SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
At a rally in Arizona in August, President Trump called journalists "liars" and accused media outlets of not covering the event, furthering the narrative that the media fabricates stories about him. (Photo: @TPM/Twitter)
Beware: Nearly Half of Voters Think Media Fabricate Anti-Trump Stories
Trump's anti-media crusade is working, with 85 percent of his supporters saying they distrust the press
Oct 18, 2017
Though the president is a documented serial liar, a relatively large portion of the U.S. electorate--and an even higher proportion of his Republican base--think the media is publishing made-up stories about President Donald Trump.
According to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll out Wednesday, 46 percent of all people surveyed believe that news stories about Trump stories are "fabricated," while 76 percent of Republicans say the media publishes made up stories about Trump.
The president has aggressively pushed the narrative that the media publishes "fake news" about him. He has attacked news outlets for relying on sources who choose to stay anonymous--a practice often used in investigative journalism and one that has become especially prevalent during the Trump administration, as sources have shared controversial details of the White House's inner workings with the press.
Trump has also called journalists "liars" and "sick people" for the press's coverage of his comments about the Charlotteville protests, falsely accused news outlets of turning off their cameras at his rally, and suggested last week that NBC's broadcast license should be challenged due to its reporting of so-called "fake news."
He also frequently claims that others who share negative stories about him are deliberately lying, most recently on Wednesday morning when he tweeted that Rep. Frederica Wilson's (D-Fla.) account of his conversation with a military widow was "totally fabricated"--further contributing to his base's apparent belief that negative stories about the president are automatically untrue.
Some in the media took Politico's poll as a warning sign to the media to reduce its use of anonymous sources, while others pointed to Trump's persistent portrayal of the media as untrustworthy, as the direct cause of the public's low opinion of news outlets.
Some in the media took the poll's findings as a warning for journalists to reduce their use of anonymous sources, while others pointed to Trump's persistent portrayal of the media as untrustworthy to be the real cause of the public's low opinion of news outlets.
\u201cReporters need to take this poll seriously. \n\nWhen we report stories based solely on anonymous sources that are then refuted on the record, and it then becomes he-said-she-said, we lose. \n\nhttps://t.co/1aZRksU2hm\u201d— Marc Caputo (@Marc Caputo) 1508321744
\u201cHe says what he says because it works. https://t.co/9IjKdbONP6\u201d— Michael Kruse (@Michael Kruse) 1508322890
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Though the president is a documented serial liar, a relatively large portion of the U.S. electorate--and an even higher proportion of his Republican base--think the media is publishing made-up stories about President Donald Trump.
According to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll out Wednesday, 46 percent of all people surveyed believe that news stories about Trump stories are "fabricated," while 76 percent of Republicans say the media publishes made up stories about Trump.
The president has aggressively pushed the narrative that the media publishes "fake news" about him. He has attacked news outlets for relying on sources who choose to stay anonymous--a practice often used in investigative journalism and one that has become especially prevalent during the Trump administration, as sources have shared controversial details of the White House's inner workings with the press.
Trump has also called journalists "liars" and "sick people" for the press's coverage of his comments about the Charlotteville protests, falsely accused news outlets of turning off their cameras at his rally, and suggested last week that NBC's broadcast license should be challenged due to its reporting of so-called "fake news."
He also frequently claims that others who share negative stories about him are deliberately lying, most recently on Wednesday morning when he tweeted that Rep. Frederica Wilson's (D-Fla.) account of his conversation with a military widow was "totally fabricated"--further contributing to his base's apparent belief that negative stories about the president are automatically untrue.
Some in the media took Politico's poll as a warning sign to the media to reduce its use of anonymous sources, while others pointed to Trump's persistent portrayal of the media as untrustworthy, as the direct cause of the public's low opinion of news outlets.
Some in the media took the poll's findings as a warning for journalists to reduce their use of anonymous sources, while others pointed to Trump's persistent portrayal of the media as untrustworthy to be the real cause of the public's low opinion of news outlets.
\u201cReporters need to take this poll seriously. \n\nWhen we report stories based solely on anonymous sources that are then refuted on the record, and it then becomes he-said-she-said, we lose. \n\nhttps://t.co/1aZRksU2hm\u201d— Marc Caputo (@Marc Caputo) 1508321744
\u201cHe says what he says because it works. https://t.co/9IjKdbONP6\u201d— Michael Kruse (@Michael Kruse) 1508322890
Though the president is a documented serial liar, a relatively large portion of the U.S. electorate--and an even higher proportion of his Republican base--think the media is publishing made-up stories about President Donald Trump.
According to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll out Wednesday, 46 percent of all people surveyed believe that news stories about Trump stories are "fabricated," while 76 percent of Republicans say the media publishes made up stories about Trump.
The president has aggressively pushed the narrative that the media publishes "fake news" about him. He has attacked news outlets for relying on sources who choose to stay anonymous--a practice often used in investigative journalism and one that has become especially prevalent during the Trump administration, as sources have shared controversial details of the White House's inner workings with the press.
Trump has also called journalists "liars" and "sick people" for the press's coverage of his comments about the Charlotteville protests, falsely accused news outlets of turning off their cameras at his rally, and suggested last week that NBC's broadcast license should be challenged due to its reporting of so-called "fake news."
He also frequently claims that others who share negative stories about him are deliberately lying, most recently on Wednesday morning when he tweeted that Rep. Frederica Wilson's (D-Fla.) account of his conversation with a military widow was "totally fabricated"--further contributing to his base's apparent belief that negative stories about the president are automatically untrue.
Some in the media took Politico's poll as a warning sign to the media to reduce its use of anonymous sources, while others pointed to Trump's persistent portrayal of the media as untrustworthy, as the direct cause of the public's low opinion of news outlets.
Some in the media took the poll's findings as a warning for journalists to reduce their use of anonymous sources, while others pointed to Trump's persistent portrayal of the media as untrustworthy to be the real cause of the public's low opinion of news outlets.
\u201cReporters need to take this poll seriously. \n\nWhen we report stories based solely on anonymous sources that are then refuted on the record, and it then becomes he-said-she-said, we lose. \n\nhttps://t.co/1aZRksU2hm\u201d— Marc Caputo (@Marc Caputo) 1508321744
\u201cHe says what he says because it works. https://t.co/9IjKdbONP6\u201d— Michael Kruse (@Michael Kruse) 1508322890
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.