WHICH PRESS NEXT?

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The Washington Post is the latest internationally recognized publication to have its press credentials revoked by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

This conduct is unprecedented and until the entire press core gets its act together and decides to play hardball with political censorship, a free press stand to lose more than Trump credentials.

This is not the only organization that has been thrown out of a political rally or had their press credentials revoked by the Republican candidate. They include Univision, BuzzFeed, Politico, The Daily Beast, and The Huffington Post and so the questions which beg to be asked is why are we allowing a candidate to dictate what is being reported?

Although the right to freedom of expression does not require an absolute ban on prior censorship, this should be a highly exceptional measure, taken only when a publication threatens grave harm, such as loss of life or serious harm to health, safety or the environment.

An article deemed defamatory, blasphemous, obscene or overly critical of the government would rarely if ever meet this threshold. Moreover, a system whereby media content must be officially cleared before it can be released would be unacceptable; its harm to freedom of expression would plainly far outweigh the benefit to its goals.