It is not "freedom of the press" when newspapers and others are allowed to say and write whatever they want even if it is completely false!
In reality, that’s exactly what freedom of the press means: newspapers should be allowed to say things even when politicians think it’s not true. In my new book, Trump Unveiled: [ http://www.orbooks.com/catalog/trump-unveiled-john-k-wilson/] Exposing the Bigoted Billionaire, I devote an entire chapter to Trump’s attack on civil liberties and particularly his attacks on freedom of the press. Trump promises to change libel laws and he will certainly appoint Supreme Court justices he think will overturn the Sullivan decision and allow public figures like Trump to sue media outlets more easily.
David Cay Johnston, author of the excellent new book, The Making of Donald Trump, noted how Trump threatens to sue everyone, and that he recently wrote a story about Trump for Politico: “every element of that story was from the public record” and “yet in my entire career, and I’ve been doing investigative reporting for 50 year, that was the most heavily lawyered piece I ever wrote.”
Is part of the reason why the media has covered Trump so badly in this election due to the fear that he will sue them?
No presidential candidate has ever threatened to sue more people for libel than Trump, who uses litigation as a tool to suppress freedom of the press because he doesn’t believe in freedom of the press.
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Sunday, Aug 14, 2016 · 2:04:54 PM CST · JohnKWilson
And let me add one note: Trump not only believes that libel protections for the press should be weakened, but Trump says the media should not be “allowed to say and write whatever they want,” which suggest far broader restrictions than mere libel suits.
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