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Trump to Skip White House Correspondents Dinner |
From
Stephen Lendman |
| Founded in 1914 during the Woodrow Wilson era, the White House Correspondents
Association (WHCA) is a organization of reporters covering POTUS. It holds annual dinners presidents usually attend. Until 1962, women were excluded. Jack Kennedy changed things, refusing to come unless the ban was dropped. In 1942, the dinner was cancelled at the onset of America’s involvement in WW II, in 1951 during Truman’s war on North Korea. Other dinners were cancelled for various reasons. In 1981, Reagan couldn’t attend because he was recuperating from an assassination attempt. He phoned in a message instead. Media scoundrels notoriously serve wealth, power and privileged interests exclusively - their credibility long ago lost. Instead of holding POTUS and most other government officials accountable for their actions, they support them - including endless imperial wars and other US policies, harming millions at home and abroad. Schmoozing with US officials at any level, especially presidents, shows up in press agent journalism, not the real thing - Trump the exception proving the rule. Some fourth estate members refuse to attend the annual dinner for this reason. Most are unprincipled, producing fake news, not what the public needs to know. This year’s event is scheduled for April 29. On Friday, Trump called reporters “the enemy of the people.” Yesterday he tweeted he won’t be attending. Given how unfairly media scoundrels treat him, why should he! On Saturday, a WHCA statement said it “takes note of President Donald Trump’s announcement on Twitter that he does not plan to attend the dinner, which has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic.” Fact: Media scoundrels abuse First Amendment rights by sanitizing news and information, suppressing what’s most important to report. Fact: Reliable alternative media are the only independent kind - real journalism the way it’s supposed to be. Fact: Corporate-controlled print and electronic media are beholden to special interests, not ordinary people. Bloomberg News, the New Yorker and Vanity Fair said they won’t host after-event parties this year, commonplace following WHCA dinners. Leading Trump basher New York Times responded to his opting out of this year’s event, saying “(c)apping a week of extraordinary hostility toward the news media,” he tweeted he won’t be coming. The Times failed to explain that deplorable media reporting, especially its own, is why Trump is staying away. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. |