I am particularly proud of this column where I differentiate between community journalism and celebrity journalism (AKA Fake News). Jim Acosta gives all journalists a bad name, but for some reason they stick by his side. It’s time for community journalists to disavow Acosta, CNN, celebrity journalism and #FakeNews. Will it happen? After near 40 years in the newspaper business, I am not holding my breath. —F.M.
Jim Acosta and the Hubris of Celebrity Journalism
By FRANK MIELE/Real Clear Politics
When do Jim Acosta’s 15 minutes of fame expire?
Has there ever been anyone less deserving of the spotlight who has managed to hog it quite so thoroughly as CNN’s White House show horse? Most recently, on Nov. 7, Acosta gave President Trump a moral lecture in the form of a loaded “question” about why Trump called the migrant “caravan” an “invasion.” According to Acosta, it is not an invasion because the migrants were hundreds of miles away, and besides, the migrants aren’t going to be “climbing over walls and so on.” One week later, as we all know, members of the caravan (and of course it’s not really a “caravan”) were sitting astride the border wall and invading U.S. territory. So much for Acosta’s credibility.
Mind you, the president answered Acosta’s “When are you going to stop beating your wife?” question, and acknowledged that he and the reporter have a difference of opinion about what an invasion is, but Acosta was pressing his left-wing agenda and not actually trying to elicit information with his “fake question.” Moreover, Acosta then tried to commandeer the press conference and ask another unrelated question even after the president had called on someone else. It wasn’t until Acosta refused to turn over the microphone to a White House intern and insisted on sparring with the president that Trump called him a “rude, terrible person.” Later, the White House withdrew Acosta’s press pass on account of his jostling with the intern when refusing to hand over the microphone, resulting in CNN suing the Trump administration to protect its preening, petulant reporter.
Face it, if Acosta were a grandstanding lawyer, he would have long since been found in contempt of court by the presiding judge, but because he is instead a grandstanding TV journalist he apparently has a constitutional right to do and say anything he wants so long as CNN is willing to sign his paycheck.
Really? Have we actually reached the point where the First Amendment enshrines the right to be rude? And if Jim Acosta has that right, then what is to stop every so-called journalist in the world from showing up at the White House with a whoopee cushion and a demand for a press pass?
Pardon me for not joining the journalistic pack and defending …
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https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/11/19/jim_acosta_and_the_hubris_of_celebrity_journalism.html
Found your new home, Frank! I knew you couldn’t resist sharing your thoughts with us.
I am not officially hiding out! Just trying to find ways to get word to my old readers that I am still in the saddle!