Friday, November 22, 2024

One More Area of the Swamp That Trump Should Drain: The White House Press Room


In their genius, the Founding Fathers knew that part of the success of a self-governing people was a free and fair press. It would ensure that all voices and views, even unpopular ones, are heard. Because that is what freedom of speech is all about. Journalism was once a noble profession. Being able to ask hard questions of government leaders and hold them accountable when they needed to be was a responsibility taken with the utmost reverence and esteem. Dishonesty and inaccuracy would have been unheard of in years past. Not anymore. 


As Donald Trump assembles his Cabinet and other close advisors around him, without really saying it out loud, he is bringing about a transformation of the federal government and how it will perform. However, there is one other entity in Washington, D.C., that could use a bit of transformation by Donald Trump—the White House Press Room.

In a recent Op-Ed for "The Hill," former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer pointed out that the White House Press Room, in its current form, is a throwback to the 1980s, a time when Americans consumed news and information in a much different way. In the early days of MTV (when they actually played music videos) and parachute pants, the likes of ABC, CBS, NBC, and possibly PBS ruled the roost. They owned the front rows of the Press Room, and why not? That was who Americans got their news from. 

But as Bob Dylan wrote, the times they are a changin'. The advent of the internet changed journalism in a way that no one could have ever dreamed of back then. Not only was the phenomenon of talk radio invented by the great Rush Limbaugh, and I use the word "invented" word on purpose because he did just that, but websites, social media, podcasts, and citizen journalists were where people, more and more, began to get their news.

The reason more people are turning away from legacy media to these alternative sources is simple: they simply no longer trust them. What we have been calling the mainstream media have proven themselves to be completely untrustworthy and unreliable. Even starting as far back as the George W. Bush administration, clear through Trump's first term, and the Biden administration. There has been less and less regard for journalistic practice and professionalism and more and more emphasis on merely being the propaganda arm of the Democrat Party.

Ari Fleischer's suggestion: 2025 is a new era, and while he is shaking things up elsewhere in Washington, it's high time Donald Trump shook up the Press Room as well. Relegate the dinosaur media to the back of the room, where they can churn out all of their "orange man bad" stories that no one reads or watches and give those plumb front-row seats to new outlets, new faces, and new perspectives. 


Here are a few suggestions of who might finally get to sit in those seats. In the interest of self-preservation, tooting my own horn, and because we deserve it, the first seat goes to Salem Media. With websites, podcasts, and radio networks, we are growing all the time, and what better way to continue that than with a White House Correspondent? As much as we love her and would hate to see her go, the no-brainer for the correspondent's job would be RedState's own Jennifer Van Laar. Some other up-and-comers who have earned those seats are sites like "The Federalist" and John Solomon's "Just the News." some of Solomon's best work was on the Russia collusion hoax during the first Trump administration.

The legacy media, being so closely tied to the Democrat Party, must also see itself as a champion for women. So, they should have no trouble with smart, intelligent women, you know, the kind that Trump hates, right up front. Some names that come to mind, while we are talking about "The Federalist" how about editor-in-chief Mollie Hemingway getting a front row spot. A few others, one of the best journalists around today, Catherine Herridge, and the Daily Wire's Mary Margaret Olohan. We could round out that first row with Sara Carter and the "Wall Street Journal's" Kimberly Strassel. Maybe Fox News' Peter Doocy can be the front row's "one lucky guy."

Let's give the seats in the second and third rows to news outlets that really haven't been given their due, like One America News and Newsmax. Websites like Breitbart, The Daily Caller, and The Blaze. Then there are the podcasters like Joe Rogan and Steve Bannon and his "War Room" podcast. Let's also give some of those podcasters out there who might not have a big name but are doing great work a seat in the room. Maybe a few rotating seats as well.

As Ari Fleischer rightly says, it's those in the legacy media who decided their prime mission was to take out Donald Trump and those around him, aka Republicans. Why should he reward their inexcusable behavior with the best seats in the house? 

The American people showed the legacy media the door on election night.Donald Trump should escort them to the back of the White House Press Room where they now belong. 


...and put the legacy media in the back of the room...also...KJP only called on conservative media once or twice a week..same treatment now for the legacy media..sit in the back..and  shut up!!!




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