Jimmy Kimmel's suspension shows that dictators follow a playbook

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Filipino American journalist Maria Ressa with Jon Stewart compare the attack on free speech.

All this talk about free speech spurred by the Jimmy Kimmel suspension  is starting to look uncomfortably familiar.

One of the highlights of my journalism career is when I learned that I was among the journalists with an arrest warrant issued by the government of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos. I was so proud.

As managing editor of the San Francisco-based Philippine News my name was included along with PhilNews publisher Alex Esclamado and the other editors of the Filipino American weekly. The newspaper was noted for its strong anti-Marcos stance amid the coverage of Filipinos in the US, from baby births, weddings to discrimination against Filipino Americans and the Filipino-instigated Grape Strike.

But whatever we did at the newspaper, it was nothing when compared what our peers in the Philippines were experiencing under the strongman Marcos.

When Marcos declared martial law in 1972, he didn't just target political opponents. He went after something just as powerful: the free press. And he didn't do it quietly. He did it with a methodical, ruthless precision that left no room for dissent.

Here's the scary part, the stuff that should make you wake up at night because of what is happening in the US today under the Donald Trump dictatorship is uncomfortably similar.

In 1972, in Manila newsrooms, the lights went out.

It started in the dead of night, just as martial law was being declared. Marcos had his military forces shut down the biggest media outlets in the country: newspapers like the Manila Times, magazines like the Philippine Free Press, and even TV stations like ABS-CBN. Can you imagine? The Philippines press was noted as having one of the most vibrant journalism in Asia. One day, there was a vibrant, messy, free-wheeling, public conversation happening, and the next day, it's just gone. Poof.

The media void wasn't left empty for long. Marcos and his cronies—his buddies, his business partners—created their own media empire. Outlets like the Daily Express and the Bulletin Today popped up, and they all served the same master: Marcos. Their job wasn't to inform. It was to glorify. They sold the "New Society" myth, painting a picture of progress and peace while the reality was far, far darker. It was a lie, and they were the ones who made sure you believed i

Journalists who dared to question the narrative were rounded up and thrown in jail. Sometimes, they were tortured. Some of them never came back. Marcos wasn't just killing the message; he was killing the messenger. 

Some of the most influential media figures at the time were immediately taken into custody. These included:

• Teodoro Locsin Sr., publisher of the Philippines Free Press
• Chino Roces, publisher of the Manila Times
• Eugenio Lopez Jr., owner of ABS-CBN
• Prominent writers Luis Beltran, Maximo Soliven, Amando Doronila, and Juan Mercado.
•  Many journalists were held in military stockades for years.
• 34 Filiilpino journalists were killed during the Marcos regime.

This is the playbook of every authoritarian regime. When you can't win an argument, you make sure no one is allowed to present a counter argument. Hitler did it. Stalin did it. Putin and X are doing it. And, Trump wants to do it. 

Emergence of the "Mosquito" press

But here's the thing about a good story—it finds a way to get out. A small, underground "mosquito press" emerged despite the censorship and Marcos' strongarm tactics. These brave individuals published their stories in secret, and their whispers became a chorus of defiance.

At the Philippine News, visitors from the Philippines would smuggle out these stories which the PhilNews reprinted. Then, we mailed the newspaper to key members of Congress and open-minded members of the media.

The legacy of Marcos's attack on the press lingers to this day. We still see echoes of his tactics in the way the media is threatened and attacked. But we also see the spirit of the mosquito press in those who continue to fight for the truth, no matter the cost.

Most recently, disgraced President Rolando Duterte tried to silence Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa and Rappler, the online news outlet she helped found in Manila. Ressa was hit with several arrest warrants and convicted of cyberlibel. In 2021, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her defense of press freedom.

After ABC suspended Kimmel's show, Jon Stewart hosted Ressa on his Daily Show during which Ressa told Stewart, "I told you so."

In an earlier interview Ressa issued a warning that the US was in danger of following the Philippines during Duterte's rule including legal harassment, arrests, revoking licenses.

In that earlier interview, Stewart countered that the institutions in the US were more stable and the bullying of a free press could not possibly happen here. Sadly, he was wrong and that's why he invited Ressa back to his show. 

