白宫反驳美国新闻自由度降级

The White House is rejecting accusations President Donald Trump and his administration are hampering freedom of the press in the United States.

A media watchdog and advocacy group has dropped the United States two places to 45th in its annual press freedom rankings, blaming Trump's repeated verbal attacks on reporters, publications and TV news networks.

“I think we're one of the most accessible administrations that we've seen in decades,” replied White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders at Wednesday's briefing just hours after the release of the Reporters Without Borders 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

“I think by my mere presence of standing up here and taking your questions unvetted is a pretty good example of freedom of the press and I think it's ridiculous to suggest otherwise,” Huckabee Sanders said, responding to a question from VOA.

The response did not satisfy the chief White House correspondent for cnn, which has been repeatedly singled out by the president as a purveyor of “fake news.”

Jim Acosta, who sits in the front row for the White House press briefings, asked Huckabee Sanders whether she was trying to say, in response to VOA's question, whether the Trump administration was a champion of the free press.

“We support a free press, but we also support a fair press,” replied Huckabee Sanders. “And I think that those things should go hand in hand and there's a certain responsibility by the press to report accurate information.”

The press secretary then complained she frequently finds herself “taking your questions in a tone that's completely unnecessary, unneeded and frankly doesn't help further the conversation or help the American people get any more information in a better way which is your job and my job.”