US media fight back against Trump attacks

[Ali Tariq]

US newspapers have launched a concerted campaign to counter President Donald Trump's attacks on the press dubbed #EnemyOfNone. Over 350 media outlets are carrying editorials stressing the importance of free journalism.







A wide array of US newspapers on Thursday hit back at President Donald Trump's often vitriolic attacks on the news media, with editorials accusing the US leader of endangering democracy by labelling any reports criticizing his actions as "fake news."

The Boston Globe, which led calls for the media campaign, wrote that "today in the United States we have a president who has created a mantra that members of the media who do not blatantly support the policies of the current US administration are the 'enemy of the people'."

"This is one of the many lies that have been thrown out by this president, much like an old-time charlatan threw out 'magic' dust or water on a hopeful crowd," its editorial, entitled "Journalists are not the Enemy," said.

The terms "fake news" and "enemy of the people" have often been used by Trump in connection any critical news reports. The president even admitted in a tweet in May 2018 that he considered any negative news regarding his person or administration "fake news."

https://twitter.com/x/status/994179864436596736

Encouragement to strongmen

The Globe also argued that Trump's treatment of the press was encouraging authoritarian leaders such as Russia's Vladimir Putin and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan to suppress free journalism.

"Replacing a free media with a state-run media has always been a first order of business for any corrupt regime taking over a country," the Globe wrote.

The New York Times, one of the newspapers most vilified by Trump, pointed out the dangers of blanket criticism of the press both to democracy and to journalists themselves.

"nsisting that truths you don't like are 'fake news' is dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy. And calling journalists the 'enemy of the people' is dangerous, period," the Times wrote.

The outgoing UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, said in an interview with the Guardian newspaper this month that Trump's classing of journalists as enemies was "getting very close to incitement to violence."

Read more: UN human rights chief paints bleak picture of violations around the globe

tj/kms (AFP, dpa)

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.


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[Ali Tariq]

Trump's 'dirty war' on media draws editorials in 300 US outlets

The Boston Globe made a plea for editorial unity last week

More than 300 news outlets have launched a campaign to counter President Donald Trump's attacks and promote a free press.

The Boston Globe made the call last week for a nationwide denouncement of the president's "dirty war" against the media, using the hashtag #EnemyOfNone.

Mr Trump has derided media reports as "fake news" and attacked journalists as "enemies of the people".

UN experts have said this raises the risk of violence against journalists.

• UN experts condemn Trump media attacks
• Why Trump attacks the media

The Boston Globe had pledged to write an editorial "on the dangers of the administration's assault on the press" on 16 August, and asked others to do the same.

The initial positive response from 100 news organisations has grown closer to 350 with major US national newspapers and smaller local outlets answering the call, along with international publications like the UK newspaper The Guardian.

Media captionFox v MSNBC: How the news divides America
What have the papers said?

• Starting with the Boston Globe itself, the editorial there, headlined Journalists Are Not The Enemy, argued that a free press had been a core American principle for more than 200 years
• The New York Times chose the headline A Free Press Needs You, calling Mr Trump's attacks "dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy". It published excerpts from dozens more publications beneath
• The New York Post - a pro-Trump tabloid - answered the Globe's call by saying "Who are we to disagree?" adding: "It may be frustrating to argue that just because we print inconvenient truths doesn't mean that we're fake news, but being a journalist isn't a popularity contest. All we can do is to keep reporting." But it also said: "Will this make a difference? Not one whit"
• The Philadelphia Inquirer said its city was the birthplace of US democracy, writing: "If the press is not free from reprisal, punishment or suspicion for unpopular views or information, neither is the country. Neither are its people"
• Opinion writers at McClatchy put out an editorial for the 30 daily newspapers it runs, including the Miami Herald, saying they hardly ever spoke with one voice but were doing so now. It said "enemies of the people" was "what Nazis called Jews. It's how Joseph Stalin's critics were marked for execution"

Another paper to join the campaign was the Topeka Capital-Journal which said of Mr Trump's attack on the media: "It's sinister. It's destructive. And it must end now." The paper was one of the few to endorse Mr Trump in 2016.

The fact that Mr Trump won without such media endorsements may cast doubt on whether the Globe's campaign would actually dent his support.

• How Trump 'enemies' remark echoes tyrants

There have been some dissenting voices to the Globe's campaign.

Tom Tradup at the conservative website Townhall.com panned the Globe's "pathetic bid to pretend it is still relevant", writing: "I would not presume to tell anyone else what to think or what to do. But as for me - and I suspect many others - I won't be putting any coins in any newspaper box August 16th."

The Wall Street Journal declined to take part. An earlier piece by James Freeman argued Mr Trump was entitled to free speech and the Globe's drive ran counter to the very independence it was seeking.

What does the American public think?
A poll released on Tuesday by Quinnipiac University suggested that 51% of Republican voters now believed the media to be "the enemy of the people rather than an important part of democracy" and 52% of the Republican supporters polled were not concerned that Mr Trump's criticism would lead to violence against journalists.

Among all voters, 65% believe the news media to be an important part of democracy, the poll suggests.

An Ipsos poll, also this month, gave similar figures. In addition it found that 23% of Republicans, and about one in eight Americans overall, believed Mr Trump should close down mainstream news outlets like CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times.

Have journalists been under physical attack?
Mr Trump has certainly ramped up the pressure on mainstream media with numerous tweets.

The Trump Twitter Archive says he has tweeted 281 times so far using the term "fake news".

When he brings up the matter at his rallies, some journalists have felt uneasy about their safety and have even avoided using designated reporter zones.

