We are looking at a dysfunction that transcends the contest for power between liberal authoritarians — politely called “centrists” these days — and their rightist counterparts.
President Donald Trump during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Jan. 3, 2026, following the U.S. attack on Venezuela . Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff for policy, on left. (White House/Molly Riley)
By Patrick Lawrence
Special to Consortium News
If the Trump regime is any good at anything, it is escalation. Wars, sanctions, tariffs, ever more portentous threats of more of these, and let’s not forget genocidal terror in behalf of the president’s Zionist benefactors: Donald Trump is always good to take matters recklessly in the wrong direction.
And let’s not forget the Trumpster’s attacks on the press and broadcasters, and by way of these his incessant assaults on the First Amendment. These escalated big time last week, when the president announced that CNN, MSNOW and Politico were no longer allowed entry into the White House.
Here is Trump last Friday on Truth Social, his digital bullhorn. I quote courtesy of The Case Western Reserve Observer:
“I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW… and Politico … from the White House as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS. Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration or the United States of America. Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”
Trump’s war against media, U.S. and otherwise, is as old as his presidency, if it does not predate his arrival at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But with this audacious move Trump opened a new front. You, correspondent McGillicudy, cannot come onto the White House grounds? This is purposefully provocative, if you ask me — a confrontation for the sake of confrontation.
The banned news organizations sued, as Trump had to know they would. The five television networks responsible for pooling live coverage of the White House —one network supplies and shares footage daily on a rotating basis — simply stopped covering the media-greedy president in solidarity with CNN.
This twist of the knife left Trump’s gaudily managed summit with Xi Jinping untelevised.
A federal judge ruled last Thursday in favor of the banned organizations by way of a temporary restraining order, but the White House complied with its reluctance on full display. On Saturday, when it was CNN’s turn to pool, the network was barred from Air Force One as Trump traveled to Knoxville to watch a University of Tennessee–University of Texas football game.
At writing, the four unbanned networks — ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC — plan to resume pooling broadcast coverage while leaving the White House uncovered when it is CNN’s turn. Judge Timothy Kelly’s restraining order is good for 14 days from Sept. 24, its date of issuance.
Let us stay tuned, as they say. And let us take all due care to understand what is and is not at issue here.
Neither Side
President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a joint press conference announcing the U.S. peace plan for Gaza on Sept. 29, 2025, in the White House. (White House/Daniel Torok)
There is no standing with Trump on this one, as there never is when his solipsism tips into insanity. But to be perfectly clear straightaway, there is no standing with those Trump singled out and the media allied with them, either.
“There’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories,” our rotund leader said to reporters after announcing his ban. Well, there is, arguably, but they have a right to write them in our nominally free republic. There is something very wrong, no argument, when liberal-authoritarian media are the front line in an urgently needed defense of the First Amendment.
My thoughts went back to a piece Jim Rutenberg, The New York Times’s media correspondent, published in August 2016, just as Trump arrived in national politics and the liberal authoritarians in our midst were beginning their long-running freakout.
Here is Rutenberg’s lead under the headline, “Trump Is Testing the Norms of Objectivity in Journalism”:
“If you’re a working journalist and you believe that Donald J. Trump is a demagogue playing to the nation’s worst racist and nationalistic tendencies, that he cozies up to anti–American dictators and that he would be dangerous with control of the United States nuclear codes, how the heck are you supposed to cover him?
Because if you believe all of those things, you have to throw out the textbook American journalism has been using for the better part of the past half-century, if not longer, and approach it in a way you’ve never approached anything in your career.
If you view a Trump presidency as something that’s potentially dangerous, then your reporting is going to reflect that. You would move closer than you’ve ever been to being oppositional. That’s uncomfortable and uncharted territory for every mainstream, non-opinion journalist I’ve ever known, and by normal standards, untenable.”
As readers may recall, there was all sorts of pseudo-thoughtful baloney going around at this time, to the effect that the principle of objectivity must be replaced by “moral clarity,” that flimsy phrase liberals took up because it sounded better than “ideological allegiance.”
I simply could not believe how stupid practitioners of Rutenberg’s generation were as they indulged in all this. How could they miss the old adage, What goes around will come around? What were they professing if not a fatal loss of faith in the journalist’s place in the polity and a dereliction of his or her responsibilities—altogether a failure to understand journalism as an independent pole of power?
The Stain of Russiagate
Joe Biden, foreground, and son Hunter during inauguration of President Barack Obama, Jan. 20, 2009. (acaben, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons)
Rutenberg and all the apostles of “moral clarity” have kept their word: You have to give them this. Their coverage of Trump I, the four-year interim that followed, and now Trump II has been transparently loaded against this president, and Trump’s manifest egregiousness this past 10 years is no excuse for it.