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel returned to his show Tuesday.

Kimmel reinstated

Although Disney CEO Bob Iger allowed Kimmel to return to ABC today, the Trump threat to media outlets remains. Sinclair and Nexstar, which together own about 20% of the ABC affiliates, said they would still not air Kimmel's show on their stations.

Although not well known by the general public, the Kimmel situation brought them into the spotlight exposing their undue influence in the information industry and disproves the GOP assertion of the so-called "liberal "leanings of mainstream media. If they are successful in having the FCC approve their expansion, the two corporations operate hundreds of television outlets and thus control the direction of news dissemination and our national conversation.

In his opening monologue Tuesday evening, an emotional Kimmel thanks his supporters in the entertainment industry and the thousands of ordinary Americans who were angry at Trump's attack on the First Amendment. 

"But I don't wanna make this about me because — and I know this is what people say when they make things about them — but I really, this show is not important," said Kimmel.

"What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this. I've had the opportunity to meet and spend time with comedians and talk show hosts from countries like Russia and countries in the Middle East who tell me they would get thrown in prison for making fun of those in power, and worse than being thrown in prison. They know how lucky we are here. Our freedom to speak is what they admire most about this country."

"We have to speak out against this bully," Kimmel warned. "He’s not stopping. And it’s not just comedy. He's gunning for our journalists, too. He's suing them, he's bullying them."

The intense outcry against ABC and the Disney Corporation saved Kimmel, this time. But Trump, Carr and his FCC said that this won't be the last attack against free speech.

The dismantling of America's free press is happening right before our eyes in real time. Yesterday they went after Steve Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel. Tomorrow it could be Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers or the all-woman panel of The View, all critics of the Trump regime.

"I think we're going to test ABC out on this. Let's see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million," Trump said in reference to the network settling his lawsuit over comments made by anchor George Stephanopoulos.

Trump, like dictator Marcos, systematically works to undermine public trust in journalists and media institutions that published critical reports. 

Trump popularized terms like "fake news" and repeatedly called the media "enemy of the people" to label unfavorable press coverage and outlets. What that constant barrage of negativity does is erode public trust in one of America's institutions and creates an environment of chaos. 

Democracy needs an informed citizenry in order for it to work. It is incumbent on us educate ourselves by continuing to demand and fight for a free press. As ABC and Disney has learned from the pressure they received in temporarily silencing Kimmel, the American public demands a free press, an essential weapon to fight corporate complicity. and authoritarianism.

So beware. The Jimmy Kimmel episode is only Round One.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. 

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accusations of “fake news” and flooding the information void with manufactured news, lies and their own twisted version of "fake news." 

 So, remember this: the freedom to speak is a muscle you have to exercise. If you let it atrophy, you'll find it's too late to use it when you need it most.

Free press wins as Maria Ressa acquitted of another trumped up charge

Maria Ressa overjoyed after the court acquits the Filipino American journalist.

Chalk up another win for democracy and the free press in the Philippines.

Nobel laureate Maria Ressa and her online news outlet Rappler were acquitted by the Philippines Regional Trial Court Tuesday (Sept. 12, 2023) on the final criminal tax charge leveled against them by the regime of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Ressa , 59, had a smile on her face as the judge delivered the acquittal, said AFP news agency. "You gotta have faith," she told journalists after the verdict was rendered.

"The acquittal now strengthens our resolve to continue with the justice system, to submit ourselves to the court despite the political harassment, despite the attack on press freedom," added the Fillipino American journalist Ressa, who spent part of her youth in New Jersey and graduated from Princeton University. She frequently visits family who still reside in New Jersey.

The judgment comes after a legal battle lasting nearly five years. If they had lost the case, Ressa could have been jailed for up to 10 years, while Rappler would have faced a fine.

“This verdict underlines that it is possible for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to chart a different course to his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, who waged a relentless campaign of media repression,” said the Hold The Line Coalition Steering Committee, an international coalition of free press advocates.

“We hope this judgment signals a revival of judicial independence in the Philippines after the previous administration’s instrumentalization of the courts as a means to erode press freedom and discredit independent reporting,” the Hold the Line Coalition said.

