Baptists can't excommunicate. Not in their religion.
"Journalists" could care less about the fine details. Not a part of their religion.
Actually, they can. It's just not called excommunication and the consequences aren't the same. It's called "churching" someone. Basically, it means letting a person know that their beliefs or lifestyle aren't consistent with that church's beliefs. For instance, it's been used to cast a unwed pregnant girl from a congregation. Though I don't agree with the practice, it's not without prescedent in the Baptist Church.
Well, it was when I was growing up, we had a scandle in our small town over it.