Jeff Jarvis
Role at the time: Journalism professor and media commentator, appearing as a panelist on CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip
Statement summary
On CNN NewsNight the day the ban was announced, journalism professor Jeff Jarvis called it “authoritarianism, pure and simple” and “fascism,” and urged The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Associated Press and Reuters to walk out of White House press events in solidarity with CNN, MS NOW and Politico. He said the press corps would not be missing anything by leaving because the president’s statements can be watched on television.
“If he can't get his friends to buy the media, he will ban the media. It's the story we've seen again and again. It is authoritarianism, pure and simple. It is fascism. It's what we know. But what I think has to happen now is that your colleagues in the media have to stand up by you. … Washington Post and Associated Press and Reuters. Walk out. Walk out in solidarity, not just with CNN, MS NOW and Politico. Walk out in solidarity with the Constitution and a free press.”
Why we used this label
On Trump’s decision to exclude CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House access because of their coverage, Jarvis condemns the ban in the strongest terms, characterizes it as authoritarian, and calls on other news organizations to act by walking out. No competing label plausibly applies; the call to walk out is a remedy, not a separate position.