Committee To Protect Journalists Declares Trump “Unprecedented Threat” To Free Press

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The Committee to Protect Journalists issued an “unprecedented” statement declaring Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump “a threat to press freedom unknown in modern history.”

Trump has an extensive history of attacking the media. The nominee, his surrogates, and his supporters have called media outlets and reporters across the spectrum “dishonest,” “neurotic,” “dumb,” and a “waste of time,” and until recently, the campaign had a media blacklist of outlets that weren’t allowed into campaign events. Numerous journalism rights groups have repeatedly warned about the the threat Trump presents to press freedom.

The chairman of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Sandra Mims Rowe, released an October 13 statement on behalf of the organization slamming Trump as “an unprecedented threat to the rights of journalists.” The letter explains that Trump has demonstrated his “contempt for the role of the press” by mocking a disabled reporter; vilifying, expelling, and revoking credentials of press members; proposing opening up libel laws; and making “his opposition to the media a centerpiece of his campaign.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists’ letter in full: (at link)

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/10/13/committee-protect-journalists-declares-trump-unprecedented-threat-free-press/213816