This week, Sean Hannity engaged in a bit of press-censoring rabble-rousing when he suggested that media outlets who seemed to favor Hillary Clinton during the election should not be given access to Trump’s media room in the White House.
Of course, if this were to come to pass, the only networks we can conclude that would make it to the press room for the next four years would be Breitbart, Fox News, and MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” Not a very rosy picture.
Hannity appeared to not realize what kind of horrific censoring he was suggesting, seemingly only focused on money his network would rake in if he had near-exclusive access to the POTUS.
“Why should CNN have a seat in the White House press room? Why should NBC have a seat there? Why should The New York Times have a seat there, or Politico? They all think they’re journalists, they’re all full of crap, and they’ve all been exposed. Until members of the media come clean about colluding with the Clinton campaign and admit that they knowingly broke every ethical standard they are supposed to uphold, they should not have the privilege, they should not have the responsibility of covering the president on behalf of you, the American people.”
For Hannity of all people to try and sit on an integrity high horse is laughable. Is he playing his audience or does he really believe the trash that comes from his mouth?
Either way, this sort of language is dangerous. Donald Trump already has a tendency to limit press interaction with his incoming administration, and if his old buddy Hannity whispers in his ear, he might make this wild supposition into a reality.
You can read more about Hannity’s pro-censorship rantings at Huffington Post.
