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The National Press Club has condemned Donald Trumps exclusion of select media outlets from a White House press conference, calling the unprecedented action deeply disturbing and likening it to censorship.

Senior figures from the world's leading professional organisation for journalistsjoined a host of other industry leadersin protesting the decision announced by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer to block news outlets including CNN, TheNew York Times, BBC, TheGuardian and BuzzFeed from the off-camera gaggle.

I find it deeply disturbing and completely unacceptable that the White House is actively running a campaign against a constitutionally enshrined free and independent press, the club's president, Jeffrey Ballou, saidin a statement.

The action harkens back to the darkest chapters of US history and reeks of undemocratic, un-American and unconstitutional censorship. The National Press Club supports our colleagues in the White House Correspondents Association in its protest and calls on the White House to reverse course.Mr Spicer did not give any justification as to why the news outlets had been excluded, however far-right organisations Breitbart News, One America News Network and The Washington Times were all granted access.

Othermajor outlets approved included ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, Reuters and Bloomberg, with Associated Press and Time both boycotting the gaggle after the exclusions emerged.

It came just two months after the press secretary promisedthe Trump administration would never ban press access regardless of the political leaning of the publication.

We have a respect for the press when it comes to the government, that that is something you cant ban an entity from, he said. You know conservative, liberal, otherwise I think that is what makes a democracy a democracy versus a dictatorship.

Donald Trump: We are fighting the phoney, fake news

National Press Club Journalism Institute President, Barbara Cochran, also accused Mr Trump of hypocrisy for claiming he loves the First Amendment, which defends the freedom of the press.

The president said, No one loves the First Amendment more than me. We call on the president and his staff to prove that and stop interfering with the ability of all news organisations to do their job of covering the White House, she wrote.

TheNew York Times and Buzzfeed both issued written statements protesting their exclusion from the briefing.

Fox News anchor Bret Baier discouraged conservative news outlets who celebrated the gaggle, citing organisations who defended his network when former President Obama tried to freeze out Fox News in 2009.

Some at CNN and New York Times stood with Fox News when the Obama admin attacked us and tried to exclude us, he wrote on Twitter, a White House gaggle should be open to all credentialed orgs.

It came as the US President renewed his attack on the mainstream media at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

I want you all to know that we are fighting the fake news. Its phony, fake, he said.I called the fake news the enemy of the people. They are the enemy of the people, because they have no sources. They just make them up when there are none.

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White House media ban is 'unconstitutional censorship', America's National Press Club warns - The Independent

Personal Liberty Poll

Exercise your right to vote.

In an effort to make websites more advertiser friendly some media outlets have taken to eliminating comment sections where, without considerable effort from moderators, they are unable to control the direction of reader conversations. But a Google-funded algorithm could change that via censorship.

The technology, called Perspective, uses machine-learning to ferret out toxic comments. Its designers reportedly based the technologys moderation standards on those used by the team of human moderators tasked with keeping discourse civil on The New York Times website. The Times is also reportedly now using Perspective to expand the number of articles it allows comments to appear on without overtaxing its moderation team.

Developers explain how the tool works thusly:

Perspective is an API that makes it easier to host better conversations. The API uses machine learning models to score the perceived impact a comment might have on a conversation. Developers and publishers can use this score to give realtime feedback to commenters or help moderators do their job, or allow readers to more easily find relevant information, as illustrated in two experiments below. Well be releasing more machine learning models later in the year, but our first model identifies whether a comment could be perceived as toxic to a discussion.

The level of potential toxicity appears largely based on the use of vulgarity or insulting language in comments.

Here are a few examples of comments the technology would deem highly toxic in comments:

And here are a few that are considered the least toxic:

Personal insults and name calling cheapen any pointand theres certainly no shortage of uncomfortable language on the internet. But is the top-down sanitation of comment sections really the answer?

How long before the machine decides whole topics are too uncomfortable for discussion and are likely to cause readers to leave?

And if the problem is online harassment, are we really going to pretend that simply silencing the true assholes among us will make them disappear? Theyll still be out there Ever been in a big city traffic jam?

Civility is important. But pretending that life isnt uncomfortable, and partially so because of the personalities of people we have to deal with, isnt the answer.

Besides, sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade or a f*cking moron.

. Bookmark the

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Behold the censorship machine! - Personal Liberty Digest

In an offhand comment Wednesday on Morning Joe, co-host Mika Brzezinski said that it was the medias job to control exactly what people think. The comments are being spread as an example of the hubris and arrogance of the mainstream media.

