Ben Carson News
Carson Calls on Media to Hold National Summit On How to Provide Fair Coverage
Haven't they already done that many times, and come up with standards for accuracy and ethics? Shouldn't we simply decide to prefer news organizations that publish the rules they follow for fair coverage and invite the public to criticize them when they get it wrong?
What problem is he trying to solve? Is he saying the government should have more control over what the press publishes? The Constitution gave us a free press for a reason, and you wouldn't want to live in the countries that do not have a free press.
Does Carson have any particular expertise in journalism or First Amendment law?
If the press says something that is wrong, the right thing to do is correct it by providing evidence of the truth. If the government can sue the press whenever the president believes they got it wrong, then the press will spend all of its resources defending itself in court, even when their stories are true. And the press most certainly must be able to publish articles that are negative about something that a president is doing.
Is this just a continuation of
Trump's earlier threats?
“We ought to open up the libel laws, and I’m going to do that.”
The changes envisioned by the celebrity businessman turned Republican front-runner would mean that “when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money,” he said at a rally Friday in Fort Worth, Texas.
Trump added that, should he win the election, news organizations that have criticized him will “have problems.” He specifically cited The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Trump last month threatened to sue the Post after the newspaper wrote an article about the bankruptcy of his Atlantic City casino. On Twitter, Trump has routinely criticized reporters who cover him and their news organizations, including The Associated Press.
“The press has to be fair,” he said in the broadcast interview.
First Amendment advocates condemned Trump’s suggestions.
“His statement shows why we need libel protections,” said Gregg Leslie, legal defense director for the Washington-based Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. “Trump gets offended, he gets upset and he wants to sue to retaliate. That’s not a good reason to sue someone.”
Libel law in the United States generally makes it difficult for public figures to sue reporters or other people who criticize them. To win such a case, the plaintiff must demonstrate that factually incorrect statements were made with actual malice or a reckless disregard for the truth.
Trump said he would like to lower that standard. “We’re going to have people sue you like you never got sued before,” he said.
Because the Supreme Court has repeatedly endorsed the existing legal standard, Trump could not change libel laws as they affect public figures by executive order or even with an act of Congress, Leslie said.
“I’ve never heard of politicians say they would repeal case law established under the First Amendment,” he said. “You’d really need a constitutional amendment to do that.”
Is it biblical? Is it Christlike? Is it loving? Is it true? How can I find out?