Fake News
So much has happened since Donald Trump took office on January twentieth. And looking past his rapid fire executive ordering of a travel ban barring citizens of five primarily Muslim nations access into the U.S., the Keystone Pipeline revival, and the beginning of “The Wall” -- I want to discuss his alleged war on “fake news”. Donald Trump, as many of us know, has become accustomed to using Twitter as an unconventional and unappointed advisor causing news outlets to get much of their news from his direct Twitter account (@realDonaldTrump). However the President isn’t always happy with what major news outlets -- including CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times , CBS, and ABC news -- have been gathering, and apparently fabricating, before reporting on his tweets; the president has said since that Fake News “is the enemy of the American People”.
On February twentieth however, the President saw on a Fox News broadcast a story that seemed to be rather untrue regarding the country of Sweden and their immigration policy.
“Give the public a break - The FAKE NEWS media is trying to say that large scale immigration in Sweden is working out just beautifully. NOT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2017”
However when confusion poured out of Sweden by his unfounded accusation he retracted his statement saying his statement was “in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews”.
Although American media is not perfect, calling it fake and banning only specific organizations from media conferences is pandering toward an administration where the media cannot do its job, where censorship may become a norm. As former President George W. Bush said this past week in a rare interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer, "It's kind of hard to tell others to have an independent, free press when we're not willing to have one ourselves,".
