On Monday, during his hosting duties on CNN’s “Newsroom,” Jim Acosta called on media outlets to “stand firm” against President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to use the legal system to hold the press accountable.
Acosta told CNN contributor Brian Stelter the media should not have to worry “about this sort of stuff.”
“I just wonder, Brian, what this is going to mean for news organizations, for tech companies?” Acosta said. “We’re going to talk about the implications for tech companies in a moment, but it seems to me that there’s a lot of this bending the knee going on. And I’m sure the folks over at ABC will say that that’s just not the case, but I just feel and I wonder how you feel about that aspect of all of this.”
He continued, “I mean, to me, it seems this is a time for our industry to stand firm. And we’re going to have a very important job to do, and that’s not putting us on a pedestal or anything like that, but we’re going to have a very important job to do because Trump is not going to change his ways when he gets back in the Oval Office. He’s going to continue to say things that need to be fact-checked. And you can’t have the news industry worrying about this sort of stuff when they’re just simply doing their jobs.”
“Well, if some bend the knee, others have to stand up straighter,” Stelter replied. “You know, the former Time magazine editor Richard Senegal said this morning, Trump has sued dozens of publications and media outlets in the past, trying to quote, ‘intimidate the press into self- censorship,’ not to actually win any particular case. He did win in this case with a big payment, but that broader concern about self-censorship is one that I know many viewers and readers are worried about. And ultimately, Jim, as you know, we work for them. We work for the viewers, not for anybody else.”
Follow Jeff Poor on X @jeff_poor