Ressa and Rappler were charged in connection with an alleged failure to accurately report financial details on their tax return pertaining to an amount of approximately US$ 11,000. But they have already paid twice that amount in bail and travel bonds associated with the charge.

In January, Ressa and Rappler were acquitted of four tax evasion cases before the Court of Tax Appeals in Manila in an emphatic victory.

While the verdict represents another reprieve, Rappler and Ressa, still face a sustained campaign of legal persecution and online violence, with 23 individual cases against them opened by the government since 2018.

Rappler and Ressa have maintained their innocence and continue to fight three other cases, including Ressa’s 2020 conviction on a trumped-up charge of criminal cyber libel, currently in the final phase of appeal before the Supreme Court. In that case alone, Ressa faces a seven-year jail sentence.

In an historic precedent, Rappler was officially issued a shutdown order in June 2022, reinforcing an earlier decision to revoke the outlet’s license to operate. The order was the first of its kind for the issuing agency and for Philippine media. The threat of shutdown lingers.

“This is a victory not just for Rappler but for everyone who has kept the faith that a free and responsible press empowers communities and strengthens democracy,” Rappler said in a statement.

“As an immediate next step, we call on the government to abandon all remaining cases against Rappler and Ressa, and in doing so, put a long-overdue end to their persecution,” in a statement issued by the Coalition.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the blog Views From the Edge.

World press condemn attacks on Philippine news site Rappler and co-founder Maria Ressa

Journalist Maria Ressa faces jail time

The Philippine government's attempts to shut down the online news site Rappler strikes at one of the pillars of democracy: a free and truthful press.

As the administration of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was preparing to transfer power to the newly elected President Bongbong Marcos, it delivered two vicious blows against Rappler and its co-founder Maria Ressa, the 2021Nobel Peace  laureate.

On June 28, the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission affirmed its 2018 decision to revoke Rappler’s certificates of incorporation, effectively confirming its shutdown. 

Less than two weeks later, Ressa lost an appeal against a 2020 conviction for cyber libel, putting her one step closer to serving up to nearly seven years behind bars.

Rappler drew Duterte's wrath for its regular scrutiny of former Duterte’s self-proclaimed “war on drugs” – echoing serious concerns by the UN human rights office, OHCHR, about the widespread and systematic killing of thousands of alleged drug suspects.

The online news website also explored the spread of disinformation over the internet and social media, which heavily influenced the last two Philippine Presidential elections by the use of anonymous accounts that trolled social media, the news source for many Filipinos. 

Irony upon irony, the international media is calling on the new Philippine President Bongbong Marcos to revoke those rulings. Marcos is the son of Ferdinand Marcos, the dictator who ruled over the Philippines for 20 years, 1965 to 1985. When Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, the first thing he did was to seize control of the media, once the boldest and most aggressive free press in Asia.

"I continue to appeal to the incoming administration, work with journalists, we’re here to help you give a better future for the Philippines. We’re not your enemies," said Ressa.

In a letter to the new president, Jodie Ginsberg, president of the Committee to Protect Journalists, wrote:

"To start with, your administration should end the relentless persecution of journalist and Nobel Peace laureate Maria Ressa, a global beacon of press freedom. CPJ calls on your government to immediately drop all pending charges against Ressa, her colleagues, and the Rappler media group. These cases range from trumped-up tax charges to cyber libel accusations that threaten to shutter Rappler and carry potential prison penalties for those charged ...

"As the Philippines’ newly elected leader, you have the mandate to reassert your country’s damaged democratic credentials by forthrightly promoting and protecting press freedom. We urge you to seize this important moment and state clearly from the outset that journalists will be free to report without fear of reprisal, intimidation, or imprisonment during your tenure."

June 30 "is a new day in the Philippines with a new Administration coming to office and we call on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to quickly reverse the decisions to shutter Rappler and allow the newsroom and its journalists to operate unimpeded," wrote Jen Judson, president of the National Press Club and Gil Klein, president of the National Press Club Journalism Institute,

"We view this as an opportunity for the new Marcos government to make a good faith demonstration of its support for a free and secure democratic Philippines, of which a robust and independent press is a vital cornerstone. We look forward to a return to the rule of law in the Philippines as it relates to Rappler. We expect this will be the case. We stand by Maria Ressa," concluded their joint appeal.

