National Press Club Joins Letter to FCC After Trump Threats

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Press Club and the NPC Journalism Institute have joined with other news groups in urging the Federal Communications Commission to defend the First Amendment against presidential pressure.

President Donald Trump last week suggested that the broadcast licenses of news organizations should be "challenged and, if appropriate, revoked" if they disseminate what he calls "fake news." His comment came in the wake of a report by NBC News that he did not like.

The Federal Communications Commission, chaired by Ajit Pai, licenses local stations, not networks such as NBC. Still, news organizations combined forces to urge Pai to withstand any White House efforts to intimidate or silence the press.

"Such threats are what you would expect to hear in a dictatorship, not a democracy, and they should be condemned in the strongest possible terms," the letter said. [https://www.freepress.net/sites/default/files/resources/sign-on_letter_to_fcc_chairman_pai.pdf]

The National Press Club is based in Washington, D.C., and is the world's leading professional organization for journalists.

The club's non-profit Journalism Institute works to advance the profession by providing training and advocating for press freedom.

Contact: John M. Donnelly, Chairman, NPC Press Freedom Team: [email protected] ; 202 650 6738.

SOURCE National Press Club