[Quest:] You have seen throughout our program that Donald Trump inspires some strong opinions on both sides. Here at CNN, we always strive to bring you the facts first. The President has strong opinions himself on the press to say the very least, often denouncing work like our own as fake news before he had even taken office. Powerful voices were urging the President not to give up.
[Meryl Streep, Actress:] We need the principled press to hold power to account, to call him on the carpet for every outrage, that is why our founders enshrined the press and its freedoms in our Constitution. So, I only ask the famously well healed Hollywood Foreign Press and all of us in our community to join me in supporting the Committee to Protect Journalists. Because we'll need them going forward. And they will need us to safe guard the truth.
[Quest:] The woman who thanked him is Joel Simon from the Committee to Protect Journalists, he joins me now. Good to see you. Did you get warning of that?
[Joel Simon, Executive Director, Committee To Protect Journalists:] We didn't know that she was going to give us that shout out. We did get a very generous contribution through her family foundation last week, so we were very appreciative but we didn't know that she would mention this
[A:] others to support us.
[Quest:] We think of the committee as being involved in the issues of democracy, violence, physical threats against the press and the media. But you're asking me to think about it differently now. I'm not asking. We've always being involved in the issues of democracy, violence, physical threats against the press and the media. But you are asking me to think about it differently.
[Simon:] I don't think I'm asking you, we have always been a frontline organization. We defended journalists for 35 years when they are confronting violence and repression in the most dangerous and difficult environments around the world. But the reality is that there are enormous challenges that journalists are facing in this country and we have to stand up and defend them.
[Quest:] What are the challenges? Because a berating by the President does not really class as a threat in the same way as it's up to editors to do it.
[Simon:] Right. I think journalists know that they're going to get criticized and you confront powerful people, they are going to lash out. But I think what is alarming is the President-elect Trump every time he is criticized, lashes out. We saw that would Meryl Streep. The role of the press in his administration will be to criticize him, to hold him accountable. How is he going to react? Are these outbursts going to be transformed into policies? It is intimated that will be the case, so journalists should be concerned. We are concerning we intend to defend the rights of journalists and ensure that they are able to do their job.
[Quest:] What is your big fear here, exclusion of press from press conferences, not holding press conferences? I mean he continually finishes every tweet with dishonest media. He believes, and let's put myself into this, I'm a journalist, he believes that we do not reflect the truth of his situation.
[Simon:] Yes, he expects the media to amplify his perspective. And to the extent they do that, he is quite happy. But when they criticize him, he has a very different response. So, he said what he's going to do. He has excluded journalists. He has mocked journalists. He's incited attacks on journalists, online trolling. The environment for criticizing as a journalist or anyone else is a very intimidating on, so how will that affect the work of the President in the coming years.
[Quest:] You have an uphill struggle in one very important respect. Many of the public are not with you. It may be the chattering classes as they became known on the upper east side, upper west side of Manhattan and in L.A. might be, but middle America is likely to say a plague on the press's house
[Simon:] Look, what is the press, what is the media? It is everyone. It's Fox News, CNN, the whole constellation of information. We need that information. And the public might be critical of certain segments of the media, but as an amalgam, they want information and I think that the information will stand up for that.
[Quest:] The press was not in favor in Nixon's time. He had his list. His witch hunt against the press. Ronald Reagan liked the press. But wasn't hugely in favor then either. During the Iraq war, both Bushes were if not downright hostile to the press at least they didn't facilitate it. Why is this worse?
[Simon:] I think because we are not hearing from the President-elect a basic articulation of the role of media. What is the role? That sense that we have a first amendment. There is accountability. The U.S. has to set a standard for the world. We're not hearing that instead what we are hearing is constant disparagement, harassment, mocking, exclusion of journalists. Threats to make it easier to sue journalists. It is creating a hostile environment and the question is are these just empty words, is this angry expression, or will we see an administration that will turn this rhetoric into policies. That's what we need to be vigilant about
[Quest:] And we can ask the same question when we look at any aspect of Trumponomics in 2018. That is our look so far. Now of course let's see what the 12 months ahead brings. I'm Richard Quest in New York. Whatever you're up to in the year ahead, I hope it's profitable. END END