Since Duterte took office six years ago, Rappler and Ressa have faced harassment at hands of Philippine authorities under President Duterte. The harassment and intimidation campaign took the form of online attacks, arrests and legal charges. Ressa has also been slapped with a series of civil and criminal cases, including charges of tax evasion, three cyber libel cases and violations of foreign ownership rules. At one point, Ressa faced up to 100 years in prison cumulatively in various cases.

Speaking on the issue, International Press Institute Deputy Director Scott Griffen said, “The Philippines’ decision to shut down Rappler is a flagrant attempt to silence a critical media outlet and a serious violation of press freedom, which has rapidly eroded under the Duterte administration.”

IPI executive board chair Khadija Patel said, “This decision is deplorable and is testimony to the legacy of an administration that has actively impeded press freedom throughout. As we call for this order to be overturned, we also call on the newly elected president to uphold the rule of law when it comes to news media in the country and stop harassment of critical journalists.”

While its actions against Rappler and Ressa are the highest profile incidents, Duterte has had a running war against the media during his entire time in office.

Duterte shut down the biggest and most influential television network ABS-CBN in 2020. Although, the independent network continues to broadcast online, the loss of its operating franchise has decimated its national television audience.

"We also urge your government to cease the “red-tagging” of journalists, the wrongful and dangerous labeling of reporters as supporters of the banned communist insurgency," urged the CPJ. "Duterte’s administration made red-tagging de facto government policy and employed the practice to threaten, harass, and jail journalists. Red-tagging is especially dangerous considering the Philippine military’s alleged role in extrajudicial killings and torture of accused communists.

The Philippines is also one of the most dangerous places for journalists to work, notes the CPJ. "More broadly, we implore your government to prioritize ending the enduring culture of impunity in the killing of Filipino journalists," based on CPJ’s latest Impunity Index, a quantitative measure of the number of unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of the population.

As Rappler's case is appealed in the Philippines' courts, the news site continues to operate. "It's - our only defense as a journalist is to actually shine the light," the New Jersey-raised Ressa told NPR. 

"So when you get, like, what is equivalent of a shutdown order, do you stay quiet about it and wait, or do you tell people about it, you tell your community about it? We chose to tell our community, and we are working business as usual. We covered the inauguration of President Marcos, and we continue to do our jobs."

Ressa, meanwhile, is out on bail as she awaits the new Marcos regime's position on a free press.

"Who knows what the new administration will do?" Ressa told Axios editor-in-chief Sara Kehaulani Goo. "If the rule of law wins, these cases (against me and Rappler) will be thrown out. I look forward to a new administration and their upgrading of the rule of law." 

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Sunday Read: Legal battle between president Duterte and Maria Ressa’s Rappler shows the Philippines ‘dark reality’ and sends some fact-checkers to therapy

RAPPLER

Journalist Maria Ressa has drawn the ire of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

By Cristina Tardáguila

REPUBLISHED WITH PERMISSION OF POYNTER & THE IFCN

In the span of 14 months at least 11 complaints, investigations and court cases have been lodged by President Rodrigo Duterte’s government against Filipino media site Rappler and its CEO Maria Ressa.

From the official point of view, Rappler deserves to be judged for a long list of tax violations and a cyber libel case. In January 2018, the Filipino Securities and Exchange Commission even revoked the site’s license to operate, and the battle to recover it is an ongoing process.

From Rappler’s point of view, this situation deserves the world’s attention. For their staff, it shows the Philippines’ “dark reality: how law and bureaucracy can be mobilized to silence an independent institution.” For Ressa, it could also be considered a case study about how public spheres and democracies around the world are being destroyed.

LINK HERE to read the original article

Rappler is the largest journalist-controlled media corporation in the Philippines and also a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Principles. In 2018, Time Magazine named Ressa Person of the Year for her work in the field of journalism. In April, she was included in the publication’s ranking of Most Influential People.

According to Glenda Gloria, Rappler’s managing editor, she often gets approached by people in restaurants offering to pay for her meals. “It’s the least we could do for you and Rappler,” they tell her.

