The fact of the matter is Trump is not going to kill CNN and buzzfeed by keeping them out of a single semi-official press event, and I doubt anyone imagined such, so we can safely ignore that for the moment. I'm sure what they really want is for them to fall in line (unlikely), to quit politics (more likely, but still less likely than not) or to just keep them from opportunities to hit Trump (might work, might backfire badly).
Regardless, Loud Whispers you are essentially wishing for Trump to attack the first amendment. Because what he's doing now is not going to destroy CNN. There is evidence to suggest that
Trump has actually been very good for CNN and the other fake news. Ratings have been high. Getting into a standoff with Trump can make a reporter bounce around social media, and the "no such thing as bad publicity" applies to news agencies too; perhaps even more so. And Colbert, the late night host who is least afraid of discussing politics? Colbert has been suffering in the late night market; until the week of Trump's inauguration, when he zoomed past the relatively neutral Jimmy Fallon to hold the top spot, which he has held since then. Doesn't sound like the end of the media to me.
The fact of the matter is about half of the country wants Trump out of office, and probably behind bars if not worse. So if Trump attacks them, he's going to create more support for them. People ranted and raved against the news media for creating Trump! But now Trump and the media are working together again, and in a far more subtle way then before (to the point that I don't know if the media or Trump realize it consciously). Trump says or does something stupid, media calls him out, Trump calls out media for not reporting him right. Repeat several times, and add Trump going on a rant every so often. Don't you see how this is helping them both? Trump gets to look like he's at war with "the media", and "the establishment" and pretend that he's not incompetent to half of the country. The media gets to look like a hero doing their job and speaking truth to power to the other half the country. Both sides just get more positive responses for attacking each other.
Ultimately, it is a mutually beneficial relationship, said Dylan Ratigan, former MSNBC anchor and founder of Helical Holdings, an American resource technology company.
“Anytime Donald Trump can generate a sense of conflict or hostility toward the mainstream media it’s great for his supporters, for his base, and any time a member of the mainstream media can portray themselves as being hard on Donald Trump is great for their supporters, for their base,” Ratigan said. “There’s a mutual benefit to both participants because Trump voters want to see him confront the media and the audiences of the television networks want to see the hosts confront Donald Trump, so it’s like getting to see your favorite fight happen.”
If you think Trump is going to dismantle the News Media, then you must believe he is actually going to roll back the laws that protect them (which, again, will go up against the first amendment), because what he is doing now is not going to do that at all. It's going to endlessly increase polarization, decrease communication between the two sides, and increase the phenomenon where one side of the country sees the same events in entirely incompatible ways. But it absolutely will not weaken the media, let me assure you of that. In fact, if the media
did listen to Trump, and
did just support him and act like Breitbart and whatever, or even if they were just deferntial to him, it would probably
hurt them more then opposition would. People were watching less and less media here for ages. Fox News does well because they have one entire ideological wing watching one network. The media would be fighting for the scraps, and it would lose them the very large anti-Trump coalition to people who
would be willing to criticize.