BY KATHLEENE PARKER
White Rock

Someone asked me—a retired journalist—what I thought about the recent “Trump vs the media” brouhaha. 

Bear in mind, I worked in an era when journalists, at least those from legitimate news agencies, adhered to codes of conduct, fairness, ethics and honesty in reporting. Editorials were on the editorial page.  News stories were in the news section and written in adherence to methods of reporting that helped ensure full and honest reporting, fairness—and media credibility.

In short, standards I don’t think are even taught in journalism schools anymore.

As to Trump, the term “poor little rich boy” seems to apply. Even all these decades later, he seems to have social “skills” from a childhood where he was smothered with love and never required to follow the same rules as others.

I believe a real leader—seeing the problems with media Trump and the rest of us see—would try to solve the problem legislatively, rather than acting out.

Meanwhile, the Fourth estate piously rants that he is infringing on their press freedom.  Bunk! 

Based on what we have seen in the way of their behavior since media deregulation in 1987 and 1996, what the press really wants isn’t freedom (and the obligations to the truth and our system of government that includes) but license—license to continue to function without boundaries, without journalistic ethics, without fairness, without honesty—in content of stories, in full inclusion of all the facts and with knowledge that even Trump deserves fairness and inclusion of all the facts.

Until Ronald Reagan and the Republicans—during their forays against “needless” regulations—unwisely revoked the 1932 Fairness Doctrine, it had required that broadcast news be reported without bias, that all views be fairly and respectfully included and that news blackouts on any view could were banned. In short, as its name implies, it mandated fairness. Any station or network consistently violating it could lose their broadcast license.

In short, it imposed all those standards that national media today lack absolutely and in ways that have earned them an 11-percent “approval” rating.

So, I suggest that Trump—rather than act out— put on his big-boy pants and work to introduce legislation that recognizes the absolute failure of the revocation of the Fairness Doctrine and that works to reinstate ethics and journalistic standards to broadcast and other reporting.  

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