---
[ WORLD WATCH ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch)
# CityWatch Today: It Is Up to Those of Us Who Depend Upon A Free Press To Rise In Defense Of It
October 22 2018
Written by Abby Zimet.
[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
GUEST COLUMN--Conceding Trump's right to abuse, demean or even noxiously slam journalists as "enemies of the people" but fiercely rejecting his right to use the power or machinery of the government to shut them up, or try to, [PEN America](https://deadline.com/tag/pen-america/), representing thousands of writers and journalists, has [filed a federal lawsuit](https://pen.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/PEN-America-v-Trump-Complaint.pdf) against him.
The suit, authored by [Protect Democracy](https://protectdemocracy.org/) and Yale Law School Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, was filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan. Charging that punitive acts by Trump have "violated the First Amendment and his oath to uphold the Constitution," it seeks to [stop ](https://pen.org/pen-america-v-trump/)him from from ordering any employee, agency, or government entity to "retaliate or threaten reprisals" against any negative coverage or gutsy journalists he happens to dislike - ie: the sort of thing he has repeatedly, increasingly engaged in, and that the courts have found illegal.
Trump "has First Amendment rights and is free to criticize the press vehemently," the suit reads, "but he is not free to use the power and authority of the United States government to punish and stifle it."
In this era of incessant, specious tirades against “fake news,” PEN charges, Trump uses “retaliatory directives (and ) credible public threats" against news organizations who challenge him - browbeating book authors who call out his lying buffoonery, urging the firing of journalists who do the same, [threatening ](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/giuliani-suggests-trump-intervened-nix-t-time-warner-merger-n873616)Bezos' *Washington Post* (with anti-trust action) and Amazon (with higher shipping [costs](http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/president-trump-right-about-amazon-here-s-reality-check-n861176)), and bad-mouthing [CNN,](https://deadline.com/tag/cnn/) [NBC ](https://deadline.com/tag/nbc/)and any other media presence that affronts his pathologically fragile sense of self.
The suit notes legal precedent is against him: In at least two cases - of a public official who "tries to shut down an avenue of expression of ideas" through threats or who intimates “some form of punishment or adverse regulatory action will follow" - such acts were found to violate the vital tenets of the First Amendment.
Even in this "bare-knuckled political moment," *Politico* [notes,](https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/10/16/trumps-attacks-on-the-press-are-illegal-were-suing-221312) Trump's ongoing hostility toward the media's legally protected speech eerily echoes authoritarian regimes around the world.
“It is up to those of us who depend upon a free press,” they write, “to rise in defense of it.”
*(CityWatch guest columnist writes for [Common Dreams ](http://commondreams.org)… where this piece was first posted.)*
*-cw*
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/116 "USA Radio Museum - Wide")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/107 "LA DWP | Save $4K, Green | Priority Ad")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/82 "LA DWP #2 (Power Savers)")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/97 "Home - LA DWP #2 (Pay Water Bill Help)")
## Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays
First Name
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/110 "Something You Should Know")
---
## Featured CityWatch Stories
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33710-bass-is-out-raman-is-in-is-los-angeles-trading-failure-for-a-bigger-crisis)
### [Bass Is Out. Raman Is In. Is Los Angeles Trading Failure for a Bigger Crisis?](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33710-bass-is-out-raman-is-in-is-los-angeles-trading-failure-for-a-bigger-crisis)
THE BOTTOM LINE - Karen Bass lost the confidence of Los Angeles voters. Nithya Raman won their support. But can a new m…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33687-first-test-of-next-governor-s-leadership-demand-a-full-forensic-audit-of-bullet-train)
### [First Test of Next Governor`s Leadership: Demand a Full Forensic Audit of Bullet Train](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33687-first-test-of-next-governor-s-leadership-demand-a-full-forensic-audit-of-bullet-train)
NICK’S VIEW - For a case study in lost public trust and squandered taxpayer money, look no further than California’s hi…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33698-a-great-night-for-america-and-a-warning-to-both-parties)
### [A Great Night for America—and a Warning to Both Parties](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33698-a-great-night-for-america-and-a-warning-to-both-parties)
FRED TALK - The opinions in this column are solely mine and I stand by them. I did not write yesterday because I wanted…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33704-nithyas-budget-buzz-saw)
### [Nithya’s Budget Buzz Saw](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33704-nithyas-budget-buzz-saw)
LA WATCHDOG - Nithya Raman, our new mayor, will inherit a budget that is a river of red ink. According to the First Fi…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33709-progress-not-presto-chango)
### [Progress, Not Presto-Chango](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33709-progress-not-presto-chango)
IN MY VIEW - If We Want People Off the Streets, We Have to Give Them Somewhere to Go. I was about five years old, wa…
---
## [ WORLD WATCH ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/33600-israels-fateful-election-a-nation-on-the-brink)### [Israel’s Fateful Election: A Nation On The Brink](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/33600-israels-fateful-election-a-nation-on-the-brink)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/33501-the-slow-motion-erasure-of-the-west-bank)### [The Slow-Motion Erasure Of The West Bank](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/33501-the-slow-motion-erasure-of-the-west-bank)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/32951-venezuela-needs-the-world-more-than-ever-english-spanish)### [Venezuela Needs the World More Than Ever \[English & Spanish\]](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/32951-venezuela-needs-the-world-more-than-ever-english-spanish)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/32873-netanyahus-betrayal-of-israels-promise)### [Netanyahu’s Betrayal Of Israel’s Promise](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/32873-netanyahus-betrayal-of-israels-promise)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/32727-turkeys-egregious-human-rights-violations-are-beyond-the-pale)### [Turkey’s Egregious Human Rights Violations Are Beyond The Pale](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/world-watch/32727-turkeys-egregious-human-rights-violations-are-beyond-the-pale)