Media and Journalism in the Age of Trump

ladies and gentlemen thank you for joining us and welcome to the second annual forum sponsored by Hillsdale College and talkers magazine and I want to thank all the folks at Hillsdale College for helping make this possible and welcome you for coming out in the middle of a busy day when there are so many things in Washington DC that take up people's time and attention let alone your jobs to join us for this opportunity to talk about some of the hottest issues of our time my name is Michael Harrison it's my privilege to moderate this panel and it's it's being described as a discussion and a debate I hope it's more on the side of discussion than debate especially considering how volatile some of the topics we'll be discussing have proven to be during this chaotic period of history the title of the panel is media and journalism in the age of Trump and here we are a little more than one year past the last time we gathered some of the members of this panel were there there are some new ones joining us this time it was the issues attendant to the election of 2016 we still did not know who the winner would be and it was a spirited discussion to say the least now that we are almost one year into the age of Trump each of the people on this panel being in one way or another a radio and or media talk show hosts there are lots of opinions about the effect of Donald Trump's presidency upon journalism and the media my perspective politically is First Amendment that's as far as I go I do everything I possibly can not to express a partisan or consistent ideological position other than my zealous support of the First Amendment and the Constitution of the United States I have to grapple with what I consider to be legitimate opinions because my as a human being especially lately but I've experienced this throughout my 50-year career in this business even the most Hardy supporters of the first amendment to find themselves sometimes facing crises in terms of who they're going to support and what they will support under certain conditions so I sort of defined for myself the word legitimate opinions and I realized that that's somewhat of a cop-out but it's the best I can do and I try to be sincere in adhering to that everybody on this panel has a legitimate opinion as that they express on a daily basis in their writings on video and on the radio airwaves both on air and online and no longer in 2017 and you make the assumption that somebody is a liberal or a conservative and then presume what that means and you can't even presume what it means let alone on a long consistent level in terms of the timeline you can't presume what it means hour to hour the news cycle is so fast these days that most people in the news business are on overload it's like going warped in on a starship that only goes warp 9 and at best will fall apart I've got it going as fast as I can no more news more stories when I occasionally fill in on the radio as a talk-show host I try to do at least five or six stories at the same time as opposed to doing many one because by the time you're finished with a show the one story is started might now be obsolete that's also played havoc with our heads in terms of time as we all get older time seems to go quicker today whether you're old or young time is very difficult to get your wrap your brain around a story that breaks on a Monday by Wednesday or Thursday or Friday it feels like it happened a month ago and this is also something that makes it very difficult for journalists who are committed to seeking truth as opposed to victory because the pertinence of your story plays such a role in the commercialization and the corporate strategies of today's media so I will introduce the panel but I will leave you with one thought perhaps we should make it our motto if we really are sincere about being good media people and true journalists that we shouldn't succumb to the present tendency in our culture certainly beyond journalism to seek victory at the expense of truth but to seek truth at the expense if necessary a victory our panel consists and I'll just going to introduce everybody very quickly Dom Giordano is to my immediate left he hosts mid mornings in Philadelphia at WP HT major radio station and a major radio personality his background is in education and he has established himself as one of the leading talk-show hosts in America next to him is Joe Madison consistently in the talkers magazine heavy hundred top ten he is called by his listeners and his constituents the black eagle i know joe for over 25 years used to work with him on the same station at wwr sea in washington and i'm in awe of his career and his role not just as a radio performer but a civil rights and social activist he's with sirius XM satellite radio heard in the morning to his left is Janet Parshall who is the preeminent talk show host in America for more than a quarter of a century representing the Christian the secular Christian political news talk point of view and she does that daily on the moody radio network next to next to Janet is John Frederick's John Frederick's is an entrepreneur he began his own network in Virginia and now covers major stations across the state of Virginia with his show on what is called the John Frederick's radio network he was the chairman its chairman the word the chairman of the Trump campaign in Virginia he was one of the first major media figures to say Trump would win and he I would say is probably the most vocal ardent supporter of the President of the United States Donald Trump and expresses that every day so he will play an important role in this discussion to his left is a man who left day to day talk radio where he was a big star in the Midwest in the Chicago area for a number of years in the mornings and went to academia he is the general manager of the radio station and the radio program at Hillsdale College and can provide us with very good insights to the younger generation and the future of broadcasting and that Scott Bertram next to Scott Bertram we have gentlemen who's no stranger to anybody who follows the press and follows the media and follows politics he's read by thousands of people across the country for his weekly column provided by I believe Tribune news content and he is a pioneer in online broadcasting a liberal who did not succumb to being pushed out of terrestrial radio by the tendency for them to go for conservative news talkers and he is heard on the TYT radio network has a huge following every day for his show is bill press and to the left of bill press is a gentleman who was on last year's panel a man I've gotten to know over the years who I respect tremendously as a journalist and as a talk-show host as a lawyer and as a as a scholar the Trump era has been good to him and challenging to him I'm sure played a major role during the primaries in terms of media and continues to be a voice of a tremendous amount of intelligence and reason and that is Hugh Hewitt so let's welcome our panelists fake news think about that there's a term that has changed over the years Hugh what happens when I say the word fake news what goes on in your mind just that the sound of those words thank you Michael and thanks to Hillsdale for having us Hillsdale receives no federal funding so each get one glass of water you know that you forgot to mention one Michael one thing the hashtag is Hewitt is funnier than press or I did that's what we just want you to put out there and you're both funnier than Dennis Prager Prager that's the second hashtag and they're both funnier than Prager the fake news brings to mind a Bulgarian young man who was interviewed during the 2016 cycle who knows he is producing fake content 100% of the time and does it to make money and so he sits in Bulgaria and he produces inflammatory false news about those parties in the United States and he pushes it out under pseudo persuasive banner headlines international almost Tribune something or other and if you know column form and it looks like news and people fall for it all the time because on Twitter unless you check you can be tricked and he makes a lot of money so for me the definition is any sort of media put out on any platform that is known to the purveyor to be false that's fake news there's a lot of it it's a vicar very great danger in 2004 I wrote a piece for the Weekly Standard called black blog ops which suggested it was only a matter of time till Karla who's the famed agent in the lekar a novel would begin to use online means to influence the election and it has come to pass in the last two years this ubiquitous now John Frederick's you heard what Hugh Hewitt has just said and during the past year I have watched and I think we have all watched the evolution of the term fake news to become a favorite term of the President of the United States some say he's co-opted the term and now it means anything that is put out by the mainstream media that he doesn't agree with how do you respond to that perception well thanks for having me Michael and thanks for Hillsdale College and everyone being here let me define the fake news the majority of the editorial and other news coverage in the New York Times Washington Post MSNBC