I'm not Embarrassed and Won't Keep my Mouth Shut | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Trusted Trump advisor Steve Bannon fired the latest salvo in the war against the news media, calling them the "opposition party," suggesting the media should be "embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while." Mr. Bannon, former Executive Chairman of the right wing website Breitbart News Network, certainly didn't believe that when Barack Obama was in the White House.

    Is Bannon suggesting the media should shut up for the next four years or is this silence just for those who oppose the Trump administration? Nobody likes criticism, least of all politicians, but our nation's history is filled with examples where people in power - not just elected officials - have made bad decisions, tried to cover up indiscretions and illegal actions or wanted to silence those who opposed their positions.

    We would still be British subjects had newspapers, broadsides and pamphlets failed to rail against tyranny and injustice in the American colonies. Where would this nation be if the media had kept its mouth shut in the face of racial injustice and violence during the 1960s civil rights movement? What would have happened if Walter Cronkite had kept his mouth shut about the Vietnam War, a conflict America was obviously losing, while the Generals and administration officials kept reporting the contrary? And if Woodward and Bernstein had kept quiet over the "third rate burglary" at the Democratic National Committee offices at Watergate who knows how history might have been different.

    Is there media bias? Yes, and there always has been, but the role of the media is to be neither a rubber stamp nor a silent witness. We would never suggest the media's role is to automatically and systematically oppose any and everything said or done, but it is both healthy and beneficial for them to ask questions, point out obviously erroneous or mistaken positions and oppose those they believe are not serving the public interest or upholding our Constitution. In this day of social media, the Internet and cable news pumping news and opinions at us 24 hours a day there are plenty of options discerning readers and viewers can choose to hear pros and cons of most every issue.

    Like others, I have been re-reading George Orwell's 1984, the fictional classic where Big Brother silenced and punished any who spoke against those in power. We would never suggest the current administration mirrors these extremes, but there have been examples when regimes (need we mention Hitler?) effectively silenced opposition.

    There is an obligation for those having a media platform to follow Bannon's advice and listen carefully, just as there is a responsibility to seek fairness and balance to the coverage of people and events. The media should also be quick to admit when it is wrong or unfair, but what Mr. Bannon is really saying is that he doesn't trust you to be intelligent or discerning enough to sift through the coverage and make your own decision as to the right and wrong.

    For the record I am not embarrassed or humiliated to speak out, nor will I keep my mouth shut. I do have confidence you are smart enough to decide the right or wrong of what I say.

    Publisher's note: Tom Campbell is former assistant North Carolina State Treasurer and is creator/host of NC SPIN, a weekly statewide television discussion of NC issues airing Sundays at 11:00 am on WITN-TV. Contact Tom at NC Spin.