The headlines read, “Trump says media is the enemy of the American people.” Could this be true?
Better check for “fake news.”
After all, one of the biggest news stories last week was the ongoing war between Trump and the mainstream media, and against this background, I was betting the headline was a little overblown.
Here is the actual tweet from Trump:
“The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @CNN, @NBCNews and many more) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American people. SICK!”
Obviously, the tweet was in response to all the heat he has been taking from particular media outlets – which he names. The truth, unlike what the headline suggests, is not that Trump hates media, but that he is concerned about biased reporting.
But is Trump right? Have these selected media outlets become our enemy? It is an important question.
Thomas Jefferson, in 1787, wrote “The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
Abraham Lincoln wrote, “Whoever molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces judicial decisions.”
No one argues today against the vital role media plays in our democracy. However, many argue that unless media remains fair, unbiased and trustworthy they cannot do their job properly. If they ignore the moral responsibilities of a free press, and move from watchdog to lapdog, for either side, how can they be anything but an enemy to freedom?
It was grassroots media such as Common Sense, by Thomas Paine that convinced our founding fathers to fight a war they could not possibly win – and then win it. But when modern printing methods first combined with a free press and capitalism – yellow journalism ruled – for a while. Nevertheless, by the mid-20th Century, modern Journalism was back to work (mostly) doing its job as the Fourth Estate with reporters such as Woodward and Bernstein speaking truth to power – even to bringing down a dishonest President.
Now, in less than a generation, we’ve gone from newspapers and evening TV news to a flood of constant news updates, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Everyone is a reporter and everyone can choose the flavor of news they wish to hear.
For the most part, this is a good thing.
However, like with any new technology, with great potential comes great risk. Professional news sources now compete with fake news peddlers who can make a fortune in advertising fees by publishing anything that gets attention on Facebook.
A recent paper in Human Communication Research discovered that the key mechanism in determining how much a story is shared on Facebook is how angry it makes the reader. The more anger you generate, the more your story is shared, and the more money you make.
The mainstream media is not immune to this reality. Combine that with the political bias of most media outlets (proven by scientific studies and by just watching the news) and you have media headlines that scream about the Trump administration deporting transgenders while leaving out (or burying deep in the story) the fact that the individual deported was a repeat criminal offender.
Or how about the NY Times Headline claiming a Russian/Trump connection and then waiting till well into the article before mentioning that there was no proof that there was actually any connection at all.
This is yellow journalism again – and yes – if that is what Trump was referring to, it is a serious danger to our freedom. It throws gas on the fire of divisiveness, which is already near as bad as it was just before the Civil War.
Should Trump be more careful with his tweets? Of course. While most Americans are glad to see a politician actually speaking his mind – they also recognize that sometimes we think things we ought not to say – especially if we are President of the United States.
Today, we still need journalists willing to speak truth to power. Journalists with the guts of Paine and the tenacity of Woodward. Journalists who report the facts honestly, regardless of their party’s platform.
I have no problem with the press being tough on Trump. I wish they had had this much fire in the belly during the Obama Administration. I also have no problems with Trump being hard on the press. They are both adults – so handle it!
True journalism will eventually win, just as it did after the flirt with yellow journalism at the end of the 19th Century. The sooner Americans demand it, the sooner it will happen. There will always be a market for the unvarnished truth and professionals willing to dig for it. And if I’m wrong, then at least those journalist who tried, can go to bed at night knowing they were no enemy to the American People.
Punchbowl Shelter
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The Founders Tavern 
Fake News?
Posted in Political Commentary, tagged conservative, politics, trump on February 23, 2017| 1 Comment »
The headlines read, “Trump says media is the enemy of the American people.” Could this be true?
Better check for “fake news.”
After all, one of the biggest news stories last week was the ongoing war between Trump and the mainstream media, and against this background, I was betting the headline was a little overblown.
Here is the actual tweet from Trump:
“The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @CNN, @NBCNews and many more) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American people. SICK!”
Obviously, the tweet was in response to all the heat he has been taking from particular media outlets – which he names. The truth, unlike what the headline suggests, is not that Trump hates media, but that he is concerned about biased reporting.
But is Trump right? Have these selected media outlets become our enemy? It is an important question.
Thomas Jefferson, in 1787, wrote “The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
Abraham Lincoln wrote, “Whoever molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces judicial decisions.”
No one argues today against the vital role media plays in our democracy. However, many argue that unless media remains fair, unbiased and trustworthy they cannot do their job properly. If they ignore the moral responsibilities of a free press, and move from watchdog to lapdog, for either side, how can they be anything but an enemy to freedom?
It was grassroots media such as Common Sense, by Thomas Paine that convinced our founding fathers to fight a war they could not possibly win – and then win it. But when modern printing methods first combined with a free press and capitalism – yellow journalism ruled – for a while. Nevertheless, by the mid-20th Century, modern Journalism was back to work (mostly) doing its job as the Fourth Estate with reporters such as Woodward and Bernstein speaking truth to power – even to bringing down a dishonest President.
Now, in less than a generation, we’ve gone from newspapers and evening TV news to a flood of constant news updates, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Everyone is a reporter and everyone can choose the flavor of news they wish to hear.
For the most part, this is a good thing.
However, like with any new technology, with great potential comes great risk. Professional news sources now compete with fake news peddlers who can make a fortune in advertising fees by publishing anything that gets attention on Facebook.
A recent paper in Human Communication Research discovered that the key mechanism in determining how much a story is shared on Facebook is how angry it makes the reader. The more anger you generate, the more your story is shared, and the more money you make.
The mainstream media is not immune to this reality. Combine that with the political bias of most media outlets (proven by scientific studies and by just watching the news) and you have media headlines that scream about the Trump administration deporting transgenders while leaving out (or burying deep in the story) the fact that the individual deported was a repeat criminal offender.
Or how about the NY Times Headline claiming a Russian/Trump connection and then waiting till well into the article before mentioning that there was no proof that there was actually any connection at all.
This is yellow journalism again – and yes – if that is what Trump was referring to, it is a serious danger to our freedom. It throws gas on the fire of divisiveness, which is already near as bad as it was just before the Civil War.
Should Trump be more careful with his tweets? Of course. While most Americans are glad to see a politician actually speaking his mind – they also recognize that sometimes we think things we ought not to say – especially if we are President of the United States.
Today, we still need journalists willing to speak truth to power. Journalists with the guts of Paine and the tenacity of Woodward. Journalists who report the facts honestly, regardless of their party’s platform.
I have no problem with the press being tough on Trump. I wish they had had this much fire in the belly during the Obama Administration. I also have no problems with Trump being hard on the press. They are both adults – so handle it!
True journalism will eventually win, just as it did after the flirt with yellow journalism at the end of the 19th Century. The sooner Americans demand it, the sooner it will happen. There will always be a market for the unvarnished truth and professionals willing to dig for it. And if I’m wrong, then at least those journalist who tried, can go to bed at night knowing they were no enemy to the American People.
Punchbowl Shelter
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