CNN Los Angeles Times I could take up the whole panel time for doing this if you look at CNN or MSNBC which both Joe and Phil and I are on and you all the time you turn CNN on today for the for the preceding 24 hours straight all you're going to get on CNN is basically Trump's sucks that's their panel that's all they do if it rains out Trump caused the rain so maybe they have they have certain things that they're reporting on but they don't talk about any of the positive things about the economy or any of the accomplishments that the administration has all they want to focus on is why Trump is bad why he's going to be impeached obstruction of justice Michael Flynn flipped etc and so that is the definition of fake news you're not turning anything on anymore and getting an honest assessment of what is actually going on in the in the United States and what we found and what those in the Trump administration have to do every day is that the legacy media has one objective and that is to bring this administration down in any means or way possible that is my definition of today thank you John bill press what's your reaction to what John just said thank you Michael thank you all for being here what a surprise I disagree actually my definition of fake news is anything Donald Trump says or anything you see on Fox and Friends I find out in my radio studio in the morning we have three monitors with the morning shows on the sound is down by the way a little tip the best way to watch television is with the sound down I think you know what they're talking about because you can read the captions you just don't have to hear the that either side is saying but I'm always stunned in the morning to see Fox and Friends and CNN and MSNBC and the difference in what they're covering and there could be some major breaking news event maybe Michael Flynn might be indicted and please guilty and you will see that on CNN you'll see that on MSNBC and Fox and Friends is probably talking about the Christmas decorations at the White House and how beautiful a beautiful job Melania did I'm not saying she didn't do a beautiful job I'm saying maybe that's not the biggest story of the day but I think that he was right there is let's get away from the White House for just a second there is so much fake news going around particularly online I think that's a danger to all of us in our profession because a lot of people see that they believe it they don't have the filters to know what's real and what's not and that's all they're that's all they get but I think it certainly amplified when the President of the United States has and I didn't think this was going to be a partisan debate but if John's would have started it off but I think it's amplified when the president of the United States has zero regard for the truth one little example he came out in front of the media of yesterday on his way into marine one and said I feel sorry for Michael Flynn he lied to the FBI and he got caught he's going to pay the punishment or whatever Hillary Clinton lied to the FBI many times and she walked free his zero evidence of that and I'm now here is a Hillary defender on the Bernie guy but zero evidence she ever lied to the FBI and James Comey in fact the director of the FBI testified under oath in Congress at the end of the email investigation where he criticized her for having their private email server said I find absolutely zero basis to say that she lied to the FBI all right bill I'm gonna jump in at this point that's nice it might smite suffice it to say what you're saying is that one of the sources of fake news is the news that comes out of the White House now I'm going to go to you Dom Giordano you're a host on a station that is basically positioned I don't know how overtly but it's positioned and that goes back to what I said before about today's media targets audiences based upon identity and political persuasion your station is positioned as a conservative station most of the personalities are conservative how do you deal because I know you're an educator and I know that you are in your heart a very objective truthful man how do you deal with balancing the objectives of playing to what's called in radio the p1 audience and your own observation of what is obviously a situation has pointed out by Bill press by John good stuff comes out and bad stuff comes out just as it has been with every president's ear every doggcatcher elected in this world how do you deal with a time when the positioning of the medium that you're working for is don't play Led Zeppelin on a Peter Paul and Mary station goodness steal that line right there well first thanks to Hillsdale for having me I broadcast my show and their state-of-the-art radio studio Michael told me that everything was that and it also had a shower in a bathroom three feet away from me first time to talk radio so you guys have to come here if you're in media and do something Revere it's fascinating so in answer to your question and you kind of gave us a little tease of it a while ago for conservatives particularly during the election particularly in the early stages with Trump there was all-out warfare I speak of myself and I think I am a conservative and I've been on with a lot of these guys they may think that and there were any number of things where I thought finally the true Trump people early on are going to sour on this guy and some of them were in Iowa some of them were later on that you just can't say the sorts of things about McCain etc so there was as I said a pitch battle between conservatives not never Trump errs per se and the true Trump people early on now at this point Michael an answer to your question a lot of it is whatever Trump does branding fake news or other faux pas or the problem I have with the president is stylistic but I think it gets into what I like in a politician it's mangled I like people that are opinionated can't even be controversial but are buttoned up in the fact pattern that we're debating versus all over the place so what I see though is an overreaction by the media and that's where the defensive Trump often comes in Brian Ross is the latest villain in this and the view gang sorry for that to view women that we're celebrating prematurely about Flynn when the facts don't take us there so what I would say is I can speak for the other two hosts but mostly myself this is on a point-by-point with Trump and often what we're going after is the overreaction in other words going after him and savaging him even on things that are obvious and being patient with it but there's an impatience here where people were throwing around drugs and dementia and they don't like milania's christmas decorations I think it's kind of a mistake to be going after Melania Trump of all people here and that's where the tension comes in every day and that's why I don't feel talk radio is in this statement where you know what the talking points going to be Fox and Friends I get the criticism but talk radio in general with a couple of national exceptions you're seeing people wrestle with this and I'll admit it is hard in that atmosphere to be too critical of Trump but there is criticism provoked by how over-the-top the opposition is thank you Janet Parshall let's approach this topic and you can react to everything that you've heard adding to it what is the Christian and secular news talk perspective on this topic hugely important question first of all thank you very much and thanks to Hillsdale College and you have to have sympathy for this man put a bunch of stalkers on a panel it's like herding cats so thank you for the way you're handling this thank you when you you started out with the question that was very important you said when you hear the words fake news what goes through your mind and I'm looking at this from a colloquial perspective the populist perspective because if we're really going to be effective in our line of work while we're called talkers in order to be really good we have to be listeners so what do our listeners saying back to us what are they telling us are we discerning and picking up what they're saying so when I think when my listeners for example hear fake news what they hear is the being in absentia words like integrity objectivity truthfulness verifiable Nisour thee nnessee and we saw it exemplified here just in a few minutes that it defaults down to an argument ad hominem where you go after a particular person I don't think that serves the culture well regardless of where you happen to sit on the political spectrum so for me the Christian perspective as you said is I would rather and I you said something brilliant you said we have to be careful that we don't seek victory at the expense of truth what I've observed just from my little corner of the world is that there are some people so hungry for victory be it political be a policy be whatever it is they are willing to sacrifice anything and quite frankly anyone to get to where they want to it's a kind of postmodern situational ethics that the end is so important that any means is justifiable to get you where you want even if it's the abdication of truth so that's particularly burdensome for me we can't get out ahead of the story Dom you brought up