Opinion: Mr. President, we are not the enemy
By Erica Morse
Publisher, Victims News Online
Updated 9:00 a.m., August 16, 2018
erica@victimsnewsonline
@victimsnews1
(Editor’s note): The opinions expressed herein are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of the staff, our partners, victims or families.
(VNO) — Today, hundreds of newspapers are donating editorial space to address a serious matter: the war generated against the media by the most powerful man in the country.
President Donald J. Trump has made the media, the press, reporters, etc. the target of blatant hate since his run for office in 2016. Members of the press corp have been called out by name as Trump serves to divide this country further. Ethnic reporters have been alienated by the White House Press Staff, and the people have been told lie after lie after lie, being led to believe we are the enemy.
We are not the enemy. We are the ones trying to get to the truth you – the people – so desperately seek and deserve, no matter the cost to our reputations or our lives.
And through that process, we continue to be berated for our work.
Since Victims News Online generally keeps politics out of its reporting, for the purpose of this editorial, I will focus on what the President has done to adversely affect reporting of missing, murdered, exploited and abused victims.
He has taken your airtime, news time, and efforts to tell your story, by usurping the conversation. He has shined a spotlight only on victims of crimes committed by illegals (mostly traffic violations, by the way), and ignored the 2,000 – 5,000 people per day who disappear. He has cancelled much-needed programs for low-income residents who are more prone to being victimized, and put some of our most critical tools at risk through cutting funding. He ignored the victims in Puerto Rico who needed our help, then patted himself and the EPA on the back for their “efforts”. People in Puerto Rico are still dying, so why are we celebrating?
The press is not celebrating. The press is horrified by these actions, which are ongoing daily.
He has cheered on white supremacists who seek only to spread hate and cause chaos, while denouncing actual victims of police brutality.
He has made the conversation all about him, his efforts to hide his (alleged) crimes, and taken the press’ focus away from reporting on your much-needed cases.
I, for one, am frustrated and fed up that he has used us – and you – for his own personal gain. We need that precious airtime and newspaper space to tell your stories, and it’s been taken from us while the press continues to address the 4,000+ lies told to you, the public, in the last 18 months.
Enough is enough. We, the editors and publishers, have taken back our power today, and stand together for a common purpose: reporting the the truth, no matter the cost.
Mr. President, we are not the enemy. We are voters. We are citizens. And we are fed up. Your rhetoric is transparent to us, as we are trained to see through the lies. No wonder you hate us. You are angry with us for seeing through the hyperbole and for our unique abilities to dig, dig, dig until we find whatever is needed to counter your daily lie count. You hate us for proving you a liar, a promise-breaker, and a divider.
We will not go away. We are here to stay, and will continue to seek out and report the truth, whether you like it or not. That doesn’t make us dividers. That makes us dedicated to our jobs – possibly moreso than you are to yours.
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Thank-you, well done. And interesting you have a story on Billy, too.