The Rash Report: Candidates, the president and the press

"The whole world is watching!" chanted protesters being beaten by police at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Donald Trump's raucous rallies, at times punctuated by punches, aren't Chicago 1968 (at least not yet). But because of the U.S. presidential campaign's global importance as well as a revolution in media technology, the whole world is indeed watching.

This includes media freedom organizations such as Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (known by its French acronym RSF), whose focus is mostly on regimes repressing the press as well as war-torn nations where journalists are targeted for chronicling the conflict. So it's striking that RSF felt the need to issue a news release condemning the "aggressive behavior" from Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who on Tuesday was charged with battery by police in Florida for a March 8 incident involving then-Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields.

The legal process will adjudicate the case. But Trump turned to the court of public opinion to back his man and discredit Fields.

"This is the latest incident where Donald Trump and his campaign made clear his disregard for freedom of the press," RSF said in its statement, which went on to cite restrictions on and insulting and bullying of reporters, as well as his dropping out of a debate because it was moderated by Megyn Kelly.

The international impact is significant, said Margaux Ewen, RSF USA's advocacy and communications officer, in an interview.

"In a country of the First Amendment, it's incredibly important. We have a country that protects freedom of the press, and the president's role in setting an example is definitely important — and that goes for presidential candidates as well. And the latest incidents of harsh treatment of the press during the current presidential elections are incidents I don't believe we've seen at this level before."

Another concerned observer holds the job Trump seeks.

"I know I'm not the only one who may be more than a little dismayed about what's happening on the campaign trail right now," President Obama said the night before Lewandowski's booking. Obama, speaking at a journalism prize ceremony, said that the country's politics provoke the most questions from world leaders.

Of the campaign he said, "I was going to call it a 'carnival atmosphere,' but that implies fun."

In his remarks the president praised the news media for their substantive work, while warning of the consequences of "the enormous pressure on journalists to fill the void and feed the beast with instant commentary and Twitter rumors, and celebrity gossip, and softer stories" that distract from media power to improve lives.

Obama's appreciation of the news media matters — for reporters, yes — but, more important, for citizens. And yet while his administration's style couldn't differ more from the Trump campaign, the reality doesn't always match the rhetoric. No, reporters aren't being manhandled. But they're not being handed in a timely manner the public information that might propel them to deliver on the aspirations Obama believes they should shoot for.

The latest evidence comes from a March 18 Associated Press analysis. Among the AP's findings is that "The Obama administration set a record again for censoring government files or outright denying access to them last year under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act" (FOIA) and that "The government took longer to turn over files when it provided any, said more regularly that it couldn't find documents and refused a record number of times to turn over files quickly that might be especially newsworthy. It also acknowledged in nearly one in three cases that its initial decision to withhold or censor records were improper under the law — but only when it was challenged."

RSF's Ewen concurred with the concerns raised by the AP. "The president and current administration [are] by no means perfect," Ewen said, citing prosecuting whistleblowers under the Espionage Act as well as foiling FOIA requests. "These trends are very worrying in a country of the First Amendment, and it explains why the United States ranks 49 out of 180 countries in our World Press Freedom Index."

The U.S. ranking isn't regrettable just in comparison to other countries, but to itself: The first index issued in 2002 ranked the U.S. a more respectable 17.

Among admonishments in his speech, Obama warned against false equivalency. And in fact nothing equates to Trump's treatment of the news media, be it insults (mocking a disabled reporter, calling media members "disgusting" during a victory speech) or through threatened legal action (promising to "open up libel laws" to sue news organizations).

But Obama should do much better in his remaining months, and his successor should set the highest standard of transparency. This country of the First Amendment should be first in a future World Press Freedom Index.

After all, the whole world is watching.

John Rash is a Star Tribune editorial writer and columnist. The Rash Report can be heard at 8:20 a.m. Fridays on WCCO Radio, 830-AM. On Twitter: @rashreport.