the idea of Brian Ross that man lost control of objectivity he got out ahead of the story feed the beast you talk about the twenty-seventh of 24/7 mandate to get the information out there but you also mention the sensitivity to time we have to make sure we can verify the facts and not get out ahead of the story because in so doing and here's the big challenge for all of us we lose credibility from Quinnipiac to Harvard to NBC to Wall Street Journal poll after poll after poll says that there has been a marked decline in trusting the media how much of that is because we troubled our own house and we inherited the wind do you find because the word Christian has the connotation of morality that there's a major element of morality beyond just truth that there is a debate within those in the Christian media as to how the pursuit of morality is heightened in this era of Trump well I think and that's a very astute question Michael I think what we're talking about and boy this just comes around again and again and again particularly in Washington this is a question of character from where I sit so how do you handle when somebody criticizes you do you turn around and you return fire back again you shouldn't do that if you're the president you shouldn't do that if you're Jim Acosta doing the White House briefing so it's a question of character if a soft answer can turn away wrath and we need to figure out how we negotiate facts without coming to pick a fight with somebody so the character issue is ever before us I think and what we're seeing is a degradation of character add to that culturally all of the allegations now of sexual harassment and we are seeing a coarseness in our culture like we've never seen before I take that as a personal challenge I don't know that I would call myself a journalist I call myself an opinion maker I am an astute student of journalism but in order to raise the standard to raise the bar I think we do have to discuss these character issues this is what happened objective fact what would have been the better response teaching moment for us as stalkers very well said one of the things I find in my own career when the word journalism comes up or journalist I say the best I can do is to try to be journalistic as opposed to being a journalist I'm journalistic okay now we've established just how intense the impact of Donald Trump has been on the national discussion and the impact of Donald Trump has been on back to what I originally said media being commercially minded targeting audiences giving them what they want for the sake of victory and the ratings not necessarily a greater truth of what's best for the country Joe Madison how do you deal with the just heavy presence of Trump in everything that is said in this pop cultural arena of American media it is pop cultural do you do you try to escape from it do you do you say to yourself more Trump and I see faces on the panel are all gone yes you know what else is there to talk about can you come in to that point well first of all I'd answer your question directly I would imagine all of us if we're honest but I'll speak for myself when I wake up at 3:30 or 4 o'clock in the morning the first thing I do is turn on the television and the first thing I asked what the hell is he said or done no tweet it now and and I think that's what most of my listeners have come to to do what has he said and and and that that sometimes creates a problem because let me give you an example I I walked in today with an prepare to do an interview with a senator Cory Booker who wanted to talk about a bill he's introduced for environmental and justice as well and that's the thing and everybody's looking at me what does that mean what does environmental and justice me well it means that in some very poor rule and even urban communities there is toxic waste there's led and I forget the number of cities that stretch beyond Flint I'm not trying to bore you but the reality is we all want clean air we all want clean water I don't care if you're a Republican or a Democrat and then quite candidly nobody wanted to talk about it because whatever happened with Flynn or whatever happened with the lawyer who - you know who we don't know who wrote the tweet we don't know if it's what if Trump wrote the tweet or the lawyer wrote it it dominated it and and so it's very difficult mine too to then bring issues but really transcend our politics I don't care if you're conservative or liberal sitting up here but a John and I want to talk about toxic water I bet you in his community there is toxic waste and then we can't get it through we can't get it through because he has dominated it's like a wolf that we all go for it now you said something about character I was always taught this - the difference between the character and reputation character is a combination of qualities that you possess reputation is what people think about you as a difference so what we deal with mostly is his reputation what is the man's character and it boils down to we don't know if he's telling the truth we don't know if he's lying we don't know who is telling the truth I will also say something else you bring up morality morality ok so who's more moral now Roy Moore or the women who are accusing Roy Moore who's telling the truth are the women tell me the truth or his royal more telling the truth is john conyers telling the truth or the women who accused him telling the truth he just retired today I mean retired immediately so the question of morality is of extremely and an important one well one thing I would close uncharged is one last point and I'll make it 30 seconds I think what is happening with our discussion at least I can my sense is it's not so much our politics I think there's a cult factor that has developed it's it's almost like a cult your elite your rate your leader your religious leaders and we've seen this with some ministers and preachers and they can't say or do anything wrong it's almost like a cult following and that's what worries me more than than anything else a number of things that you have said worry mate and I'll play for a moment Errol and if you'll indulge me I'll be the eighth panelist I would say if I were a panelist that from my perspective observing talk radio across the country there has been a swing in the last five years toward stations realizing not necessarily executing but realizing that local talk radio is something that can be a major factor in preserving the role of the local radio station that that's one thing a radio station can do and that is serve its local community with local issues I mean the world does not Center on Donald Trump in Washington even though it's fascinating so there have been more local hosts at local radio stations all around the country a percentage-wise we track this over the last five years but unfortunately based on a point that Joe brought up they're all obsessed with talking about Donald Trump as a result the role of the media in local communities where the real action is I mean local small cities are hotbeds of corruption and local corrupt politicians and business leaders are getting away with murder because the watchdogs every town had its watchdog the watchdog is playing to the crowd they want to hear about Trump and I'm not saying as much in your case because you're a local host but you're dealing with a major region but the rest of you are for the most part quite national in scope but local hosts have to say what's my responsibility here am I gonna throw my my little opinion when I ask them they go well I present the local perspective on it but that to me is a bit of a cop-out although I understand again it's a business and it does play to numbers now John you have had you're going to resign I mean but bear with me I basically have the situation strategized as I'm going along and your face and reactions as I'm reading everybody are just bursting with all kinds of potential so I'm going to ask you a question you can add to it what you want but I'm not I don't want you to answer it I want to talk to Scott Bertram he's the only one who has not spoken yet but I'm gonna ask you the question now this is a tease and you'll answer it after we follow up with Scott the question is going to be and this is I think you deserve a little time for this because I really want you to do some soul-searching what would you do if you woke up one day and you found out that something happened that proved beyond doubt that you have been wrong in your support of Donald Trump and that he was just a terrible guy who has done terrible things how would you handle it don't answer now Scott let's go to you we're gonna get back to you Scott and the right after these words from Scott Bertram Scot you deal with young broadcasters what do you tell them what do you tell them is they they're facing going into the media in 2017 how do you deal with all of these issues in terms of molding young minds that are just entering this business something I wanted to get to valid mention this and it feeds into your question which is you know served of host liberal hosts there's no there's no script there's no talking points earlier this summer all the Salem hosts were here at Kirby Center to do their shows he was