Unless you have been living under a rock for the last couple weeks, you probably are aware of Donald Trump’s already poor relationship with the media has broken out into an all-out war.
Trump has made a reputation for himself by condemning sources like CNN, National Public Radio and MSNBC, which tend to have a more liberal bias toward news, for being “fake” news sources.
Trump has even been seen calling out a reporter at a press conference and telling him, “You are fake news” and tweeting about the media being the “enemy of the American people,” while praising sources that tend to have a conservative bias, like Fox News.
The fact of the matter is Trump condemns these left-wing sites simply because he does not like what they are saying about him.
I believe he feels that if he can make these sites seem unworthy of people’s trust, then these sources will not target him in a negative light as much as they do.
When in reality, the media exists to act as a “watchdog” for the American people to make sure our officials are doing right by the people.
Trump is trying to make out the only true mainstream source of news and information we have to be completely fake in order to take negative attention away from himself.
Now, do not get me wrong here – all presidents have had their tie-ups with the media, but the distinct thing about the quarrel with Trump is he makes it very clear he is upset with a left-wing news bias and wants to see it completely go away.
He is one of the only presidents who has called out the media in this magnitude and has no proof of any of these news sources being fake.
Though most sources that ask questions at presidential press conferences do tend to show some conservative or liberal biases, the facts they present are credible and definitely not fake.
The “fake news” sources Trump should be referring to are mainly links you find on social media. These links are ones that tend to lead you to hoax sites appearing to be legitimate news.
Others tend to have a blend of fact and fiction that lead people to misinterpret actual statistics.
However, these sites are not the ones being targeted by our president.
It is the sources that are the most credible and the most liberal that he has a problem with. All in all, trying to silence or restrict the voice of the free press will not win him the trust of the American people. It will only cause even more tension, negativity and backlash toward him and his administration.
Mikala Turner is a sophomore social work major from Bruce.
