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
The Republican National Committee's website, which featured President Donald Trump's Fake News Awards, experienced an issue on Wednesday night as the results were set to be revealed. (Photo: Luisa Haynes/@wokeluisa/Twitter)
Trump's #FakeNewsAwards Underscore His Hostility Toward Free Speech and Press
"This is what happens in dictatorships and fascist regimes. Facts, language, truth, and ultimately the press become hijacked to serve power, not question it or hold it accountable."
Jan 18, 2018
Highlighting President Donald Trump's general lack of support for the constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of speech and the press, the president's ever-evolving animosity toward the news media culminated in his #FakeNewsAwards, which he doled out on Wednesday night via the internet--as soon as the Republican National Committee's website issue was resolved.
The stunt--the subject of endless jokes--underscored Trump's apparent inability and unwillingness to calmly respond to any and all criticism. Alongside the mockery, journalists and political commenters used the event to remind the public of the growing threats to free speech and press in the age of Trump.
"The purpose of any award is to create an institutionalized way of promoting a certain cause through drawing public attention," observes Ohio State University professor Gleb Tsipursky, warning: "These awards create an institution for Trump's relentless attacks on mainstream media and position Trump as the only voice who gets to determine truthful media."
Other advocates for freedom shared similar observations on Twitter:
After Trump announced his plan to issue Fake News Awards, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)--which tracks threats to press freedom, including cases of journalists being killed, injured, or imprisoned while on the job--trolled Trump while also highlighting the seriousness of his hostility toward journalists and media organizations by giving out awards to the world's anti-press leaders, and honoring the president with an award for "Overall Achievement in Undermining Global Press Freedom."
Trump's Fake News Awards also provided an opportunity to make note the president's mounting list of misleading or blatantly dishonest statements. "President Trump almost never admits error, even as he has made more than 2,000 false or misleading statements," wrote Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post's "Fact Checker" blog.
However, that's not the case for most recipients of Trump's awards, as Kessler noted: "At least eight of the 'Fake News' winners resulted in corrections, with two reports prompting suspensions or resignations. Two of the winners were simply tweets that were quickly corrected and never resulted in news articles. One was an opinion article in which the author later retracted his prediction."
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.
Highlighting President Donald Trump's general lack of support for the constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of speech and the press, the president's ever-evolving animosity toward the news media culminated in his #FakeNewsAwards, which he doled out on Wednesday night via the internet--as soon as the Republican National Committee's website issue was resolved.
The stunt--the subject of endless jokes--underscored Trump's apparent inability and unwillingness to calmly respond to any and all criticism. Alongside the mockery, journalists and political commenters used the event to remind the public of the growing threats to free speech and press in the age of Trump.
"The purpose of any award is to create an institutionalized way of promoting a certain cause through drawing public attention," observes Ohio State University professor Gleb Tsipursky, warning: "These awards create an institution for Trump's relentless attacks on mainstream media and position Trump as the only voice who gets to determine truthful media."
Other advocates for freedom shared similar observations on Twitter:
After Trump announced his plan to issue Fake News Awards, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)--which tracks threats to press freedom, including cases of journalists being killed, injured, or imprisoned while on the job--trolled Trump while also highlighting the seriousness of his hostility toward journalists and media organizations by giving out awards to the world's anti-press leaders, and honoring the president with an award for "Overall Achievement in Undermining Global Press Freedom."
Trump's Fake News Awards also provided an opportunity to make note the president's mounting list of misleading or blatantly dishonest statements. "President Trump almost never admits error, even as he has made more than 2,000 false or misleading statements," wrote Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post's "Fact Checker" blog.
However, that's not the case for most recipients of Trump's awards, as Kessler noted: "At least eight of the 'Fake News' winners resulted in corrections, with two reports prompting suspensions or resignations. Two of the winners were simply tweets that were quickly corrected and never resulted in news articles. One was an opinion article in which the author later retracted his prediction."
Highlighting President Donald Trump's general lack of support for the constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of speech and the press, the president's ever-evolving animosity toward the news media culminated in his #FakeNewsAwards, which he doled out on Wednesday night via the internet--as soon as the Republican National Committee's website issue was resolved.
The stunt--the subject of endless jokes--underscored Trump's apparent inability and unwillingness to calmly respond to any and all criticism. Alongside the mockery, journalists and political commenters used the event to remind the public of the growing threats to free speech and press in the age of Trump.
"The purpose of any award is to create an institutionalized way of promoting a certain cause through drawing public attention," observes Ohio State University professor Gleb Tsipursky, warning: "These awards create an institution for Trump's relentless attacks on mainstream media and position Trump as the only voice who gets to determine truthful media."
Other advocates for freedom shared similar observations on Twitter:
After Trump announced his plan to issue Fake News Awards, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)--which tracks threats to press freedom, including cases of journalists being killed, injured, or imprisoned while on the job--trolled Trump while also highlighting the seriousness of his hostility toward journalists and media organizations by giving out awards to the world's anti-press leaders, and honoring the president with an award for "Overall Achievement in Undermining Global Press Freedom."
Trump's Fake News Awards also provided an opportunity to make note the president's mounting list of misleading or blatantly dishonest statements. "President Trump almost never admits error, even as he has made more than 2,000 false or misleading statements," wrote Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post's "Fact Checker" blog.
However, that's not the case for most recipients of Trump's awards, as Kessler noted: "At least eight of the 'Fake News' winners resulted in corrections, with two reports prompting suspensions or resignations. Two of the winners were simply tweets that were quickly corrected and never resulted in news articles. One was an opinion article in which the author later retracted his prediction."
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.