Two examples. One, simply stated, is the Russiagate fiasco. We still live with the damage this has done, not least geopolitically. Two, there is the shameful coverup of the Biden family’s corruption before and during Joe Biden’s presidency.
Here I will note the concerted effort to discredit the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop three weeks before the 2024 election and media’s participation in the so-called weaponization of the Justice Department during Biden’s term in office.
Now we know what they mean by “moral clarity.” The bitter, very bitter truth these people cannot face is that Donald Trump has a clear case when he carries on in all caps about “FAKE NEWS.”
Trump is not the first, we must note, to play the access card when dealing with the White House press corps. One administration after another going back who knows how long had their innings in this game; the Bush II, Obama and Biden regimes, to keep the point to our century, certainly did.
At the horizon we are looking at a dysfunction that transcends the contest for power between liberal authoritarians — politely called “centrists” these days — and their rightist counterparts.
Mainstream American media long ago surrendered their sovereignty as that independent pole of power I mentioned earlier. They serve the late-phase imperium. Next to this reality, what we witnessed last week takes on the character of bickering in the upper reaches of power.
The reigning Russophobia, the mounting Sinophobia, the Islamic Republic as a dangerous Rogue state, the erasure of history and causality in the reporting of the Ukraine war, what amounts to a massive coverup of the Zionist regime’s crimes in Gaza, the West Bank and elsewhere in West Asia: None of this changes as the guard changes from Tweedledee to Tweedledum in Washington.
At issue last week, and for a long time before this latest confrontation between the White House and media, are the First Amendment — certainly this — but also the sequestration of power and the place and role of the press in the American polity. All three of these items warrant urgent address. This should now be plain.
But there is no grounds to leave these tasks to mainstream newspapers, magazines, digital publications and broadcasters, however they love to mount their high horses in a cause they long ago abandoned. You are reading an independent publication. It is in media such as this where any prospect of solutions to these crises lies.
Patrick Lawrence, a correspondent abroad for many years, chiefly for the International Herald Tribune, is a columnist, essayist, lecturer and author, most recently of Journalists and Their Shadows, available from Clarity Press or via Amazon. Other books include Time No Longer: Americans After the American Century. His Twitter account, @thefloutist, has been restored after years of being permanently censored.
TO MY READERS. Independent publications and those who write for them reach a moment that is difficult and full of promise all at once. On one hand, we assume ever greater responsibilities in the face of mainstream media’s mounting derelictions. On the other, we have found no sustaining revenue model and so must turn directly to our readers for support. I am committed to independent journalism for the duration: I see no other future for American media. But the path grows steeper, and as it does I need your help. This grows urgent now. In recognition of the commitment to independent journalism, please subscribe to The Floutist, or via my Patreon account.
The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
The Games Trump & Liberal Media Play
The majority of We The People want to be entertained ONLY. This is the old story told. just as the story is told today.
Let the games ensue! The rules written by the players as ‘We’ go along.
Right on cue We The People applaud–sometimes with a standing ovation. And with a Thank You for your service in the service ‘for’ our ‘leaders’.
What’s a life or many?
We are all gonna die anyway, is the people’s favor today–as we dutifully comply…Maybe a statue or two with the likeness of our ‘fathers’ will be placed in honor… Like say on the face of a mountain that is sacred to the original peoples impelled by them/us who empowered themselves by and with a media promoting a discovery doctrine that decries a manifest destiny.
A media–then as now–promoting god-like leaders. Leaders that demand loyalty and cash!
This the bible, the media, tells us so! So we take ‘them’ at their ‘WORD’. As it is written.
100%! “At issue last week, and for a long time before this latest confrontation between the White House and media, are the First Amendment — certainly this — but also the sequestration of power and the place and role of the press in the American polity. All three of these items warrant urgent address. This should now be plain.” Patrick Lawrence.
Agreed, MSM’s bandits, CNN, Politico, MSNOW, f/up an opportunity to course correct, “Come, Clean!” Fuhgeddabout ‘Em! Everybody, knows, “He who rides the horse of greed at a gallop, arrives at the door of shame.” Done & Dusted! *“This is why ‘polycrisis’ is a useful way of looking at the world right now.” TY, Patrick Lawrence, CN, et al. “Keep it Lit!”
* hxxps://www.weforum.org/stories/health-and-healthcare-systems/polycrisis-adam-tooze-historian-explains/
Hear! Hear!!! “Trump is not the first, we must note, to play the access card when dealing with the White House press corps. One administration after another going back who knows how long had their innings in this game; the Bush II, Obama and Biden regimes, to keep the point to our century, certainly did.“ Patrick Lawrence.
