legitimate news.
We need some press accountability. We need people to be held legally liable for knowingly publishing false, distorting information. Free press comes with the responsibility to at least try to get details correct.
That’s clearly not happening anymore in many of America’s newsrooms in the age of President Trump. Ditto for perpetually triggered Democrats who hate the president more than they love a stable, prosperous country.
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GOT SOMETHING TO SAY? COMMENT BELOW
Get yours FREE!
WELL LET’S HOPE THAT ANY BARR AND DURHAM INDICTMENTS AGAINST THE WELL ESTABLISHED ALPHABET AGENCIES AND NEWS OUTLETS CAN COME TO SOME KIND OF FRUITION AND SENTENCE AND JAIL THE PERPS, CAUSE I SERIOUSLY DOUBT THAT AT LEAST WITH THE MEDIA, THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN. THEY WILL LIE TILL HELL FREEZES OVER AND CLAIM THEY WERE ONLY PRINTING WHAT THEY THOUGHT WAS TRUE, AND HIDE BEHIND THE 1ST AMENDMENT. UNLESS DURHAM CAN SOMEHOW UNCOVER ACTUAL WRITTEN PROOF THAT THE 5TH ESTATE HAS PURPOSELY TRIED TO ELIMINATE TRUMP, I JUST DON’T SEE ANYONE ENDING UP IN JAIL. AND THE JUSTICE… Read more »
Barr will indict, prosecute, and have traitors hanged. That includes the satanic pedovores in HollyPedowood, MSNBC, and CNN.
If we don’t see this happen, then expect Street Justice.
I’m with you but I think they’ll all walk. They ALWAYS do. Especially when they can freely destroy evidence and kill witnesses! As they’ve PROVEN time and again.
If only. My fingers are crossed.
Let’s hold our horses here for a moment…before we move on to “who will punish the media” let’s just remember that, as of yet, none of the insurrectionists have been indicted or punished. And I can’t be the only reader who has his doubts about this eventuality ever coming to pass. We’ve heard for a LONG time all about how the Democrat traitors and their FBI security agents will be punished and the only thing that’s happened is Comey got a free pass in the face of a recommendation to prosecute! I’ll worry about punishing the liars at CNN once… Read more »
ABSOLUTELY CORRECT…BUT WE THE AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE TIRED OF WAITING ENDLESSLY, FOR THE ‘CRIMINALITY OF THOSE WHO SHOULD BE SHOWN NO MERCY-AS THEY FALSELY LOOKED FOR CRIMES TO OUST OUR CHOICE FOR POTUS, TRUMP.
AS YOU CORRECTLY STATE…THEN, WE WILL TAKE CARE OF THE “COMPLICIT/LIBERAL/LEFTIST MEDIA-WHICH IS MERELY ANOTHER ARM OFTHE CORRUPT DEMOCRAT PARTY.”
I think they’ve found out that John McCain was feeding information from Steele to the FBI after the FBI cut their relationship with Steele. This probably means that McCain, dead and buried, will end up being the responsible person who actually engaged in criminal treasonous acts, no doubt motivated by his expressed disdain for Trump. So it may end up McCain will end up the responsible person, and everyone else will walk, except perhaps the DOJ official who actually altered an email to feed to the FISA court in order to obtain a warrant to spy on the Trump campaign.
Even newspaper’s can’t engage in murder, bank robbery and coups. It will depend on known complicity in criminal behavior. The CIA smears people. That’s their standard operating procedure and has been since the CIA’s inception. Steele was a known spy, and was leaking to news organizations, which were frantic to get anything on Trump. The FBI cut ties to Steele after he was doing this. Although the law is murky, it’s not murky about treason. Could the media be held accountable for treason? There was an organization engaging in criminal behavior during the coup. This would mean RICO statutes would… Read more »
Excellent comments. Even if we can’t jail a media co-conspirator we can surely identify them. That has ruined many a politician and would do the same for a media mouthpiece. As exhibit A I give you Dan Rather.
WaPo and the NYT only exist as private enterprises meaning they have owners who are ultimately responsible for the actions of their employees. Perhaps, a little gentle pressure put on Jeff Bozos and Carlos Slim, the Mexican billionaire would convince them to order their employees to report facts and not fiction. That’s not much to ask.
If the media are willing participants in a coup and sedition then the First Amendment does not apply and does not give them immunity
I’ll believe it when I finally see it. This long, drawn out BS is tearing the country apart. Get it over with.