In elevators, far from any sort of governmental scrutiny, Filipinos shake her hand and say, softly, “We support you, carry on.” Some people even approach her crying, imploring her to keep doing her work.

Ressa, Gloria and Gemma Mendoza, Rappler’s research and content strategist, all spoke with the IFCN about this legal battle and about how it is affecting their fact-checking unit.

Mendoza emphasized that the claims being made by Duterte are still being — and will always be — fact-checked. Rappler, however, has had to begin offering therapy for those employees who are struggling with a barrage of digital hate speech and threats.

Here is our Q&A with Ressa, Gloria and Mendoza:

If you had to explain the legal battle to a foreigner, what would you say?
Gloria: They reflect this dark reality: that the law and the bureaucracy can be mobilized to silence an independent institution, the only journalist-controlled media corporation in the Philippines. At least 11 complaints, investigations and court cases were lodged against Maria and Rappler by the Philippines’ regulatory, investigative and prosecutorial bodies in a span of 14 months. That is unprecedented even in the Philippine and Southeast Asian context.

The following government entities have investigated and filed cases against us: the Office of the Solicitor General(the “principal law officer and legal defender of government”), the Securities and Exchange Commission(which acted on the SolGen’s request to probe Rappler and whose vision is to be the “champion of investor protection”), the tax bureau (Bureau of Internal Revenue), the National Bureau of Investigation (the investigative arm of the Department of Justice, DOJ), and the DOJ itself.

No other Philippine business has been subjected to such simultaneous legal attacks in recent years, except those known to have swindled customers or stolen public funds — which Rappler certainly has not committed!

These cases have taken much of Maria’s and Rappler’s time and resources, which would have been better spent growing our journalism and our business model at a critical time of massive disruption. We have a constantly updated story containing pertinent details of all our cases.

Ressa: The government seems to want to retain a veneer of rule of law so we are going through a tough process. In more than two years of these politically motivated legal acrobatics, Rappler has only had one decision in its favor, quickly overturned a week later when the case was filed by the Department of Justice.

“Legal acrobatics” is an interesting expression. Can you further explain that?
Gloria: The cases against Maria and Rappler are part of a pattern — that of government investigators and prosecutors are experimenting with legal theories.

For example, in the cyber libel case, there is this theory of republication. They do this to fit a particular entity or person but only after a campaign of public vilification.

Aided by a social media army that targets the Duterte mass base, public officials create a “new normal” first to show that critics and independent voices have become state enemies.

The cyber libel trial has started. In what situation is Ressa now?
Gloria: The prosecution presented its first two witnesses last week. We expect the trial to wind down by the end of September — and possibly a verdict by the end of the year.

This week, the prosecution was supposed to present as its witness the former head of the National Bureau of Investigation’s cybercrime unit that first dismissed the cyber libel complaint against Maria, Rappler and our former reporter.

Perhaps they belatedly realized that he, in fact, dismissed it, so he was not presented at all. (Here’s the story on how the dismissal was overturned a week after)

Ressa is obviously an important person for Rappler’s organizational structure. Is she able to go to the newsroom and work regularly?
Gloria: When she’s not traveling, Maria is always, always in the newsroom.

When she’s traveling, she’s still in the newsroom — virtually. She’s a bundle of energy and positive vibes, that I always joke that I would truly want to take whatever she’s been taking.

Not to say she does not call us out. Eye on the ball on our strategic goals and roadmap to the future — that’s her.

Have you, at Rappler, done any poll or research to measure Ressa’s support among the Filipinos? How is society reacting to this case?
Gloria: How does one measure support under a climate of fear?

In an environment that allows the killing of at least 20,000 people in a drug war that sees no end? In a country led by a president who assures the police he’d protect them if ever they’re charged for these killings?

Under a government that allows its presidential spokesperson to present a “matrix” of destabilizers that lumps independent media organizations with lawyers and activists? In a landscape where an opposition female senator is jailed on trumped-up charges and another opposition senator is facing rebellion charges for which he was already amnestied, and the duly elected vice president is facing a complaint of sedition?

