The question any court must answer in the Jim Acosta temper tantrum spectacle trudging towards our favorite method for dealing with non-reality, litigation, is whether Acosta meets the current standard of a “journalist.”
In 2018 anyone can be a journalist and the court must admit that. We no longer have the three big TV networks. Acosta only works for a small cable channel. He is not by any means a big player in news media. If he was, he wouldn’t have to depend on Avanetti style shenanigans to get attention.
As for Acosta and his hard press pass in legal terms. Acosta must be able to prove he meets the requirements for the privilege of a hard press pass. That would be showing a pattern of being a certain kind of journalist.
This kind – as defined by Merriam/Webster:
BONA FIDE adjective bo· na fide | \ˈbō-nə-ˌfīd, bä-;ˌbō-nə-ˈfī-dē, -ˈfī-də
Definition of bona fide 1: neither specious nor counterfeit: genuine has become a bona fide celebrity 2: made with earnest intent: sincere a bona fide proposal 3 law: made in good faith without fraud or deceit a bona fide offer to buy a farm
Wrestling with an intern over a microphone, shouting, bullying, and foaming at the mouth, probably makes the case he is disqualified from being a bone fide journalist.
Fox News should get some new lawyers.
What in the world are they thinking?
How many hours of Corey Lewandowsky “physical assault” coverage did we suffer and now we have an undeniable live video of Acosta and his intern/microphone intentional, unwarranted, physical contact – and Fox supports it?
