On Sunday, during an acceptance speech for a courageous journalism award, New York Times reporter James Risen accused President Obama of hating the press and implored journalists to "fight back [or] become irrelevant."

According to CentralMaine.com, a professor at the Colby College event asked Risen what role Eric Holder and Obama have had in prosecuting journalists who expose national security issues. Risen said:

I don’t think any of this would be happening under the Obama administration if Obama didn’t want to do it. I think Obama hates the press. I think he doesn’t like the press and he hates leaks.

Risen added that Holder's job was always to shield Obama from harsh criticisms.

As TruthRevolt previously reported, Risen already named the Obama administration the "greatest enemy of press freedom" in a generation. He has now gone a step further describing it as hatred for the press.

Risen was subpoenaed in 2011 by federal prosecutors to name his sources or face jail time regarding his investigation into the CIA's attempt to disrupt Iran's nuclear program. Sunday, he assured that he would rather go to jail than give up this confidential information.

"The government has eagerly prosecuted whistle-blowers who have tried to bring any of the government’s actions to light,” Risen said. "Today, the U.S. government treats whistle-blowers as criminals, much like Elijah Lovejoy.”

Lovejoy is the namesake for the award Risen was presented with. Lovejoy, a Colby graduate, was killed in 1837 defending his printing press against anti-abolitionists who came to destroy it.

During his speech, Risen implored journalists:

Journalists have no choice but to fight back because if they don’t, they will become irrelevant. I know what Elijah Lovejoy did.

If you’d rather live in a society in which you don’t know anything, then that’s the alternative.

Risen has also been critical of the Bush administration, which, like Obama, used a "veneer of law" to silence leaks and make it look legal.