here that as Prager was here my Gallagher was here Michael Medved was here Sean Hannity was actually here for a different day when I was here helping all of them and there is this there is a fought out there that all these hosts are the same and all these hosts have the same talking points and they think they have a script every single one of those hosts ran their show differently every single one of those show hosts produced the show differently they they took their cues from different places they work with their producers differently if they were different from top to bottom and so I came back and was talking to my students about how everyone's different everyone prepares different ways everyone argues different ways and people are going to be louder some people are gonna be screamers and people are gonna be more cerebral you might say and so what you know when I when I work with them on the shows they do and now all the shows that we have on the station are political in nature we have some that are non political explicitly but you know 30 40 % of the shows try to focus on politics michigan-based or national based and I really just tell them you know think for yourself I can hear I can hear you know when students are doing shows and and they're they're parroting talking point so they're they're repeating something they've heard elsewhere what I want them to do is to read research and make their own arguments construct your own arguments what are your strongest points and I also tell them what are your what are your opponent's strongest points and how do you refute them why are they wrong why are their best arguments wrong and so I I want them to to think for themselves and and the show that is able to both make their arguments well and sort of anticipate the arguments that opponents might make as well how do they respond do you find yourself sometimes having difficulty teaching this against the pressure of the outside world sort of like little league baseball players scratching themselves in a spitting no scratching or spitting is allowed in the studio first I know they're they're open and you know they're at an age you know eighteen to twenty-two or so where a lot of them grew up on terrestrial radio and a lot of them still listen to rest rail radio whether it be rush or hue or whomever but that you know these podcasts now are becoming very large and you where we are in Hillsdale penetration from stations and all that great so they're listening online or listening to podcast and so they're getting a lot of different viewpoints and they're hearing a lot of different ways to do shows I think what I do talk to them about about trying to structure their show in a way that makes sense where's your beginning where's your middle where's your end how do you convince listeners to stick with you through your points and through your arguments I think they're receptive to it I I kind of leave our hosts alone for the first three four shows let them figure things out then we sit down and talk about you know what can you do better how do you structure this better how do you make the show more interesting more informative more entertaining thank you Scott okay John you're on I hope the audience sticks with you despite my lead-in do great leader well if I were to get up one day and there was evidence of what you said I would be shocked because I know the man and so it would defy all the history that I have but look you can't run raised five great children build a ten billion dollar company and then sit there and say the man is of low character those don't wash as far as Janet said earlier about about his character what people mistake for character or morality is you just don't like the guy style I get it you don't like his style you don't like his tone you don't like his tweets you don't like how he grazes his hands and how he goes if he's attacked he fires back you just don't like the guy I get it but that it's nothing to do with his policies or how he's become successful you got remember Trump came into this campaign when we joined this campaign Trump was at 1% he was a joke nobody took him seriously now I come from the perspective Joe mentioned the word cult okay I'm not sure what that means in this instance I'm a true believer in the policies of this president and he took on Republican orthodoxy head-on Pro gay rights right you got to go back and remember control the borders pro-immigration he attacked these stupid trade deals we have open borders after TPP US workers getting screwed jobs going overseas wages down he became popular because of the policies that he was espousing he also said he would protect the United States social contract net not cut Medicaid not cut Medicare got Paul Ryan the other day well after we passed the tax cut I'm going to reformat welfare what the hell does that mean that the object of the Trump presidency is to make the country prosperous and rich one of the other policies get out of these wars so that we can then pay for food stamps chip Medicaid Medicare Social Security so he has a clear agenda that everybody seems to get garbled because they don't like his style and as far as room poor is concerned and fake news sure you didn't answer women's gender you didn't answer my question I would be shocked you didn't know I asked you the question based on the fact that you'd be shocked so and then let me give me a 30-second answer alright well give me give me a 10-second answer than a 30-second answer first question is it possible that you could be shocked and would be wrong sure and I'm gonna ask bill press the same question so okay so you do realize days did you realize you're infallible do you know you're not because I worry about that all the time I always say to myself like god I may not be right I we live in a world where we have to have an opinion pretty quickly and I'm not so sure I'm always right a matter of fact a lot of times I have read old articles I've written I look at old videos I've done one of the problems with being in the digital age is everything's recorded I wince I say oh my gosh you know I like to talk about all my predictions that come true I don't like to know that anybody can go on google and see me say some pretty stupid stuff can I enter but just a second I do one because John and I do this every four how it's getting hot what do you know but let me let me answer your question about cult and here's what I mean by a call anytime a man goes on radio and says I can shoot somebody in the middle of Fifth Avenue oh that was a medic excuse me I didn't interrupt you as soon as when a metaphor or not and everybody doesn't always catch a metaphor when somebody says I can go in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody in this day and age and not lose any supporter that's a cult mentality good point and and and let me make one other point you said he got popular through his public policy you're right I'll give John that argument you're absolutely right listen get rid of Social Security let's change Medicare and a whole bunch of other public policy issues I'm not gonna take that argument from you but let me tell you what my audience thinks his popularity came from when he sat there and accused don't Barack Obama of being born in Kenya and then said he was gonna send detectives to Hawaii and and said that the birth certificate was fake came back didn't find anything but wait a minute then turned around last week and said it again bet he wasn't born in the United States that's how he became and my audience's mind that's what really shot him up beyond the true conservatives that we have okay his moderator we've had two interesting points and I applaud both of you for addressing it well they'll press what if you woke up tomorrow and the stock market's booming and Main Street is booming I do want to point out mainstream doesn't necessarily boom anymore when the stock market does and that's troubling that being said Bill do you ever wonder like if suddenly we never go to war we everything is de-escalated the kim-jong on the thing never never comes to some type of negative ruin prosperity booms America is great again what would you do I would hope I would give me I would think and I would hope I would give him credit for the good things that he has done I'm a Democrat I'm a liberal I make no bones about it I'm a talk show host I'm a progressive if you want to use that word which I hate I'm a liberal talk show host okay I supported george w bush and his immigration a comprehensive immigration reform because i thought he had the right right approach Barack Obama tried the same thing didn't work I wrote a book at the end of the Obama presidency called buyer's remorse how rock obama disappointed progressives so I'm think I've proven that I'm capable of criticizing my guys or applauding people on the other team wonderful in there when they're wrong but I have to say John just for the record when I can blow another point if I can when I have the mic for the record yeah I don't like Donald trum style I think the American people deserve better in terms of just the way he handles himself as a president but that's not my problem with Donald Trump I don't like the fact that he tried to gut the first