Time to end the legacy media’s legacy
A few days ago, Donald Trump Jr. said that his father is considering banning some mainstream media outlets from White House press briefings and replacing them with more independent outlets. After all their lying, deception, and dirty tricks, boy, does that feel good! Maybe American Thinker staffers will get a place at the briefings.
It is time to go much further. Donald Trump as president should declare that these legacy media are banned indefinitely from press briefings and interviews until they come clean on behavior unbefitting their stature. To this end, he will state publicly the top egregious violation (or should it be the top 5 or 10 or 20) committed by each one that any reasonable person would consider unacceptable, and demand a heartfelt apology to appear repeatedly, whether above its front-page fold, atop its internet site, or on-air during prime time; no stealth edits, weekend dumps, or corrections appended to years-old articles no one sees. The wording must be satisfactory to the aggrieved for the apology to be accepted. Here are a few examples of what I mean by an adequate apology:
The New York Times and Washington Post: “We admit we peddled the totally fictitious Trump-Russia collusion narrative, concocted by Hillary Clinton and the DNC and abetted by the DoJ/FBI/CIA. To this end, we knowingly and unquestioningly acted as stooges to print politically motivated leaks of false material damaging to Trump. This was unethical, unjustified, and indefensible; protecting democracy as we see it is not a valid rationale. We sincerely apologize, and we will strive to ensure something like this never happens again. Further, it was inappropriate and unwarranted for our reporter to receive a Pulitzer Prize for such reporting; the reporter has agreed to return the prize to the Pulitzer committee. The record will show that we consider this Pulitzer as not counting as an award received by our newspaper.”
