By Richard Brinkley | Arizona Daily Independent
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he malignant news media is completely unhinged and in chaos. In contrast, while the malignant media attempts to portray the Trump administration in chaos, it is the malignant media in chaos. For months, the malignant media has attacked Trump personally, rarely focusing on policies. Recently, Carl Bernstein called for a “different kind of reporting” because the dishonest reporting of the malignant media isn’t working. Berstein calls the Trump presidency malignant not realizing the malignancy in and among the mainstream new media.
The mainstream malignant media has forsaken the central idea of journalism that “that facts are facts; that they are ascertainable through honest, open minded and diligent reporting; that truth is attainable by laying fact upon fact, much like the construction of a cathedral; and that truth is not merely in the eye of the beholder.”
The malignant media bathes in fake news, non-existent anonymous sources who are invariably proved wrong. Instead of separating truth from falsehood, the malignant media willingly and knowingly promote falsehood.
This abusive malignant media has declared war on an American President. This malignant media has joined in an effort to disrupt the presidential agenda, which is not only anti-American but also un-American. One has to go back to the earliest days of our country to find such a wildly irresponsible news media.
Earlier this year, the Federalist published a list of sixteen fake news stories politically irresponsible and unethical reporters have run since Trump became president.
Zach Stafford, Guardian News, tweeted the rumor that multiple transgender teenagers had killed themselves in response to the Trump election., which was retweeted 13,000 times.
Gabriel Sherman, New York Magazine, posted an outrageous report that a group of prominent computer scientists and election lawyers were demanding a recount in three states that may (no proof) have been hacked. This was simply an attack on the legitimacy of the election.
Lorraine Woellert, Politico, published an egregious article claiming Trump’s Secretary of the Treasury, Steve Mnuchin, had overseen a company that foreclosed on a 90 year-old woman after a 27 cent error. The Competitive Enterprise Institute pointed out that the woman was never foreclosed on and never lost her home. In fact, it wasn’t even Steve Mnuchin’s bank that brought the suit. The report was a complete lie.
On the day of Trump’s inauguration, CNN reported that Nancy Sinatra was upset that her father’s song, “My Way,” would be the inaugural dance. The problem: Nancy Sinatra never made the complaint. This was one more fake news piece by CNN.
New York Times reporter Coral Davenport published an article claiming the Trump administration had “purged” climate change references from the White House website. Davenport also acknowledged that there was a routine turnover of digital authority between administrations. Then why resort to calling a routine turnover a “purge?” The deceiving headline was the epitome of intellectual dishonesty.
Time reporter Zeke Miller reported that a bust of Martin Luther King had been removed from the White House. Miller had not asked anyone at the White House. Miller later had to issue a correction to his fake news.
The Washington Post’s Josh Rogin published a false story of of mass resignations at the State Department. The story went viral. Various reporters tweeted the story. It was shared 60,000 times on Facebook. There was no mass exodus. Of course, the correction received far less attention.
The false, dishonest reporting of the malignant press goes on and on. Public opinion of the malignant media is at its lowest point ever. Trump never had plans to invade Mexico as Buzzfeed and the Associated Press alleged. Trump never weighed mobilizing the national Guard for immigration roundups as the Associated Press claimed.
A CNN headline read, “FBI refused White House request to knock down recent Trump Russia stories.” Only if you read the article does the truth pop out: Andrew McCabe, deputy director of the FBI, went to Reince Priebus to inform him that they knew the stories of a Trump-Russia connection were not true.
It appears that the malignant media has become more like The Onion and Daily Current, except without the satire. Is it any wonder that Trump tweets so Americans can hear his views unfiltered by a malignant press?
