In the Constitutional sense, “the press” is a technological device for disseminating information. One cannot be a “member” of the press. One can only have access to a press.
Any device which enables one to state and publicize one’s views is a “press,” whether it be moveable type, offset, TV, radio, or the Internet. We all have freedom to access “the press,” meaning we have the right to acquire such devices or pay any provider who wishes to sell us access to publicize our ideas.
In this regard, no CBS anchor has anymore claim to special treatment for being part of “the press” than does any blogger.
“Freedom of the press” applies equally to every citizen seeking to use a technological device to record and publicize his or her opinion.
The so-called "Press" has no more rights under the 1st Amendment than does any Freeper posting on in FreeRepublic.
And no "member" of the "Press" has any sort of right to special treatment by the White House, nor does the "Press" have any rights at all when it comes to being protected from harsh criticism by politicians -- just as politicians have no rights when it comes to being protected from harsh criticism from anybody who has access to a press (i.e. a device for facilitating publication).
Thank you.
I point that very thing out a lot, but you said it so much better
I wish we could come up with a new word, I spent thirty years selling, servicing and repairing small format offset printing equipment and related. I still am not used to hearing the word “printer” used to mean something that images a sheet of paper. I still think of a printer as a person who operates a press. To me “press” still means a machine as in an electromechanical device, not a political machine.