Trump Versus the Liberal Media

On Friday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer held a daily press briefing, but media outlets that Trump has recently accused of reporting “fake news” we’re allegedly not invited.

CNN, The New York Times, The Hill, Buzzfeed, and Politico were among the new sources “not given access” to the press conference. 

While, The Washington Times, One America News Network, Breitbart, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Reuters, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and McClatchy were all allow to cover the press gaggle. Both The Associated Press and Time Magazine were given access, but did not attend in defiance of the White House’s move to exclude some media sources.

“AP believes the public should have as much access to the president as possible,” tweeted Lauren Easton, AP’s director of media relations. 

However, the White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said that the “claims that outlets were excluded are not factual” and that “the pool was there, so various media mediums were represented.”

Spicer argued that the administration has given the press a tremendous amount of access to the president and his team.

“I think that we have shown an abundance of accessibility,” said Spicer in the Friday press briefing. “We’ve brought more reporters into this process. … We’ve actually gone above and beyond making ourselves, our team and our briefing room more accessible than probably any prior administration. I think you can take that to the bank.” 

Spicer was responsible for allowing the use of “Skype seats,” where other reporters outside of Washington can ask questions in the White House press briefings now.

Even though the press has the most access to the White House than ever, it looks as though the tensions between Trump and the media is at an all-time high.  

Trump is making it clear he won’t be tolerating outlets reporting “fake news,” or news that hasn’t been verified.

“I want you all to know that we are fighting the fake news. It’s fake, phony, fake,” said Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday before the press briefing. “A few days ago, I called the fake news ‘the enemy of the people,’ and they are. They are the enemy of the people. Because they have no sources. They just make them up when there are none.” 

Many voiced criticisms after the White House supposedly excluded some of the media from Friday’s news briefing.  

“The WHCA board is protesting strongly against how today’s gaggle is being handled by the White House,” said Jeff Mason, the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) president in a statement. 

Then on Saturday, the president announced he would not be attending the upcoming White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on April 29^th.  

“I will not be attending the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!” tweeted Trump.

The dinner honors White House journalists, while also awards scholarships to up-and-coming reporters.

“We look forward to shining a spotlight at the dinner on some of the best political journalism of the past year and recognizing the promising students who represent the next generation of our profession,” said Mason about the event.  

But, Trump isn’t the only one backing out of the event.  

“The president’s announcement comes amid growing tensions between his administration and the media, with several news organizations including CNN saying they may not participate in this year’s event at the Washington Hilton,” writes The Hill.  

“Bloomberg L.P., which hosts a high-profile after-party for the dinner, had pulled the plug on the event. Vanity Fair, which usually partners with Bloomberg in throwing the party, announced earlier this month that it would not participate. The New Yorker, the magazine that hosts a kickoff party before the dinner, canceled its event earlier this month, while CNN and MSNBC are also reportedly deliberating whether they will pull out of the annual dinner.” 

So, all of these media outlets are making statements of their own.

Author’s note: The battle between liberal media and Trump is intensifying. But, instead of outlets revealing their excessive bias against the president, they should be focusing on improving their journalistic practices. It’s not just that these sources are reporting primarily unjustified attacks on the Trump administration, it’s that they are publishing stories without fact-checking and having reliable sources. The media is doing anything to get traffic to their sites with bogus articles. But, Trump is not going to let them get away with it.