It’s not that simple. It’s so much more than just building a criminal case. There are thousands of moving pieces and AG Barr and US Atty Durham both want air tight cases with numerous convictions. You also have the scenario where FBI agents have recently started talking, rolling over on senior officials. This will take time to verify new’ish information. Also, it is not just the FBI and DOJ, it’s the CIA as well. The CIA will be dissolved once this all see it’s through. What we are admitting as a country to the ENTIRE world is our own US… Read more »
[…] article originally appeared at The National Sentinel and was republished with […]
[…] article originally appeared at The National Sentinel and was republished with […]
[…] article originally appeared at The National Sentinel and was republished with […]
[…] article originally appeared at The National Sentinel and was republished with […]
[…] article originally appeared at The National Sentinel and was republished with […]
[…] article originally appeared at The National Sentinel and was republished with […]
Don’t forget that there were SEVERAL “journalists” who were PAID by Fusion GPS/CLINTON!! I would imagine that THOSE bad actors/actresses will be fully investigated and charged!
Is it possible that, by signing on to being a state-listed business, the news orgs have agreed not to break any federal or state laws? If Durham finds that laws were broken, and if the Media were helping in this (the Coup), are they violating clauses in any of their contracts? They could cease to be listed business entities, or lose lines of credit, …….
Any consequences to the dismal behavior need to be directed at the owners/CEO’s of the media, be they Bezos, Zuckerberg, Sulzbergers, Brin, Zucker, etc.. They are the ones who dictate what is being propagandized. The journalist hacks are just hired hands who try to earn a living. They wouldn’t have a problem shilling for Goebbels or Stalin.
GOOD POST, I’D SAY THAT ‘MOST OF THE LIBERAL/LEFTIST MEDIA WERE BEING “MONETARILY ENHANCED BY GEORGE SOROS WHO HAS ALSO BEEN A PART OF THE ‘CHAOS IN AMERICA, HE HAS FOMENTED AS HE TRIES TO TAKE DOWN THIS REPULBIC”. HE’S RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYING FOR THE RIOTING BLM THUGS, CAUSING CHAOS AND TRYING TO START A RACE WAR, HISPUPPET OBAMA AND A.G. HOLDER WERE PROMOTING, SOROS ALSO PAID FOR “THE ILLEGAL ALIEN INVASION OF AMERICA FROM SO. AMERICA ILLEGALS TO FLOOD OUR NATION, AS HE ALSO WAS BEHIND PROF.FORD IN HER TRYING TO KEEP JUDGE KAVANAUGH FROM BEING APPOINTED TO THE… Read more »
I think there is only one correct way to handle this. If a news source can be shown to intentionally slander, hold them accountable. If not, they have an obligation to correct the story. If they are informed that their story contains fallacies and they don’t correct, sue them. Trump should sue them. If they correct the story, it ends. If he had legal costs arising before they corrected and after they were notified, they should be sued for those costs.
So, But what of the media? After all, The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and the broadcast networks were spectacularly wrong in their coverage.
The DOJ can and Should Shutter the Liars completely Down. The Press is supposed to report the News, Not make up Lies.
It’s gotten to the point no one believes a word they Print.
Because this is one of the WORST in our American History-the Smear Campaign to oust, first Campaigner Trump(and his people) then POTUS Trump, IF Barr and Durham “DON’T CHARGE THE RESPONBILE CORRUPT PLAYERS-OBAMA/HILLARY/COMEY/ LYNCH, RICE, BRENNAN, ETAL. THEN AMERICAN’S WILL ‘NEVER TRUST OUR GOVERNMENT OR THE AGENCIES THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT US FROM THIS KIND OF CORRUPTION AS “THEY ARE THE CORRUPTION/DEEP STATE, AND AMERICA HAS BECOME A BANANA REPUBLIC-WHERE THE CORRUPT/DICTATORS(LIKE OBAMA)HAVE FREE REIGN OVER THIS NATION/OUR CONSTITUTION(HE SHREDDED DAILY-SPYING ON AMERICANS) THAT WAS TO PROTECT AMERICANS FROM OPPRESSION BY THE RULING CLASS.” SO BARR AND DURHAM NEED… Read more »
Freedom of the press is not a licence to commit crimes. If a so-called journalist was part of a conspiracy to commit treason, then charge them with conspiracy and haul them to prison. It’s time these people are held accountable for their lies.
I Don’t know about newspapers but how about lifting some FCC licenses.
[…] article originally appeared at The National Sentinel and was republished with […]