national health insurance plan that we've ever had I don't like the fact that he's trying to get rid of the dreamers I don't like the fact that he pulled out of the Paris Accords I don't like his tax cut a permanent tax cut for big business and a temporary cut for individuals so it's the policies that I disagree with and I think that's what this is all about democrat or republican we focus on their policies so you're saying bill let you get you a second point but you're saying that there there is a policy discussion in all of this hoopla that that does provide a series of choices to Americans I talked about his hair or as jowls or whatever legs under the eyes I talked about his policy okay real quick another point off quickly the other point I just have to say this because they thought this panel was are going to be about media in the age of journalism I just want to say as heretical as it may sound I think Donald Trump has been great for journalism it's challenging it's tougher but at the same time we've never had so much to talk about I remember the dog days of summer when you'd be thinking about oh my god how am I going to fill three hours or two hours and Donald Trump gives us material up the Gazoo every single day secondly I think he has triggered the best investigative journalism we've seen in this country since the days of Watergate now I see I see that we have two people reacting the first one was Dom I'm not going to forget about you Hugh Dom your reaction hey beau I Meyer you greatly have done stuff with you but deep down you don't sense that would trump it's the vehemence is driven by more than the policies the policies he hasn't exactly followed through on I think as a conservative and he doesn't articulate them well and he's all over the place with them I think there's an irrational thing here and it goes back to again this guy shouldn't have been president how did this happen and I think when you look at mrs. Clinton as a candidate when you look at Mitch McConnell you can see I know what my listeners that every bit as much Trump is an antidote to coming here to Washington to break up Mitch McConnell and the boys every bit as much as the policies I will give credit though of something I like he did make trade and these things that eat away at me at NAFTA he did make them things that we talked about and that these people in rural America are articulating the opiate crisis now even though he doesn't are particulate it correctly through the force of his personality he did get it something that's really important and wasn't sexy before yeah quickly everyone taken from you I agree with him on NAFTA and TPP and and I said so okay let's go to Hue and then Janet I'm gonna come to you Michael I got a question from online is this streaming or I just I responded a Niall Ferguson not special that you're taping it and to look at talkers magazine calmly yes we will we will processing everything that we find objectionable that doesn't agree with my point of view I wanted to make two points one about the age of Trump I cheat pi was my gifts on MSNBC on Saturday the biggest threat to am radio is not Donald Trump or never Trump hers it is the fact that ground signal distortion is ruining the signal of every AM station in America and anyone who loves talk radio needs to talk to the FCC about allowing us to power up within our guidelines because it's destroy it's it's handheld devices it's a it's a great deal electronic disturbance so that bill and I used to work we've known each other for twenty eight years we did news we've been friends for 20 years he'd been wrong for 28 years but we would work on am 640 a Clear Channel in Los Angeles in 1989 we began and we could get calls from Mississippi those Clear Channel things are dinosaurs and they're killing the signal and I guarantee you this morning in Los Angeles with Ventura County on fire people are listening to AM 1074 the local news about which highways were closed and where they could evacuate and which schools were open and we got to save AM radio and Michael what you do for that thank you I appreciate that because AM radio needs saving here's what Donald Trump is done that is better than anything else we can talk about he taught every political figure to go anywhere and talk to anyone at any time about anything that's why he won the nomination he flooded the zone on CNN NBC MSNBC he did all but one debate his only argument throughout the primaries with with Fox News he would go anywhere to talk with anyone so I'm very proud of the fact that two weeks ago Secretary Clinton came on my show and I had negotiated for weeks to get her on and we agreed to 30 minutes and I had to the book there's a lot in the book at the end of 32 minutes she said to me I'm having fun here let's keep going and she admitted that she ought to have done conservative media I believe that if she had done conservative media she would have won the presidency and so I think what President Trump has shown that it is good to get out of your bubble and to talk to anyone about anything at any time in all media ought to be thankful for them especially since she's a conservative Janet have two questions for you question one John mentioned get past the style and get into the substance of the policies how important is it for people that are in positions of power such as the President of the United States or the chairman of the Federal Reserve who can screw the whole stock market up by a misstatement the way the words have a lot of meaning how important is it for the President of the United States not to be loose with his lips well I think it goes to the idea of deportment we expect a certain style a characteristic to subscribe to our leaders for many reasons not the least of which is I think we tend to look at these people and I'm going to use an arcane idea here as role models we used to look at sports figures as role models and political leaders as role models and well the bigger they are the harder they fall as the saying goes but I've heard a couple of interesting things that really go to your question which is this idea that in the fog of war it's really about policy I'd like to believe that but objective numbers tell me otherwise Harvard University of all places took a look at the press coverage of George W Bush and Bill Clinton in their first 100 days and the negative to positive for both Clinton and Bush was 60 to 40 for Trump it has been 80 to 20 so there is a particular vitriol in the press I'm going to go to the title of this panel its media and journalism in the age of Trump we default to Trump I want to go back to journalism and media here and I think that while you have issues with the president the question on the table for us as people who are in the media is how do we react and how do we handle all of this so Joe you said something very important and a tie is something that bill said earlier which is if in fact policy is the issue and I would hope so because policy should in theory outlast any politician right politicians come and go if they don't retire themselves they're unelected or by constitutional restraint they can't go beyond eight years so I learned something when I came to Washington a long time ago and that is you have a choice of perspective you can look at somebody as an eighty-percent friend and a 20% enemy or you can look at them as a 20% friend and an 80% enemy so joe talked about the idea of clean water that's something where if you push personality aside and you really go to policy you have the opportunity to have substantive and important discussions you talked about Hillary coming on its program that's an indictment for some of us and that is what are we doing to open the welcome mat and the door of opportunity I am an all-comers policy person I welcome anybody in the marketplace of ideas I'm in fact I'll quote Tevye from fiddler on the roof' you I like your ideas that wouldn't give you a kopeck for but you I like I might not necessarily like the person I have on the show because of their worldview but I want to hear their worldview Abraham Lincoln said when you prepare your case and this goes to something Scott said you spend 20% of your time preparing your argument and 80% of your time preparing your opponent's argument I want to know what other people believe and where they're coming from quite frankly it makes me a better apologist for what I believe and why I believe it so I'm wondering if we shouldn't get out of our boxes a little bit be more willing to go boldly into the marketplace talk to people we wouldn't normally hang out with see where they're coming from examine their ideas I happen to believe that my ideas are built on solidity but I don't think that my ideas are going to crumble if I talk to somebody else who holds an antithetical worldview in fact they might challenge me to either change my thinking or to become even more committed to my perspective and I'll and I'll get to your answer your comment in a second and often there isn't one right and one wrong sometimes politics and disagreement is based on who shoes you're standing in it's just a civilized way of battling out differences for the piece of the pie that we call the Commonwealth and and we lose sight of that and