Fred is in the race to do the right thing, not pander and kneel to the press. He is paving the way for a showdown between the press, and all those who value fairness, integrity, and honesty. We will see how it goes.
The right thing is the only thing, otherwise you might as well just hand your soul over to the devil with box of chocolates.
If you put the “I don’t owe you anything” comment in its proper context, he was referring to which campaign started the rumor that he was pulling out of the race. Holt was pushing him to name names. He said that he doesn’t owe the press an answer on that question. Why? Because he feels the media should have checked with him before reporting the rumor as fact... they did not and cost him a couple points in Iowa.
This is the kind of thing that Clarence Thomas says, he owes the liberals and the media nothing because of what they did to him during his confirmation hearings. Therefore Justice Thomas can be his own man when he makes decisions.
Whatever happens, Fred is setting things up so he owes no one in the media anything. It is possible to put others on that list as well.