US: Newspaper urges unity against Trump media attacks
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
‘I hope it would educate readers to realize that an attack on the First Amendment is unacceptable,’ says Marjorie Pritchard
The Boston Globe is calling on media outlets across the United States to adopt a coordinated editorial response against President Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on the news media.
Marjorie Pritchard, deputy managing editor of the Globe’s editorial page, said roughly 70 media outlets have signed on to run editorials Aug. 16 denouncing the president’s attacks, according to The Associated Press.
“Our words will differ. But at least we can agree that such attacks are alarming,” the newspaper said in an appeal sent to media outlets.
The list of outlets that have signed on includes newspapers both large and small, and the appeal asks that outlets join regardless of their editorial position on Trump.
The call is a response to his repeated attacks on the press whom he says unfairly cover him and whom he has dubbed the “enemy of the people”.
“The Fake News hates me saying that they are the Enemy of the People only because they know it’s TRUE,” Trump said on Twitter Sunday. “I am providing a great service by explaining this to the American People. They purposely cause great division & distrust. They can also cause War! They are very dangerous & sick!”
Pritchard said she hoped the united front being asked for would make an impression on the American people.
“I hope it would educate readers to realize that an attack on the First Amendment is unacceptable,” she said, according to the AP. “We are a free and independent press, it is one of the most sacred principles enshrined in the Constitution.”
