Editorial [Antae, Vol.5(3)]

Abstract

Following the midterm elections in the USA that took place in November this year, Donald Trump’s unorthodox behaviour made the news again—this time, ironically, because he wanted the news to go away. Granted, he did not repeal the First Amendment. He did, however, insist that he would take no more questions from CNN’s Jim Acosta after the latter questioned whether he thought that his rhetoric had ‘demonised’ migrants by referring to their arrival as an ‘invasion’. The video evidence of the tussle that ensued between Acosta and the White House aide who attempted to remove the microphone from his hand has since been shared, scrutinised, doctored, and shared again on social media. It has been held up as evidence by people across the political spectrum to demonstrate either how (a) the free press is being restricted and belittled by government, or (b) factions of the media with a malicious agenda keep overstepping the boundaries to make a good leader look bad… depending on who you speak to.