Joe Scarborough was talking about how the media was overreacting to Trumps actions, and how Trump supporters mock them. They go yeah you guys are going crazy,' he said, what are you so surprised about? Hes doing exactly what he said hes going to do.

Well, and I think the dangerous edges here, Brzezinski added, are that he is trying to undermine the media, trying to make up his own facts.

And it could be that while unemployment and the economy worsens, he could have undermined the messaging so much that he could actually control exactly what people think and that is our job.

Presumably by our she is referring to members of the mainstream media.

President Trump has made the media and their alleged bias the focus of his campaign and now presidency as he discovers new reasons to bash them on his Twitter account and in every manner available to him. The media has fired back and challenged him and his allies, sometimes blurring the line between traditional journalism, and partisan activism.

Trump has been especially outspoken against CNN since they reported on supposed damaging information the Russians had on the president, something that the administration has denied strenuously. The mainstream media has pounced on any instance of misleading information from the administration, while Trump has angrily denounced any hint of fake news from the media.

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MSNBC host says it's the media's job to 'control exactly what people think,' not Trump's - TheBlaze.com

New York Times

Trump Ruled the Tabloid Media. Washington Is a Different Story. New York Times Now, Ms. Stasi said, he is shocked that he is not in control of the press. Attacking the news media, which has an abysmal approval rating among Republican voters, is sound politics in the short term. But Mr. Trump's fury is less strategic than heartfelt. and more »

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Trump Ruled the Tabloid Media. Washington Is a Different Story. - New York Times

Today is Sunday, Feb. 26, the 57th day of 2017. There are 308 days left in the year.

Todays birthdays: Game show host Tom Kennedy is 90. Singer Fats Domino is 89. Country-rock musician Paul Cotton (Poco) is 74. Actor-director Bill Duke is 74. Singer Mitch Ryder is 72. Actress Marta Kristen (TV: Lost in Space) is 72. Rock musician Jonathan Cain (Journey) is 67. Singer Michael Bolton is 64. The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is 63. Actor Greg Germann is 59. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is 59. Bandleader John McDaniel is 56. Actor-martial artist Mark Dacascos is 53. Actress Jennifer Grant is 51. Rock musician Tim Commerford (Audioslave) is 49. Singer Erykah Badu is 46. Rhythm-and-blues singer Rico Wade (Society of Soul) is 45. Olympic gold medal swimmer Jenny Thompson is 44. Rhythm-and-blues singer Kyle Norman (Jagged Edge) is 42. Actor Greg Rikaart is 40. Rock musician Chris Culos (O.A.R.) is 38. Rhythm-and-blues singer Corinne Bailey Rae is 38. Country singer Rodney Hayden is 37. Pop singer Nate Ruess (fun.) is 35. Tennis player Li Na is 35. Latin singer Natalia Lafourcade is 33. Actress Teresa Palmer (Film: The Choice) is 31. Actor Alex Heartman is 27. Actress Taylor Dooley is 24.

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In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from exile on the Island of Elba and headed back to France in a bid to regain power.

In 1904, the United States and Panama proclaimed a treaty under which the US agreed to build a ship canal across the Panama isthmus.

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In 1929, President Calvin Coolidge signed a measure establishing Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

In 1942, How Green Was My Valley won the Academy Award for best picture of 1941, beating out nine other films, including The Maltese Falcon and Citizen Kane.

In 1945, authorities ordered a midnight curfew at nightclubs, bars, and other places of entertainment across the nation.

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In 1952, Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that Britain had developed its own atomic bomb.

In 1962, after becoming the first American to orbit the Earth, astronaut John Glenn told a joint meeting of Congress, Exploration and the pursuit of knowledge have always paid dividends in the long run.

In 1970, National Public Radio was incorporated.

In 1987, the Tower Commission, which investigated the Iran-contra affair, issued a report rebuking President Ronald Reagan for failing to control his national security staff.

In 1993, a truck bomb built by terrorists exploded in the parking garage of New Yorks World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.

In 2012, Trayvon Martin, 17, was shot to death in Sanford, Fla., during an altercation with neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who said he acted in self-defense. (Zimmerman was later acquitted of second-degree murder.)

In 2016, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie stunned the GOP establishment by endorsing Donald Trump for president.

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This day in history - The Boston Globe