that's why sometimes compromise is a not an honorable thing Joe you had a comment I just wanted I found it interesting this 8020 since I've been in Washington all these years what I've learned is that there and it's it's a book that William clay senior congressman the former congressman is from st. Louis Road you know he said that in politics there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies only permanent interest and and and therein lies what I think we're gotten away from is is is whose interest is it is being dealt with when it comes to public policy there's something else my perspective is entirely different and everybody on this panel why a beak because my experience is different there are certain commonalities we may have it might be education it it might be the fact let me tell you the question I asked on my show I think the slogan make America great again bothers me and I'll tell you why all my life I've been told America is the greatest country on the planet when did it stop so why do we have to say again now when I asked African Americans when wasn't what do they mean make it great again since when most of my audience will say oh you talk to conservatives not conservatives I shouldn't say you talk to some and they'll go oh it was 1964 1965 that perspective that's my perspective and what happens is we don't share or listen to other people's perspective I I mean I got to I got to be very honest with you you talk about work outside he should get outside his bubble tell him to come on the job doesn't show don't go in some talk with black talk radio you're talking about and I will tell Bernie Bernie Sanders don't think don't you think he didn't get a pass Bernie Sanders came on my show I mean it was like pulling teeth bill to get him to come on the show and then one of the questions that killed him I said look if you become president United States will you apologize for slavery you know he couldn't answer it didn't answer it wouldn't answer it and it cost him big-time vote so it's I'm sorry I he started let me you know what he started doing he started lecturing me on the history of slavery excuse my French but I yeah I know but but but he learned from that experience because he ended up on in a panel discussion in Harlem and obviously one of my listeners heard the exchange and asked him the same question directly and he said oh yeah I apologize as soon as I get elected but that that's that's again so I would say in the 8th to go back to your point about the age of Trump Donald Trump and his folk ought to come on a show where there are different perspectives and not in and sell Europe your your position you may not be successful at it but if if Hillary would have won is she gone on conservative talk radio you know maybe some of the Conservatives would convince more African Americans to vote form if they come on our show we are so into our boxes and we're not dealing with issues and that's the what bothers me about the age of Trump and it didn't just start with Trump we are in our boxes and we're not dealing with common ality and I'll go back and in where I started when you know you you look at Lavar ball we try to talk about him today the father who's run around you know it's talking about oh I'm gonna pull my son from UCLA now what's the commonality we all have who in the hell would pull their sons from a full-time basketball scholarship because your kid was too stupid not to steal something in China that's what we that's what's not happening and we can't get to that because style and it is about style ministers have styles that's why you go to a certain church you like a style style is real John you're damn right okay Dom Giordano we're gonna this is fascinating and thank you Joe and I found what you said to be very very moving and I personally agree that perspective is everything and and it leads to respect a respect really is is vital for a democracy to continue to exist respect so let's talk about a bigger issue that all media and all journalism is subject to and that is the health of the First Amendment DOM do you think that the First Amendment is stronger less strong state of the First Amendment which I'm always concerned about as a result of the turbulence that journalism is going through Hugh you had mentioned that this is a great day for media and and I think Hugh said that this has stimulated investigative journalism more bill bill said it again I was wearing my glasses I just see a white blur at the end of the tape and you probably see a white blur at this end of it I said I wouldn't I should have put you back there I would have given that are countless to the two so my my vision problems here state of the First Amendment oh boy after that okay well I think the pockets of the First Amendment college campuses where I still teach a class are under fire with a I hate to use the term snowflakes but that's what a lot of these kids are and they're being egged on and plugged for a Hillsdale who does not do that but the the First Amendment is not under fire Trump is not Mussolini we're not dragging journalists out into the street Jake Tapper comes on with me once a week he's a Philly guy today said boy you know I don't even know what to start with we have eight or nine different things mainly thanks to Trump to talk about today there's no squelching of that he said when he started his show they were figuring out how are they going to fill an hour up so I don't see any of that sort of stuff it's way overdone the First Amendment thing that I'm looking at today is the cake shop case and the cake shop case Janet is just that is that's right up here I thought was a religious freedom thing as a talk show host I sent it in on that a year or two ago whatever it was I see it more dramatically now because I had the experience and I brought him back on of a guy who is kind of a Nazi figure not the bad kind of Nazis he's just a mixed up guy who named his kid Adolf Hitler did you say not the bad kind of yes [Laughter] which is wait wait wait so he he wait a minute he is not a good Nazi he's a mixed up guy though he's not going to be goose-stepping in here oh he's named Adolf Hitler takes the kid to a shop right along with his wife to get a cake inscribed happy birthday Adolf Hitler the legal name of his son they say as I would get the hell out of here and they don't serve Him now did the people I had on that have national perspective none of them have heard of that case the reason you haven't heard of it is that's an unpopular guy and popular opinion and people are solidly with chop right this poor Baker in Colorado it's getting these grandiose edicts about your a public service you have to do with the customer once like out you're going to come in and tell me I'm gonna put a confederate flag on a birthday cake or I'm going to put something anti-italian yeah I loved echoes or something not going to do that and I think a business owner certainly has a right to do that that's the first amendment that's under fire that you have people that are so politically correct so driven so misinformed that they see this cake shop Baker as a threat to something in our society that is non-existent and I'll bring it back to Trump Trump then instinctual way or whoever gets in his ear has a way of getting involved in one cultural hot-button after another be it levar ball who's an ingrate and that was the issue there be at the NFL players with the knee or any number of array of feuds and I know that my listeners whether it's right wrong or indifferent are entertained by this part of it is entertainment and they don't see Trump as a threat to the First Amendment or anything else but a guy that's taking on these people that have been mocking them laughing at them showing disdained and along the way they're entertained by it is there any media today I'll let anybody jump in on this first hand up is there any major media today that isn't primarily entertainment well when I first started in talk radio a program director and this was those who remember this you had the Fairness Doctrine so you know and that's out the window and last year we brought up the Fairness Doctrine and Hugh jumped me so I'm not gonna bring it up this time but but but lots of it there's some people now who are talking seriously about bringing back to Fairness Doctrine I mean there's some if I may inject that goes back to what you said about saving AM radio which I wanted to say and then we'll get right back to your but but the damn radio doesn't need being saved because all radio is going the way of the Internet and I personally think I don't speak officially this is personally that more people listen to AM radio now online don't even know they are then listening to it on an AM radio set yeah but I but the program director came back from a conference with some consultants and said we're going to start something now called infotainment infotainment and started to lecture us about infotainment never heard the term what is infotainment and matter of fact is you may know anything remember Michael Packer used to be program and so he said it's infotainment that now all information has to be presented in an entertaining kind of way and I'm not talking about variety show type in fátima