modern day presidential

The press must take a stand against the relentless, juvenile bullying of Dear Leader—what’s potentially at stake highlighted by his recent publicity stunts with fellow dictators who are known for repressing independent reporting including the Polish leadership who were gracious enough to bus in supporters to cheer him on.
Some are suggesting, however, that one outlet that’s been the brunt of his abuse may be legitimately traumatised, a psychological alliance as a survival strategy like those suffering from Stockholm syndrome . Whilst it is questionable whether the original contributor of the offending post would have taken the moral high-ground and pledged to amend his ways if not tracked down and confronted by the news network, they seemed to reach a bit too far with what some interpret to be an implied threat of blackmail or bullying by reserving “the right to publish his identity should” he not uphold any of those pledges to reform. It’s not helping matters for the media to stoop to Dear Leader’s level and only reinforces his narrative of the Lüggenpresse for those already so persuaded, and the response—which includes outing the identities of the reporting team and harassing their families, has been massively disproportionate. No journalist is advocating for Dear Leader’s mode of character assassination but his vocal minority have found a point of contention to latch onto. Words having consequence and expression, while free, is defensible only through responsibility are lessons that cannot be repeated too often if political discourse is to ever become something meaningful again.