First Word

Donald Trump: The enemy of journalism

Abigail Pritchett, BU Democrats

He shakes his tiny fingers at hordes of reporters, his orange face turning an angry tint of red. He yells angrily, his wispy mop of piss-blonde hair being blown lightly by the wind. He appears to be having quite the temper tantrum, spittle and unsatisfactory vocabulary flying from his chapped lips.

This seems to be the way things go almost every time our president interacts with the media. Instead of listening to what journalists have to say, he never seems to listen at all, instead already formulating his own thoughts. 

Even as a mass communications major with a journalism track, I can agree that yes, some journalists are terrible. And fake news is out there, but any article that puts him in a negative light is immediately deemed fake news by the president.

Because of my major, it interests me to see how our president treats journalists. At this point, it’s common knowledge that Donald Trump doesn’t like anyone who points out his numerous mistakes and flaws. And since a large part of a journalist’s job is to research their person or topic and find out everything about them, it’s easy to see why Trump hates them. 

Now, honestly, Trump handles just about everything quite immaturely so his terrible treatment of journalists is absolutely unsurprising.

Just this past August, Trump sent out a tweet stating: “The LameStream Media is far beyond Fake News, they are treading in very dangerous territory!” Firstly, the “LameStream Media” really? Really? What are you, five years old? Wow, what a good one Mr. Trump, I’m so offended by your rhetoric, I just don’t know what I’ll do with myself! And treading in dangerous territory because people are actually trying to expose what a self-centered, dimwitted person you really are? 

Have you ever heard of the First Amendment, Mr. Trump? There’s this thing called “freedom of the press” He probably hasn’t heard of it since he’s too busy playing endless rounds of golf on his own private course. He may not like what’s being said about him, but being the president, that kind of comes with the job.

Threatening journalists may appeal to his followers, but to those who actually graduated from the second grade, they’ll understand that this is a weak move coming from a little man having a temper tantrum. 

A quick YouTube search will reveal a plethora of said tantrums, from Trump constantly interrupting journalists to downright ignoring their questions.

Years back, when he was still campaigning, Trump “declared war on the press” stating that he would impose fines on critical journalists and that leakers were on the same level as Nazis. This statement honestly just gave me the impression that he’s scared things will be leaked about him that will further prove the point that he’s an awful person. 

And comparing them to Nazis? Really? This really does strike me as odd, because coming from Donald Trump, you would think he would understand what a Nazi is.

Now, yes, the press can be harsh, but that’s their job, so why shouldn’t they be? I mean, I plan on working in DC as a journalist, so of course I’m going to work as hard as I can to expose all of the dirt and corruption that’s settled just below the surface. 

The American people deserve to know what’s going on in their nation’s capital. I know that Trump’s supporters generally tend to support him blindly without questioning his actions, but the people need to know his infractions, whether they believe them or not. 

Journalists are an extremely important resource, and they will forever remain that way despite Trump’s strong opposition against them. 

Abigail is a sophomore Mass Communications major and President of the BU Democrats.