# Do you have the right to dodge the media? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 6, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-right-to-dodge-the-media/452028 "2008-06-06T16:10:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-right-to-dodge-the-media/452028/41 "2008-06-07T19:13:26Z")
Much appreciated. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-right-to-dodge-the-media/452028/42 "2008-06-07T19:52:50Z")
[QUOTE=Lakai] I don’t think you are using “discretion” correctly here and I’m not entirely sure what you mean by this. Could you clear this up? [/QUOTE] Discretion: [judgment](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/discretion). The ability to freely evaluate the choices and act upon them; the power of critical thinking. The press often lacks this type of _discretion_ in choosing which stories to run because they are good and important and newsworthy, and which stories will simply make a buck. I believe **ascenray** is using “discretion” to mean “the ability to be discreet, to conceal uncomfortable truths, to perpetuate secrecy.” In the case of the media using discretion, there is some overlap between the definitions; I think the media sometimes fails to use its best _judgment_ when deciding whether to _keep a secret._ ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-right-to-dodge-the-media/452028/43 "2008-06-07T19:57:34Z")
[QUOTE=Jonathan Chance] Press here. I may be the only person in this thread for whom this is a literal, and not theoretical, issue. [/quote] I’m a journalist too. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-right-to-dodge-the-media/452028/44 "2008-06-07T21:48:52Z")
FWIW, I’m a former journalist too: radio news intern, college paper news editor, and reporter/editorial writer for a rural Ohio county newspaper. Obama was certainly within his rights, but no candidate should needlessly irritate the press. I think he’ll get a pass - hell, he already has - on this one. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-right-to-dodge-the-media/452028/45 "2008-06-07T22:41:19Z")
[QUOTE=Spiff] Obama played a taped episode of _Lost_. 😃 [/QUOTE] Without the express written consent of ABC Television? That’ll show up on an email for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-right-to-dodge-the-media/452028/46 "2008-06-08T05:07:29Z")
[QUOTE=Fish] Discretion: [judgment](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/discretion). The ability to freely evaluate the choices and act upon them; the power of critical thinking. The press often lacks this type of _discretion_ in choosing which stories to run because they are good and important and newsworthy, and which stories will simply make a buck. I believe **ascenray** is using “discretion” to mean “the ability to be discreet, to conceal uncomfortable truths, to perpetuate secrecy.” In the case of the media using discretion, there is some overlap between the definitions; I think the media sometimes fails to use its best _judgment_ when deciding whether to _keep a secret._ [/QUOTE] That makes sense and I totally agree with you. In today’s news climate there was no way Obama could have had a private meeting with Hillary if he informed the press about it. The only people Obama hurt were the reporters that couldn’t get the story. It’s up to him to decide whether a private meeting was worth upsetting the press, but he had every right to make that decision. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-right-to-dodge-the-media/452028.md?page=2)