Hence, the morning after, Stein v. Clinton v. Trump, “Comin’ in Hot! rubbing salt into the wound, Obama, “We’re All On The Same Team.” Imagine, that! BHObama after DJTrump’s win. 11.9.16. Therefore, IMO, receiving the trophy, for a lifetime of trump’n peace, goes to the DNC’s Rock $tar, BHObama, the Commandeer-N-$peech,
Awh, those were the days of POTUS’ hatch’n out a killer, domestic & foreign, policy, i.e., “Use. Abuse. Abandon nka Kill, first. Think, later.” Sanctioned by the MSM Press & the US Congress.
Consider, the “Beyond the F/Pale!” inhumane conditions Dr. Stein & the Greens endured in their Campaigns for U.S. President; “BUTT, the sound of a Jackass lock’n lips w/the burnt-orange, Elephant-N-Chief’s a$$, rubbed salt into the wound, i.e., “We’re All On The Same Team.” BHObama after DJTrump’s win.11.9.16.
…..“Now, everybody is sad when their side loses an election. But the day after, we have to remember that we’re actually all on one team. This is an intramural scrimmage. We’re not Democrats first, we’re not Republicans first. We are Americans first. We’re patriots first.” BHObama, the Commander-N-$peech, 2016.
2026, Ten years later, Obama’s GONE! The U.S. Congress is GONE! Fingers crossed, Trump’s GONE by Xmas! The issue, today, October 2026, is The Donald “Patriot” Trump, is “Home Alone;” &, he, “The Bea$t” just won’t go to sleep!” Or, Stay, Home! Itsa 24/7, incessantly, relentless, $elf-promotion tour aka the “golden” error of Trump, an American vulture.
“Pray for Birdies. TY.
hxxps://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/news/a40663/obama-speech-trump-win/
hxxps://www.weforum.org/stories/health-and-healthcare-systems/polycrisis-adam-tooze-historian-explains/
The gut-punch for me, was: “… they love to mount their high horses in a cause they long ago abandoned. –Patrick Lawrence”
“These escalated big time last week, when the president announced that CNN, MSNOW and Politico were no longer allowed entry into the White House.”
Meanwhile, Declassified UK journalists banned from the Labour Party annual conference just like when Starmer was leader.
One Labour MP says:
“I genuinely thought the new regime would represent a change from the Starmer-era tricks of trying to control the message and manage the media to duck accountability. If this is what change looks like, it is looking an awful lot like more of the same.”
You cannot ignore the power behind all these thrones of opinion and you cannot report on them without noting over and over again that it’s the money and the planetary degradation required in order to obtain it that are at the core of human activity. You cannot report on “politics” and “corruption” and ignore the planetary devastation of Monopoly/Capitalism and every other form of extraction that humans currently practice. We are losing overall because we are only clever, not wise. The sooner we are diminished to the point of wandering bands again, the better overall.
Remember me as the guy who responded to your posting about our hero Tuli Kuferberg.
Trump’s moves–whether having some wisdom or not—have occured because he represents a different view on some subjects, like having an open border under the democrats like Obama, Clinton, and Harris.
There is not a problem not exacerabated by the many millions of people with little comparative education that came to this country, caravan after caravan.
And yes, all of what Trump does—his being Netanayhu’s gopher guy is prime example for me of being mentally challenged—is not good.
One need only look to who owns “the media” to understand the FOUNDATIONAL dysfunction that exists in corporate media. Any media source that does not educate and contextualize while it informs is worthless. The mainstream media is a profit machine that pretends to objectivity while maintaining the same, sick status quo. Things change, the news cycle moves on, and nothing changes. But the pattern, the premise and the profit stay the same. Politics is a spectator sport in this regard, and it is presented as somehow a struggle for the “soul” of our nation: a passion play, if you will. Hearst and others understood that that could keep people coming back for more. I’d sooner watch Monday Night Football than listen to any of the content coming out of the media sources you mentioned. The media loves it when the media is the center of attention, and the recent ban plays so well. They can pretend that they are standing up for the First Amendment and fighting fascism. With a decent regard for the dignity of office and the future of the nation, I would suggest that ALL the media stop showing up with mics, lights, cameras and microphones, and the same old questions. Mr. Trump thrives on it. Starve his ego and destroy the man. Why would anyone want to hear donkey farts night after night?
Money is what organizes facts and creates perspectives.
And the media today are especially vulnerable to money influence.
People like us are fortunate to have access to something like Consortium News.
Employees do not defy the Boss. That is a fundamental rule of capitalism. If an employee defies the Boss, they get fired and replaced by a more submissive and compliant employee. So, yes, Ownership matters.
I suggest we all turn these lying fools off, and pay them no attention. That will hit them where it hurts the most, in their pocketbooks. Their advertisers are paying for access to your eyeballs and your brain. Deny them that, and not only do you protect yourself from interference, but you hit a capitalist where it hurts the most … on the bottom line.
Turn them all off!