• Are journalists increasingly under attack?

At a presidential rally in Florida in July, CNN filmed Mr Trump's supporters yelling insults and swearing at reporters covering the event. CNN presenter Jim Acosta tweeted a clip, which contained strong language.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1024467940257738752

A man was also arrested in January for making threats to CNN employees via telephone calls that referred to "fake news".

The publisher of the New York Times, AG Sulzberger, told Mr Trump in a personal meeting in July that the president's language was "contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence".

But most of the Globe's campaign is about maintaining a free press and its own editorial does not even touch on violence.

Some outlets do, however, refer to the recent killing of five people at the offices of the Capital Gazette in Maryland.

This, and an incident in which two journalists were killed live on air in Virginia in 2015, well before Mr Trump was elected, are used to highlight the dangers of the profession, although both were allegedly carried out by people with personal grievances.

 

[YeBeWarned]

Isn't that the same what Dictators do and say ? everything that criticize them is either fake or not truth at all ?

 

[Fawadqasim1]

Isn't that the same what Dictators do and say ? everything that criticize them is either fake or not truth at all ?

Absolutely

 

[undercover JIX]

Russian sponsored media against Russian sponsored President / dictator.
May be dont know, juss saying

 

[fallstuff]

US newspapers have launched a concerted campaign to counter President Donald Trump's attacks on the press dubbed #EnemyOfNone. Over 350 media outlets are carrying editorials stressing the importance of free journalism.







A wide array of US newspapers on Thursday hit back at President Donald Trump's often vitriolic attacks on the news media, with editorials accusing the US leader of endangering democracy by labelling any reports criticizing his actions as "fake news."

The Boston Globe, which led calls for the media campaign, wrote that "today in the United States we have a president who has created a mantra that members of the media who do not blatantly support the policies of the current US administration are the 'enemy of the people'."

"This is one of the many lies that have been thrown out by this president, much like an old-time charlatan threw out 'magic' dust or water on a hopeful crowd," its editorial, entitled "Journalists are not the Enemy," said.

The terms "fake news" and "enemy of the people" have often been used by Trump in connection any critical news reports. The president even admitted in a tweet in May 2018 that he considered any negative news regarding his person or administration "fake news."

https://twitter.com/x/status/994179864436596736

Encouragement to strongmen

The Globe also argued that Trump's treatment of the press was encouraging authoritarian leaders such as Russia's Vladimir Putin and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan to suppress free journalism.

"Replacing a free media with a state-run media has always been a first order of business for any corrupt regime taking over a country," the Globe wrote.

The New York Times, one of the newspapers most vilified by Trump, pointed out the dangers of blanket criticism of the press both to democracy and to journalists themselves.

"nsisting that truths you don't like are 'fake news' is dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy. And calling journalists the 'enemy of the people' is dangerous, period," the Times wrote.

The outgoing UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, said in an interview with the Guardian newspaper this month that Trump's classing of journalists as enemies was "getting very close to incitement to violence."

Read more: UN human rights chief paints bleak picture of violations around the globe

tj/kms (AFP, dpa)

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.


DW RECOMMENDS

Trump slams media as 'enemy of the people'
US President Donald Trump has again lashed out at media, reiterating his accusation that they spread "fake news." His latest lambasting of the press comes as he prepares to reconnect with his base in Florida. (18.02.2017)

UN assembly approves Chile's Michelle Bachelet as rights chief
The two-term Chilean president will replace Jordan's Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, a sharp critic of Donald Trump's policies. This is not the first time Bachelet, a torture survivor, is taking a role at the world body. (10.08.2018)

New York Times publisher tells President Trump: Persistent media attacks are dangerous
The meeting was requested by President Trump who is perpetually unhappy over media coverage of him and his governance. But much of the media industry frets over the incessantly combative verbal attacks by the president. (29.07.2018)

UN human rights chief paints bleak picture of violations around the globe
From Syria to Yemen and the US, the UN human rights body has delivered a scathing annual report on violations and threats to rights around the globe. Syria and Myanmar have some of the worst conditions. (07.03.2018

Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC: Our Job Is to Control Exactly What People Think

"It could be that while unemployment and the economy worsens he could have undermined the messaging so much that he could control exactly what people think, and that is our job."

 

[Zibago]

And good for nothing pseudo liberal aunties cry about press freedom in Pakistan @PakSword

 

[rambro]

US on the brink of collapse

 

[KAL-EL]

US on the brink of collapse

The dollar will collapse in exactly 1 month and 18.2 days

 

[hassan zohaib]

Trump doesn't know the power of manipulation? He could simply give some plots, cars and money to some renowned journalists rather to openly malign the media as in Pakistan powerful elites do..

 

[PakSword]

The dollar will collapse in exactly 1 month and 18.2 days

 

[pakdefender]

If I have only two sides to pick between fake new media and Trump , I'll go with Trump

 

[WaLeEdK2]

These journalists and the press are venomous snakes. They use the guise of freedom of speech/press to bash anyone that doesn't fit their agenda.

Media needs accountability. If a journalists is purposely lying throw their sorry *** in jail.

 

[pakdefender]

Some professions impart a certain character onto the person doing it , regardless of where they are from.
Take the example of a used car salesman , they have more or less the same characteristics the world over.

Same applies to journalists

 

[gambit]

Isn't that the same what Dictators do and say ? everything that criticize them is either fake or not truth at all ?

The difference is 'do' and 'say'. So far, the Trumpster have not done anything other than flap his comical lips. Relax, the US media is just hyperventilating for the sake of hyperventilating.