Trump regime uses altered video to justify banning journalist

Journal-isms - “The White House suspended the press credentials of CNN reporter Jim Acosta on Wednesday, hours after President Trump took issue with questions Acosta asked at a news conference,” Amy B Wang and Paul Farhi reported Wednesday for the Washington Post.

In an update on Thursday, Post reporter Drew Harwell added, “White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Wednesday night shared a video of CNN reporter Jim Acosta that appeared to have been altered to make his actions at a news conference look more aggressive toward a White House intern.

“The edited video looks authentic: Acosta appeared to swiftly chop down on the arm of an aide as he held onto a microphone while questioning President Trump. But in the original video, Acosta’s arm appears to move only as a response to a tussle for the microphone. His statement, ‘Pardon me, ma’am,’ is not included in the video Sanders shared.

“Critics said that video — which sped up the movement of Acosta’s arms in a way that dramatically changed the journalist’s response — was deceptively edited to score political points. . .  That edited video was first shared by Paul Joseph Watson, known for his conspiracy-theory videos on the far-right website Infowars. . . .”

The White House Correspondents’ Association, the Reporters Committee on Freedom of the Press and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, among other journalists, defended Acosta after Wang and Farhi noted Wednesday, “The move to punish Acosta by removing his access to the White House is believed to be unprecedented. The Trump administration barred another CNN reporter from attending an open media event in July but until now has not gone as far as removing a credential, known as a ‘hard pass,’ which enables a journalist to enter the White House grounds.