but I'm talking about what you were making reference to as you know that people think it's entertainment that this is a joke but once again that goes back to perspective your listeners may think it's entertaining for a group of black athletes at the NFL to take a knee well let me tell you something my my folks don't think it's entertaining because they're the ones that when they take that freakin uniform off and their number is not on that uniform they're the ones that get jacked up by the police so what is entertaining to one group of people may be real serious to another well I just add though that there's nothing wrong Joe and you're one of the most entertaining guys and I know you for ever in a natural style to be entertaining and informative Trump doesn't always accomplish that it gets mangled but that's what I strive for and you certainly don't have to strive for it I don't think it's a natural you're being if I get speak for you for a moment you are being you and that is naturally informative intelligent elevated but there's a hell of a lot of entertainment in there I'm gonna get to you right afterwards okay but bill but first off let bill jump in now building I just want to jump in a couple of points because we're all bouncing around first of all I just got to say Joseph it spoke about my experience my experience just just to speak to that one second I grew up in a small town in northern Delaware in a segregated town went to a white school to a white church and you know the other school the Negro school we didn't call it that was outside of town a mile outside of town my father had a small business he had a gas station the recast stations over three gas stations in town the other two gas stations wouldn't serve black people my father did my father served Irish he said Italian he served polish he sorted anybody who came there and for him to turn them away for any reason I think is the same as that Baker turning that gay couple away in Denver this is not this is not First Amendment this is a 14th amendment this is equal rights I believe if you're in public service you're a business to serve the public you serve the public and you don't hide behind religion what I would call a phony a use of religion to to try to hide your basic biases or racism or homophobia are you aware though that that's a you know vague concept that you must decide who you want to do business but I don't think it's a fake concept at all I saw a sign walking over here that said love your neighbors and at the bottom it said without exception I'll live by that rule I don't think vague at all you mean you don't you don't have a bias against certain individuals you don't wanna do business with them just because you don't like them I'm just saying if you heard and if you're in business view of a public if you have a bake shop or if you have a a gas station or if you've got a laundry whatever then you are there to serve the public bill what I think here that the guy is not the mistreating or not serving people that are gay that he knows that are gay isn't it the test you're asking him to express something that what about Halloween he doesn't want to be involved in Halloween you're gonna make him have to do Halloween he knew they were a gay okay we got we got the point of this debate let's go to you and then I want Janet's input on this because it's it's really a fascinating exercise in in freedom and it's that area what gets nebula just in one quick point on and okay quick point okay I came back to Washington to do crossfire with Bob Novak and Pat Buchanan damn right it was entertaining and you know what if we do I hope it was informative I know it was informative I hope it was also entertaining I think we have to be did you ever juice it up to make it entertaining hell yes yeah I'd go after Novak no but I mean did you ever like say to each other hey will you do this all no no we didn't do that because of it Novak played all the time to the camera all I'm saying is let's not be too stodgy here right you want people to listen and you want people to have fun listening and to learn something and so there's nothing wrong with a little bit of entertainment in every show you grab at you before somebody jumps and everybody is concerned with ratings even NPR and PBS it doesn't nothing happens till somebody sells something so we all have to be entertaining and not dull or there will be no media and no one will watch anything First Amendment response I teach First Amendment I teach it at Fowler school I for 21 years it's in fine shape what Bill doesn't really believe in his coerced speech if I had an hour with Bill I could walk him around to why Jack Phillips ought to be left alone in masterpiece cake shop he serves same-sex couples he does not wish to use his art to propagate a message with which he does not agree fundamentally and we would hold that to be true for example for a devout Muslim who did not wish to make representations of Allah which is forbidden by their faith and therefore the First Amendment has always had protections against coerced speech they apply to Jack Phillips I have no doubt he will win this case the question is and I'll give it to Janet where do you draw the line and I'm glad you brought up the issue of coerce speech because it goes back to what you said which is you said your politics were the first amendment that really is the linchpin in this entire conversation and so as we're sitting or having this conversation what they're really arguing at the Court is whether or not you can have something known as coerced speech I don't care where you sit on the political spectrum if we move to the day and age where the government said rightly or left ly this is what you have to say every single one of us would stand up and object and so that's what's really in the dock at the Supreme Court right now is whether or not a governmental entity can coerce you to say something that you don't like Nat Hentoff at the Village Voice said it beautifully he said free speech for thee but not for me so what's going on in our culture that you can't have somebody come to an Ivy League school unless somebody throws a brick through a window or starts a building on fire B you disagree with what you think is going to be the content of that individual speech how do you defeat a bad idea with a better one you don't silence speech who disagree with you encourage more participators in the marketplace of ideas what I've seen and I find this an interesting juxtaposition I was at a Big Ten University in the 1960s where they came in and disturbed our classroom put black paint on their face chanted anti-war slogans and didn't let me get my lecture to get my grade for that semester because they were protesting the war okay all I heard during the 1960's was protect free speech for Tex P speech I don't have to agree with the speech I hear but as the old adage says I have to agree 100% that you have the right to say it and as talkers that has to be a definer for who we are well here should we deal with all the time I'm the one who gave Al Franken presented him with the freedom of speech award and then threw him off the stage halfway through his speech that actually happened and I'll spare you all the story but it's my best one Scott how do you deal with your the question sure are you going to take it back the award no I just wanted to get off the stage no no no no I'm not talking about I'm talking about with his because that's an issue no I don't say he got the award based on that time you know you give the award you live with the shame that he was at so having women so should they so should these journalism societies take back Charlie Rose I don't think so my personal opinion is that you give an award you live with it they got you gave them the award you're responsible for the way it was at that time and you live with the the shame of it or just the fact that it happened or just the fact that one of the great one of the great things we have in a bad syndrome of today's life is that there's a terrible plague of short-term attention span people forget anyway just let it go how do you handle the First Amendment now that you're working under a system where the Constitution is academically one of its pillars Hillsdale College is known for its constitutional studies and I'll push in a little direction do you find that there's a lot of misunderstanding about what the First Amendment means um some but but but not a lot everybody gets a big packet before they do anything on the station right so what what what can you do what can't you do why can why can't you do it we're a non-commercial station by definition so I'm talking in a broader sense just just an understanding not among students but of the human race about what freedom of speech per the First Amendment to the Constitution means because even in this discussion today the constant back to Janet and that discussion some people don't know the difference between freedom to express religion or freedom from somebody forcing their religion on you that the thee and me is terribly a blurry area in the minds of many to me it's clear to me it's just the United States government or the government does not have the right to censor you on expression