R
rdean
Guest
The 4th Estate as the 4th Branch | Teachinghistory.org
Calling the media the "4th branch of government" is a rhetorical device, not a serious statement of fact. The point is to emphasize that the press is not a mere passive reporter of the facts, but a powerful actor in the political realm.
The 1st Amendment of the Constitution says, “Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom ... of the press.” The Constitution establishes a government with three branches, but it does not establish a press or a media. What it does do is prohibit the government from trying to control what people say, either in the press (and by extension in other forms of media) or outside the press.
Voice of America, the government agency that broadcasts radio and television abroad. VOA is prohibited by the Smith-Mundt Act, however, from disseminating its programming directly to the American people. This was partly out of fear that an administration would find it a useful tool for selling itself to its own constituents and thereby unfairly consolidating its own power against its political opposition.
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Voice Of America Officially Converted To Trump TV?
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The US press and media worked very hard to get Trump elected spending billions of dollars.
Trump has gotten nearly $3 billion in ‘free’ advertising
Trump works best with an opponent. He's president. At this point, unless he shoots down, he has no REAL political opponent at this time. Even the GOP is afraid to stand up to him. Who in the GOP will fight with Trump when they believe he could destroy their career with a Tweet?
The press doesn't even realize they are in a battle with Trump. His minions cry "fake news" with every business and political revelation. They are being marginalized even worse than when they helped him get elected. Remember, when Trump visited 5 cities and gave five speeches, networks like MSNBC and CNN played all five speeches live. I saw so many Trump speeches, I could almost recite one from beginning to end. Go to Youtube and search "Trump's Campaign Speech". I gave up after 25 pages with 20 vids per page and didn't bother to hit "next". Not all of them are speeches. Check it out.
I did a "Hillary campaign speech" and many of them turned out to be Trump talking about Hillary, or other people talking about Hillary. And after a couple of pages they are 1, 2 or 3 minutes long when they are just Hillary. Same thing with Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush.
On the first page of Jeb's search, there are speeches by Trump, his brother and his speeches are 2 and 3 minutes long.
So Trump has no major opponents at this time.
But,
The press is looking into how the press works in authoritarian regimes to learn from them.
White House Correspondents' Dinner is still on, WHCA says
It's still a question whether the White House Correspondents dinner will still happen. Press from major publicans have already dropped out. How do you think Trump would take being roasted?
But for how much longer will Trump have no real opponents. Eventually the press will catch up.
There have been demonstrations all over the world against Donald Trump. When has that ever happened before. Except for Vladimir Putin and Russia, Trump has made enemies with nearly every head of state he's talked to. And that's just outside the country.
Inside the country, we are seeing demonstrations across the country in just the first two weeks, even in states like Texas and Alaska. Historically Blood Red states. You have millions in his own base terrified they will lose their health care, the Social Security Benefits and their Medicare and Medicaid.
And what until what Trump is doing with Dodd-Frank filters down to the elderly part of his base who voted in big numbers for Trump. Frank mandated investment companies work for the best interests of the investors and retirees. Trump is rolling that back. Meaning these investment companies can take chances and raise rates. More on that later.
Soon, Trump will have four big opponents. The rest of the world, the American people and the media. We aren't there yet, but it's coming. I don't believe, at this point, it can be avoided.
It's possible business can be added to that list when the economy heads south.
The question here for the Republican Party is how closely are the GOP House and the GOP Senate tied to Trump? Can they distance themselves from such an unstable President? Time will tell.
Calling the media the "4th branch of government" is a rhetorical device, not a serious statement of fact. The point is to emphasize that the press is not a mere passive reporter of the facts, but a powerful actor in the political realm.
The 1st Amendment of the Constitution says, “Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom ... of the press.” The Constitution establishes a government with three branches, but it does not establish a press or a media. What it does do is prohibit the government from trying to control what people say, either in the press (and by extension in other forms of media) or outside the press.
Voice of America, the government agency that broadcasts radio and television abroad. VOA is prohibited by the Smith-Mundt Act, however, from disseminating its programming directly to the American people. This was partly out of fear that an administration would find it a useful tool for selling itself to its own constituents and thereby unfairly consolidating its own power against its political opposition.
-----------------------------------
Voice Of America Officially Converted To Trump TV?
-----------------------------------
The US press and media worked very hard to get Trump elected spending billions of dollars.
Trump has gotten nearly $3 billion in ‘free’ advertising
Trump works best with an opponent. He's president. At this point, unless he shoots down, he has no REAL political opponent at this time. Even the GOP is afraid to stand up to him. Who in the GOP will fight with Trump when they believe he could destroy their career with a Tweet?
The press doesn't even realize they are in a battle with Trump. His minions cry "fake news" with every business and political revelation. They are being marginalized even worse than when they helped him get elected. Remember, when Trump visited 5 cities and gave five speeches, networks like MSNBC and CNN played all five speeches live. I saw so many Trump speeches, I could almost recite one from beginning to end. Go to Youtube and search "Trump's Campaign Speech". I gave up after 25 pages with 20 vids per page and didn't bother to hit "next". Not all of them are speeches. Check it out.
I did a "Hillary campaign speech" and many of them turned out to be Trump talking about Hillary, or other people talking about Hillary. And after a couple of pages they are 1, 2 or 3 minutes long when they are just Hillary. Same thing with Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush.
On the first page of Jeb's search, there are speeches by Trump, his brother and his speeches are 2 and 3 minutes long.
So Trump has no major opponents at this time.
But,
The press is looking into how the press works in authoritarian regimes to learn from them.
White House Correspondents' Dinner is still on, WHCA says
It's still a question whether the White House Correspondents dinner will still happen. Press from major publicans have already dropped out. How do you think Trump would take being roasted?
But for how much longer will Trump have no real opponents. Eventually the press will catch up.
There have been demonstrations all over the world against Donald Trump. When has that ever happened before. Except for Vladimir Putin and Russia, Trump has made enemies with nearly every head of state he's talked to. And that's just outside the country.
Inside the country, we are seeing demonstrations across the country in just the first two weeks, even in states like Texas and Alaska. Historically Blood Red states. You have millions in his own base terrified they will lose their health care, the Social Security Benefits and their Medicare and Medicaid.
And what until what Trump is doing with Dodd-Frank filters down to the elderly part of his base who voted in big numbers for Trump. Frank mandated investment companies work for the best interests of the investors and retirees. Trump is rolling that back. Meaning these investment companies can take chances and raise rates. More on that later.
Soon, Trump will have four big opponents. The rest of the world, the American people and the media. We aren't there yet, but it's coming. I don't believe, at this point, it can be avoided.
It's possible business can be added to that list when the economy heads south.
The question here for the Republican Party is how closely are the GOP House and the GOP Senate tied to Trump? Can they distance themselves from such an unstable President? Time will tell.
