Author: Gene Policinski

President’s press credential threat will be ‘trumped’ by the First Amendment

Here’s how the media should respond to President Trump’s threat to block reporters from White House press briefings.
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Journalists being killed, jailed, threatened – and that’s no joke

Ten journalists were killed Monday in attacks in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the U.S. media was still focused on a comedian’s controversial performance at Saturday’s White House Correspondents Dinner.
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Hannity Hassle: Let’s Apply ‘the Five W’s and How’

If the burning national question of the moment is whether Fox News Channel star Sean Hannity is a “journalist” or not, let’s use the long-held set of journalistic questions to investigate.
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Sinclair: Next time, just put your name to the message

Sinclair Broadcasting aired a poorly-disguised promo decrying “fake news” across its local news stations, drawing sharp criticism from other media outlets who feel targeted.
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The White House is wrong. A free press is ‘the people’

Newseum Institute President Gene Policinski’s op-ed in the Austin American-Statesman looks at the historic tension between the press and the president.
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School walkouts in the wake of ‘Parkland’ — protected by the First Amendment or not?

As the youth movement around gun control gains steam, some schools have threatened students with suspension and other consequences if they protest on school grounds.
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Protect journalists with the same laws that protect all of us

It’s a common misconception that journalists enjoy greater freedoms than their fellow citizens. They don’t — they have the same rights as everyone else. The Journalist Protection Act would change that.
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Demand truth, not junk news: Lessons of ‘PizzaGate,’ ‘IdiotGate’

Recent threats to journalists, like the one against CNN from a 19-year-old in Michigan, may have been empty, but we shouldn’t take them any less seriously.
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Let’s focus on real journalism — not so-called “fake news”

President Trump’s “Fake News Awards,” the latest stunt in his anti-press campaign, contribute to a lessening American commitment to a free press.
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‘Weakening’ libel laws is not the right tactic — for anyone

Instead, Trump and other beleaguered public officials should defend themselves using the tools that only powerful people enjoy — a platform and a following.
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