unless a couple of exceptions but I didn't you know John could not have called me up and said you're infringing on my First Amendment right by not inviting me to be on this panel I would say it's my panel start your own this panel is a an extension of my First Amendment right to present what I consider to be a well-rounded group and and if somebody calls Hugh on the phone and says I want to say so-and-so and Hugh says no you're a jerk I don't want you on you sound too old and I want young listeners I'm not talking about that subject I know it's important but I'm not talking about it invariably they're gonna say you're infringing on my First Amendment right well no that show is your First Amendment right more so it's Salem's First Amendment right people don't understand this we are constantly we actually had a conversation in class last week because I was a producer in a former life I was a call screener and you get people who call and demand to be on there because it's my right to be on the show you have to tell them that that's in fact not the case I write to tell you you can't be on the show it's our show get your own show right and so we do we discuss things like that you know in class and at the station I think partially because of what Hillsdale teaches I have not had real problems with what the First Amendment is what it means I think the students have a really good understanding of what the First Amendment means and what it means to them as broadcasters and yeah good can I give you a true story you'll love this I knew him before he knew me w WB b FM i'm doing this show midnight 5:30 midnight only black guy on the whole freaking show I'm pulled Channel it's worthy or whatever the station I'm pulled in I'm pulled in by Chuck Schwartz and Diane Aryan and said you cannot talk about black issues while you're on the air now well now the question is for this panel would you have fired me or would and if I'd have said excuse me no and he did they did I mean that's what they did that's exactly and in Philadelphia after the neighborhood burned down move the moon folk now so I meant to what I did first amendment next morning I interviewed Louis Farrakhan the first hour the second hour I interviewed Ron Brown who was running for chairman of the Democratic National Committee to show the difference between the next morning Jerry was with me I was called in and fired now whose first amendment is being violated so it goes back to what you said Charles sorts owned the station yeah he had the right to be stupid so what not well does a second civil so so the question then is if I went to the Supreme Court whose case would prevail Charles horse who's the owner or Joe Madison who was fired because he exercised First Amendment I don't I mean I'm not a man but it's but it's a clear it's a clear-cut answer Hugh well yeah absolutely yeah I do for now yeah alright but I want it I want it I do good I want to bring this I want to bring this to a conclusion and I'd like but what I'm saying Michael is is and I'm very serious about this so where's the seat is does this cloud the First Amendment because what you're saying it's Schwartz because he owns it well it's it's he is the one who in the capitalistic system and an entrepreneur system he is the one who has ownership of that property he owns he owns the platform so ownership and capitalism supersedes First Amendment constitutional right it's not a constitutional right for you to have a platform it's a constitutional right for you to have an opinion without the government interfering it doesn't guarantee you a soapbox you could as a remedy claim that he's not serving the public and oppose his reassignment of the license that's a way but no you do not have the right to claim First Amendment that a newspaper doesn't run your letter or that your employer doesn't I was first told I'm answering you why I'm not taking but what I'm saying to you is the truth but I was told you can't talk about black folk that's just like I was once told I can't play Peter Paul and Mary no no no no no Peter Paul and Miriam no no it's artistic expression no back when I back when I was when I was no no no you hold let me make let you I'll let you have the second to artistic expression is equal to political opinion under the First Amendment there have been they put elephant dung on the wall in the Brooklyn Museum and there was a and taxpayer money was involved in that I don't remember the details of the case but it comes to mind and there was a First Amendment argument about it what is art and and and who has the right to decide what is artistic expression here you're a scholar on this subject am I on the right [Music] to fire you there is no First Amendment violation if the government told your owner to fire you you would have a civil rights cause and you would have the First Amendment but if the government's not involved there is no constitutional issue period and and and it's not I'm saying that's right I I said he was stupid because it was bad business it was bad policy it wasn't smart but this goes on all the time and the reason I made the remark about the music is in my early days when I was in music radio and I was in a kind of radio where the DJ's were the curators we picked the music and the format was called free form and if you don't think there were battles I I was prepared for my thirty years 35 year career and talk radio by the battles I went through through my 15 year career in music radio I was a pioneer in that arena and the battles were fierce because the music related to lifestyle it related to whether you were hip or unhip whether you were cooler and cool it even related to politics that's where I cut my teeth on that an artistic expression Lenny Bruce look at look at the history Howard Stern it's not just you know serious issues it could be dirty words it's fascinating and and yes exactly nor was the government involved in whether colin kaepernick could take a knee it was the player association union contract that was at play in that and that's why a lot of people felt that Trump had no right to be in that discussion and then some people feel trump has a right to be in every discussion because of the culture I'm going to but we're gonna I'm gonna spare everybody the obligation of doing the final statement cuz that'll take a half hour but I want John Frederick to make the final statement and I get Frederick's I want you to give us an honest answer and don't be too long but just come up with something cool who is more entertained always cool who Joe is very everybody hears Nosal and everybody in this audience is cool I mean looking at all your faces and you seem interested if not I would have just called it off a half hour ago but you're not that interested where we're gonna go another half hour well we'll be at it well be we'll be done in three minutes based on whether John is able to really be succinct I want you to be the kicker who's more entertaining you were Donald Trump and who cares about being entertaining more in terms of when he gets up in the morning and he sets his tone for the day oh if you listen to my show I'm much more entertaining than the president there's no question about that but look he has changed things there's no question about it pre Trump those that do like Joe and I and Bill that go on in the morning in fact bill and I were at the the Philadelphia Convention I believe by each other in a Crampton spot we would prepare in the in the evening and then go to bed and get up at 3:30 whatever we do I don't do that now there is no point in aperi anything until you get up at 3:00 a.m. because the first thing you do is you turn on your Twitter and see what the hell he's tweeted out today and that dominates everything so he has there's no question that the this administration and this president has changed that I do want to make one comment though about Bernie Sanders bill he came on my show three times and he allowed me to spend the day with him in Iowa that's probably why he got beat so I just want fun to throw that out probably shouldn't have done that but the as far as the First Amendment is concerned I think this president has done more to encourage people's First Amendment rights than anything I've ever seen the day he got inaugurated on a Friday the next day on a Saturday there was a million women's March and he hadn't said anything or done anything so they were all expressing their First Amendment rights and so I think that this president although he tangles with the press and he gets into it with April with April Ryan and John and it costs and other people I think he has encouraged everybody to get involved and the media to take proactive stance and some ators and I happen to think that is a great thing nice kicker okay Hugh Hewitt bill Prescott Bertram John Frederick's Janet Parshall Joe Madison and Dom Giordano thank you [Applause]

Channel: Hillsdale College

Views: 14,583

Rating: 4 out of 5

Keywords: Kirby Center, Hillsdale College, Radio, Trump, Journalism, Michael Harrison, Scot Bertram, Hugh Hewitt, Dom Giordano, Joe Madison, Janet Parshall, Bill Press, Talkers Magazine

Id: pZk1feEbK3A

Length: 83min 34sec (5014 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 07 2017