Patrick R. McElhiney believes that the Media should be able to report any type of credible story, pending that it is actually factual and not just a smear. He doesn't believe that the concept of "fake news" really adds up, just because the media is reporting that you've done something illegal, or that you're a bad President of the United States, etc.
Patrick watches all sorts of different types of TV channels, including Fox News, CBS, ABC, Newsy, and others, and reads all types of different Press articles, and he doesn't really see anything wrong with the media and the press. He doesn't believe that the news is the enemy of the people - he believes that the people who try to drown out competition are the true enemies of the people.
Patrick believes that the libel laws as they are, are strong enough to protect people that have done no wrong. He doesn't support strengthening libel laws to limit the freedom of the press. He doesn't believe that the media should be controlled by one person, whether they are President of the United States, or just some average person, because it is the viewers that are important to the news. It is the dissemination of the facts in the news that are important to the freedom of press in the United States.
Tabloids
Patrick believes that the media, especially including the tabloid newspapers, need to be regulated to prevent them from violating people's privacy and conducting extortion or blackmail operations.
"Fake News"
Does President Trump's branding of "fake news" fairly threaten the credibility of the mainstream media? Or does the branding make his followers 'tune out' from sources that are branded as such? How does this uphold the Media's First Amendment Rights? The freedoms of speech and press are for each and every American, individually, not from or by the privileged few.
Stop Boycotting the Media
Democrats shouldn't be boycotting Media channels that they don't agree with, but the trolling of Democrats who go on Fox News is just as unacceptable as the trolling of Republicans that go on Democratic-leaning Media channels. There are an overwhelming number of Democratic-leaning news channels, just as there are an overwhelming number of Democrats in America - but Republicans shouldn't boycott these channels, and Democrats shouldn't boycott Fox News. The Media as a whole has a lot of important perspectives that we can all learn from, and that is something that Patrick believes wholeheartedly in.
Press Freedom
Patrick is opposed to nations that jail press reporters and members of the Media, and believes that the State Department should fight for the rights of the freedom of speech around the world. Many reporters risk their lives to get the stories to the people, and some are jailed and charged as spies by foreign nations, which is completely unacceptable. The media needs to have complete freedoms to go wherever they need to go to report the world's stories, without the repression of foreign nations or violence by offenders of human rights.
Banning Hate Speech
Patrick believes that online platforms should be required to take measures to ban hate speech and postings by fake accounts from hate groups, terrorists, and foreign governments. Just as hate speech is unwelcome in the real world, it is unwelcome in the digital world on the Internet. Bullying is another type of hate speech that should also be banned online. Communications on the Internet should be professional, and courteous, and people should choose their words carefully to ensure that they don't offend other people through hate speech.