And PS, when I used to watch sports, it was obvious that political opinions regularly intrude on the sports broadcasts. Especially, the very politics of very far-right owners of NFL teams onto NFL broadcasts. Robert Kraft has been using his NFL team and stadium to promote his pro-war and pro-Zionist views for decades. If you watch Monday Night Football, these opinions are forced upon you, some in subtle ways, some officially pronounced by the announcers that are approved by the National Football League.
I have to agree with Will‘s premise. Another way of saying it is that the purpose of the mainstream media is to deliver viewers to advertises While not Delivering relevant truth to viewers to be informed intelligent voters. I too Prefer football to TV news. At least it’s real.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate Consortium News. Thanks for existing.
“The reigning Russophobia, the mounting Sinophobia, the Islamic Republic as a dangerous Rogue state, the erasure of history and causality in the reporting of the Ukraine war, what amounts to a massive coverup of the Zionist regime’s crimes in Gaza, the West Bank and elsewhere in West Asia: None of this changes as the guard changes from Tweedledee to Tweedledum in Washington.” P. Lawrence
All the above lies continue to the shame of the mainstream media. But Lawrence and many other journalists are leaving out global warming from greenhouse gases along with large scale toxic releases and the resulting threat to the biosphere where many species are already extinct or showing rapid decline, coral reefs dying from acidic oceans, human communities devastated by fires, droughts and floods.
This issue has equally abundant political ramifications as the topics Patrick lists, with the Trump? Republican camp in denial, and the Democrats without any reasonable plan.
Is it not incumbent on a free press to either report on how this is not a realistic concern by disputing the scientific consensus and observable devastation or begin to include it as one of the most significant trends in human and biological history. Arguing against the physics that have predicted global warming via CO2 emissions since the early 1800s is a fools errand, but leaving it out of our shared concerns and allowing the marginalization of ecological reality to continue increasingly constitutes a failure of journalism that is wildly dangerous to humanity and all life and should be deeply unacceptable to informed readers and those engaged in political discourse.
Judge Napolitano recently stated that the government of the United States is controlled by a foreign power, speaking, of course about the state of Israel. Let that sink in. As has been stated there is no right of the American people that the Zionists are not willing to sacrifice to further their horrific and disgusting genocide in Gaza and the West Bank. One of the most deliberately, and misleading, perhaps the most misleading, technique of propaganda of our mainstream media, including NPR and PBS is the use of the term “ war“ to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza. In the 1940s, both the US and Germany had an Air Force, navy, tanks, submarines, artillery, and organized and equipped military. That was a war. in Gaza Israel has all the same while hamas has guns. The situation in Gaza is sophisticated fighter jets with 2000 pound bombs against people with deer rifles on the ground. This is what NPR refers to as Israel’s “war”with Gaza. And these people call themselves journalists.
Yet another trenchant analysis that proves, again, why Patrick Lawrence remains my favorite read.
Global civilization requires resolution of all lies for wars of all kinds and the profit motives that have driven them to erase all the defamation of character used to capitalize on hate with manipulation of hatred and dehumanization. The good war is a fallacy of disinformation.
The current culture wars was created by holding a Supreme Court nomination hostage for religious culture wars then attempting to reverse created an even worse version reborn out religious war on women’s rights. The male dominance protection racket runs in fear of women voting for real security rather than the fake version of technological innovative insecurity.
All driven by the “Taking Heads” of the television industry. The original Heads were old time newspaper and print media veterans. Once they were gone, they were replaced by beauty/handsome over content. The worst was NBC when it was acquired by General Electric. Advertisors and money ruled the air waves without any concern for content. Everything was photogenic with empty dialogue to appease the buying public. The leader of it all was Tom Brokaw as the head correspondent representing all things GE with no concern with truth or content. The destruction of the entire print media ensured rule by TV and YouTube over all media. The White House press corps was/is the epitome of it all.
What I dislike about Trump banning CNN is that the fascist move almost helps to lend a patina of legitimacy to CNN. Something CNN clearly does not deserve. Of course, Trump with his subservience to Israel, deserves no legitimacy whatsoever either.
Ah yes! Brilliant observation. Thank you!
You write: “Trump is not the first, we must note, to play the access card when dealing with the White House press corps. One administration after another going back who knows how long had their innings in this game; the Bush II, Obama and Biden regimes, to keep the point to our century, certainly did.”
Don’t forget it goes back to Richard Nixon and his “enemies lists”.
As I have commented elsewhere, news organizations are either the fourth-estate holding power to account or they become a fifth-column champions of the status quo (against the public), which is where we are now.
Agreed that responsible alternative media is the only way forward, leading the public to take responsibility for their republic. Either you take a place at the table or you are on the menu.
Imperialism requires hypocrisy on a grand scale to function. I think it’s reached critical mass at this point. Why would anyone believe anything they are told by these masters of perception management? I feel like I’m living in a Woody Allen political comedy flick. “Sleeper” comes to mind.
Bingo.