You do realize that the first amendment protects individuals from prosecution for protected speech, right? It does not guarantee protection from professional or social consequences. For some reason this distinction is very hard to understand for people of certain political stripes.
Regardless, death threats are not protected under the first amendment, so you're even wrong under your idiotic assumptions of how the law works.
Most journalists are just propogandists and misinformed people stating option as fact. I don't understand why anyone holds them in high regard. Like yeah, there are many great individual journalists who take their job seriously and get real information out to people, but for the most part, no.
Regardless, death threats are not protected under the first amendment, so you're even wrong under your idiotic assumptions of how the law works.