In his latest fascist brain fart, the tinpot lord of the White House construction site has hereby banished three media outlets from what’s left of the building, and it won’t surprise you one scintilla to learn I stand with the banned. But my support for the press corps comes with a caveat.

Trump’s sudden booting of CNN, MS NOW, and Politico is blatantly unconstitutional. Trump tried to kick out CNN’s Jim Acosta in 2018, but lost in court. Trump tried that with the Associated Press in 2025 but he was thwarted by one of his own appointees to the federal bench. His latest authoritarian impulse will likely wind up in federal court with similar results.

But having said all that, and having applauded the press statements denouncing Trump’s ploy, I nevertheless have a blunt beef with the press in general. And I say this as a career journalist who loves the profession:

The mainstream media, by dint of its inherent flaws, helped create this monster.

There has been some terrific reporting, particularly since Trump’s second ascent at the start of 2025, but there is no escaping the fact he was aided and abetted by a press corps that all too frequently normalized him. By hewing to the traditional mores of “objectivity” and “balance,” too many of my colleagues failed to........

© The Saratogian