In an online environment polluted by propaganda, manipulated by fake news, and driven by an army of bots and trolls?

Right, right. But do you feel any support?

Gloria: One measures sentiment in intimate instances where state power and surveillance could not reach: in restaurants, where people approach Maria for photos and pay for her meals (it’s the least we could do for you and Rappler, they’d say); in elevators, where they shake her hand and say, softly, we support you, carry on; in courts, where lawyers trying other cases give their cards to say, if you need more pro bono lawyers, count us in; in public places outside Metro Manila where one woman comes up to her in tears — for her, for her country, she said; among students and teachers who closely monitor her and Rappler’s cases and do not doubt that it is a press freedom issue; etc.

Does this mean Rappler has everyone’s support? Certainly not. The technical and complex nature of the cases hurled against us (ie, taxes, foreign investment, cyber libel) gives room for questions — and we welcome them.

We truly wish we had enough time and resources to sit down with everyone to explain these issues. We are not saying we are above scrutiny or regulation or oversight.

We’re saying, we have conducted our journalism and our business ethically, legally, and with public interest in mind. When we commit errors, we not only apologize for them, we acknowledge them publicly.

All our corporate transactions are transparent, duly filed with all agencies concerned. We have never used the law to duck from responsibilities or obligations. That the cases lodged against us were based on our corporate filings is the best proof of our transparent processes as a business and as a media organization.

Ressa: It’s hard to gauge public reaction when exponential lies laced with anger and hate spread faster than facts.

They astroturf the government’s narrative and coordinated attacks against alternative views help create a bandwagon effect.

The end goal is to cripple any beliefs in institutions — journalists and newsgroups are systematically attacked — so there is no challenge to president Duterte’s powerful voice. This is a case study of how democracies around the world are being destroyed: without facts, you can’t have truth. Without truth, there is no trust.

Without these, there is no public sphere, no public discussion, only one narrative. Many questions have also been raised about statistical surveys in a climate of fear — the interviews are done in the homes of respondents, after all.

How does this legal battle affect Rappler’s fact-checking unit? Have you changed anything?

Mendoza: No. The cases have not affected our fact checking efforts.

We believe it is important that we keep fact-checking, and we will continue doing this. We did, however, heighten security protocols for our staff.

Therapy sessions are offered to those who need them. But we are fortunate to have attracted to our team young idealistic journalists who want to make a difference.

How much digital hate speech and threats does Rappler’s team get?
Mendoza: It’s really difficult to explain how much digital hate and threats the team gets. Suffice to say we stopped counting manually and have turned to big data analysis so we can have a record of what is happening and make sense of it.

We draw our strength from those who have taken to defending Rappler online.

What is the best and the worst scenario ahead for Rappler? How do you picture the future?
Gloria: The best scenario is happening now: that Rappler is able to survive all the attacks against it, that it is able to thrive in the way it tells the nation’s stories, that it is able to rethink the future as it continues to retool itself so that it can help shape — and not just be a witness to — the fast-changing, chaotic journalism and economic environment globally.

The worst-case for Rappler is when the Philippines completely runs out democratic space.

That’s the worst-case not just for Rappler but for all Filipinos. I see a future of pushbacks as far as that is concerned. Incremental steps of taking democracy — and our hard-won freedoms — back.

__________________________________________________________________

From the Edge: Fourth Estate under attack

TASS

Russian news service TASS, was quick to release this photo showing Donald Trump welcoming Russian Foreign Minister Sergev Lavrov, left, and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, right

ALMOST LOST in the chaos surrounding the firing of FBI director James Comey was what happened yesterday morning. Donald Trump met with Russia's highest ranking diplomat Foreign Minister Sergev Lavrov. 

The White House declared the unusual meeting to be closed press, meaning that reporters couldn’t attend and cover independently.

One news agency was allowed in: The Russian news agency TASS.


What has our nation come to when the U.S. chief executive trusts Russia's government-controlled media more than American media? 

Exacerbating the tension in Washington, the TASS photographs that came out of that meeting show Donald Trump yukking it up with Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, the man Gen. Michael Flynn met with before becoming National Security advisor.

The jovial picture, the timing of the meeting in the midst of the Comey firing over the Russian probe, just does not look good.

