The fallout over the Trump administration’s decision to revoke prominent journalist Jim Acosta’s press credential for covering the White House is continuing to spread. The Trump team has dug into its position to the point of press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders sharing a seemingly doctored video of the interaction that’s helped spark the whole controversy — and photojournalists covering the White House are furious.
The video in question speeds up at a point when Acosta and a female administration aide interact, making it look like he delivered a “karate chop” to her arm when in fact, he simply did not. No assault on either the aide or the dignity of women at large took place, despite assertions from the White House to the contrary.
The White House News Photographers Association wasted no time getting right to the heart of the matter — Sanders was wrong for promoting an attempt at manipulating the truth.
They asserted:
‘As visual journalists, we know that manipulating images is manipulating truth. It’s deceptive, dangerous, and unethical. Knowingly sharing manipulated images is equally problematic, particularly when the person sharing them is a representative of our country’s highest office with vast influence over public opinion.’
Statement from @whnpa on White House use of doctored video of @Acosta incident pic.twitter.com/PAXJs7xOly
— Zoe Daniel (@zdaniel) November 8, 2018
The edited video in question originally came from InfoWars, a far right propaganda site that’s been banned from platforms across the internet.
The original interaction unfolded during a post-midterm elections press conference, when President Donald Trump sought to shut Acosta down because he didn’t like the journalist’s questions — as has happened plenty of times before and will no doubt unfold in situations involving the anti-media president in the future.
There’s been talk about suing the Trump administration over the incident, claiming libel and violations of First Amendment rights. There’s no sign in the meantime that the White House is about to give up any ground in the ordeal. It’s not as though they’ve proven keen on such a thing in the past.
Featured Image via YouTube screenshot
