In an interview broadcast on Sunday, famous veteran journalist Carl Bernstein shared his opinion on Donald Trump White House press briefings with the American public, arguing that the administration’s briefings are “overwhelmed” by the president’s “dishonesty and lying,” the Hill reports.
According to Bernstein, Trump’s press briefings should not be “taped live all the time” and spread by the media, since they are “basically propagandist exercises.” According to the journalist, Donald Trump’s behavior is “different than anything” the American public has ever seen, so the media should be more careful about what it reports on.
“I also think because of Trump’s lying and his conduct in the presidency, which is so different than anything we’ve ever seen, we need to start thinking of a different way to cover his press conferences and briefings.”
Apart from viciously criticizing the way President Donald Trump has behaved since taking office — in coordination with the White House and other members of the administration — Carl Bernstein advised the American media to be more selective and make better choices pertaining to what is newsworthy and what is not. Before publishing stories about Donald Trump, news organizations should fact check him and make a conscious effort to edit press conference footage, according to the veteran journalist famous for covering the Watergate scandal.
“Maybe we should be there, edit, decide as reporters what is news, and after the press conference or briefing is over, then go with that story with clips,” Bernstein said, but added that full videos of White House press briefings should still be made available to the public and uploaded to news organizations’ websites because that is a “matter of record.”
Carl Bernstein’s comments come as no surprise given that Donald Trump has been waging a war on the media, often calling various news organizations “enemies of the people.” Most recently, as BBC reported, the administration was criticized for revoking CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s press pass. The administration had decided to bar Acosta from reporting from White House premises following a confrontation between an aide and the reporter.
. @carlbernstein ‘s thoughts on how the media should cover Trump’s events: “I don’t think we should be taking them live all the time and just pasting them up on the air because they’re basically just propagandist exercises…” pic.twitter.com/JHPGlPCBSo
— Reliable Sources (@ReliableSources) November 18, 2018
But as detailed by a previous Inquisitr report, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy J. Kelly, a judge Trump himself appointed, granted Acosta and CNN the right to temporarily restore the reporter’s press credentials.
“It’s fine, it’s not a big deal,” Trump said of the judge’s decision, before claiming to believe in the First Amendment and threatening to throw Acosta out if he “misbehaves” in the same breath.
In order to counter the administration’s propaganda, journalists should “start editing,” according to Carl Bernstein, instead of “just giving” Trump a microphone.