Prior to the meeting, MSNBC reporter Andrea Mitchell shouted out a question to the foreign minister, "Does the Comey firing cast a shadow over your talks, gentlemen?" Lavrov smirked, "Was he fired? You are kidding! You are kidding!" shrugged his shoulders and walked into the meeting. 

The night before, a U.S. reporter got arrested because he asked a question a government official didn't want to answer.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, accompanied by spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway, was winding up a day in Charleston, West Virginia when a local reporter, Dan Heyman of Public News Services asked him if domestic violence could be a pre-existing condition in the GOP proposed American Health Care Act.

When Price ignored him, he persisted to throw out questions. “Do you think that’s right or not, secretary?” Heyman began asking a question, according to a recording an audio recording Heyman provided to The Washington Post. “You refuse to answer? Tell me no comment.”

He was “causing a disturbance by yelling questions at Ms. Conway and Secretary Price,” the complaint says, according to the Post.

The criminal complaint filed against Heyman by capitol police says h was “causing a disturbance by yelling questions at Ms. Conway and Secretary Price,”

He was released later that night after posting a $5,000 bail. Herman said that he was just doing his job as a journalist.

The legal director of the ACLU West Virginia, Jamie Lynn Crofts, spoke to reporters on Tuesday night outside the capitol, after Heyman had been taken into custody.

“Our First Amendment rights are under attack every day, particularly from the Trump administration. And it’s not surprising to me that an incident like this would happen when a reporter tried to ask a question of a member of the Trump administration,” she said.

Trump has battled with the mainstream media throughout his campaign and now that he is in office, he is under more intense scrutiny by the press. He has called into question one of the institutional pillars of U.S. democracy by calling their reporting "fake news" and his administration considers the media an "opponent."

The Fourth Estate has been criticized the last few years because they didn't take Trump serious enough from the outset of his campaign and rushing to his media availability hoping the candidate would blurt out another outrageous statement. By the time the media caught on to Trump's manipulative entertainment-as-value strategy to gain airtime and printed space - it was too late. Trump had  the momentum to defeat his GOP rivals and to upset Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

As someone who was inspired to become a journalist by the work exposing Watergate, the media's fall from grace is especially disheartening.

The public view of the media has deteriorated over the years as media outlets began to reflect a particular point of view, most notably Fox News which espoused conservative perspectives. In reaction, other networks began reporting with a liberal bent. 

In recent polls, journalists usually ranked near the bottom in how the public viewed them. 

Recently, some of the media have bent over backwards to appear "fair," by giving credence to some outlandish claims by climate-change deniers and anti-vaccine advocates. 

The New York Times recently added a noted climate-change denier to their oped retinue of columnists. They might as well give equal space to flat-earth believers and the followers of white nationalists. By giving time and space to these discredited viewpoints, leaving it to the reader to wade through the "he said, she said," muck. Even though there is a firewall between the opinion editors and the newsroom, the public doesn't make that distinction. At some point, the media has to distinguish between the facts and B.S. for a public inundated with information.

Apparently, in the Trump era, media outlets feel this need to create this false balance in order to keep subscribers or viewers who want to believe the disinformation espoused by these discredited pundits. What needs to done is to separate the "populist" views from fact-based information. Fake news, or phony opinions, is like a cancer, it spreads and throws into question all other news stories.

Journalists can save their profession by doing what they should have been doing all along: questioning the powerful, digging for the hidden motives, following the money, explaining the complex, and reporting the truth. By doing their job, they can save the republic. We are not yet living in a dictatorship.

There are signs the media is beginning to live up to its role in our democracy if they continue to dig into the Comey firing, the Russian connections to the Trump campaign, the role of the NRA on congressional campaigns and the impact of the GOP-sponsored health proposal.

It's a sad state of affairs when our nation's democratic institutions such as the free press and the courts can be threatened and shaken by 124 character pronouncements. If ever there is a time for journalists to step up their efforts in reporting what's happening and uncovering hidden motives, it is now.

"If you want to preserve — I'm very serious now — if you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and many times adversarial press," said Sen. John McCain. "And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. That's how dictators get started."

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