Letter to the Editor published in the Providence Journal, January 18, 2017

Marc W. Kohler: The problem wasn't the reporters, it was Trump

I write in response to Mark Patinkin's Jan. 13 column "Trump press turns into a chaotic mob."

According to the American Press Institute, journalism is "the activity of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and information." It is "distinguished from other activities and products by certain identifiable characteristics and practices," which "not only separate journalism from other forms of communication" but "make it indispensable to democratic societies. History reveals that the more democratic a society, the more news and information it tends to have."

From the first day of his campaign, Donald Trump has spoken disdainfully of all the chores that journalists are required to do. He forced news agencies out of his press conferences. For a period of six months he refused to hold a press conference.

With all of this, Mr. Patinkin harshly condemned the reporters at Trump's Jan. 11 press conference, one in which Trump insulted a reporter from CNN, and refused to take a question from him. Further, Mr. Trump allowed 250 reporters in the press conference room, but he also brought in a group of paid supporters to boo and cheer. So Mr. Patinkin may call these reporters a "mob," but the real evil here is everything Donald Trump has done and will do at the expense of journalistic freedom. No, the reporters were not a mob. Mr. Trump is a mob leader.

Marc W. Kohler

Rumford

http://www.providencejournal.com/opinion/20170117/marc-w-kohler-problem-wasnt-reporters-it-was-trump