The Trump administration is barring journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House for writing “purposefully negative stories.” In response, a Sept. 21 editorial, the New York Times said:
The new ban is alarming for two reasons: It continues both Mr. Trump’s attempt to prevent the free flow of information in American society and his utter disregard of the law…
As James Madison wrote, “To the press alone, chequered as it is with abuses, the world is indebted for all the triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression.” The Bill of Rights devotes part of its first item — the First Amendment — to the idea, barring any laws that abridge “the freedom of speech or of the press.”
