Fake News Awards
While I think this is a bit over the top for the President, he does have a point...
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/laurettabrown/2018/01/17/trump-gives-out-his-fake-news-awards-n2435980
Comments
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@davidtaylorjr said:
While I think this is a bit over the top for the President, he does have a point...What I find interesting about the president's "fake news" awards is that in most of the cases he cited, the journalist and/or his or her employer quickly issued a correction and, in some cases, an apology for the mistake. In some cases, such as the Brian Ross mistake on ABC News, there were consequences to the employee (Ross was suspended for four weeks).
On the other end of the accountability-for-mistakes spectrum is the president himself. Mr. Trump has issued hundreds (at least) or thousands (more likely) of false or misleading statements during his first year in office. How many corrections has he or his office issued?
- On February 7, 2017, he said "the murder rate in our country is the highest it’s been in 47 years." It was actually higher in the '80's and '90's.
- On April 28, 2017, he claimed the U.S. had a $17 billion trade deficit with Canada. In fact, in 2016, the U.S. had an $8.1 billion trade surplus with Canada.
- On July 28, 2017, he said "We have trade deficits with almost every country because we had a lot of really bad negotiators making deals with other countries.” The truth is the U.S. has a trade surplus with more a hundred countries.
Did the president issue a correction for any of these "fake news" assertions? No.
Do you agree with me, David, that fake news for which its creators issue corrections and apologies is better than fake news for which its creators refuse to issue corrections and apologies?
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@Bill_Coley said:
@davidtaylorjr said:
While I think this is a bit over the top for the President, he does have a point...What I find interesting about the president's "fake news" awards is that in most of the cases he cited, the journalist and/or his or her employer quickly issued a correction and, in some cases, an apology for the mistake. In some cases, such as the Brian Ross mistake on ABC News, there were consequences to the employee (Ross was suspended for four weeks).
The problem Bill is these companies have repeat offenses. They don't verify facts and they just try to be the first out of the gate instead of correct. They lose credibility.
On the other end of the accountability-for-mistakes spectrum is the president himself. Mr. Trump has issued hundreds (at least) or thousands (more likely) of false or misleading statements during his first year in office. How many corrections has he or his office issued?
- On February 7, 2017, he said "the murder rate in our country is the highest it’s been in 47 years." It was actually higher in the '80's and '90's.
- On April 28, 2017, he claimed the U.S. had a $17 billion trade deficit with Canada. In fact, in 2016, the U.S. had an $8.1 billion trade surplus with Canada.
- On July 28, 2017, he said "We have trade deficits with almost every country because we had a lot of really bad negotiators making deals with other countries.” The truth is the U.S. has a trade surplus with more a hundred countries.
Did the president issue a correction for any of these "fake news" assertions? No.
Do you agree with me, David, that fake news for which its creators issue corrections and apologies is better than fake news for which its creators refuse to issue corrections and apologies?
No I don't. Fake News is Fake News. Once it is out there the damage is done. How many people actually hear the corrections? Not nearly as many as who hear the initial report. That being said I'll have to fact check the president statements as I take everything from the NYTimes with a grain of salt.
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@davidtaylorjr said:
The problem Bill is these companies have repeat offenses. They don't verify facts and they just try to be the first out of the gate instead of correct. They lose credibility.
I contend that the percentage of facts mainstream media outlets get right is very, very high, and FAR higher than the percentage of facts the president gets right.
As for the president, when he repeatedly makes false or misleading statements (he really does do that) in your view, David, does he too lose credibility?
No I don't. Fake News is Fake News. Once it is out there the damage is done. How many people actually hear the corrections? Not nearly as many as who hear the initial report. That being said I'll have to fact check the president statements as I take everything from the NYTimes with a grain of salt.
To be clear: You also believe that once the president makes a false or misleading statement (he really does do that) "the damage is done," and "not nearly as many" hear the correction as who heard the initial statement (though corrections aren't part of the president's false or misleading statement workflow)?
(Just checking for consistency in your point of view on these matters.)
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@Bill_Coley said:
@davidtaylorjr said:
The problem Bill is these companies have repeat offenses. They don't verify facts and they just try to be the first out of the gate instead of correct. They lose credibility.
I contend that the percentage of facts mainstream media outlets get right is very, very high, and FAR higher than the percentage of facts the president gets right.
As for the president, when he repeatedly makes false or misleading statements (he really does do that) in your view, David, does he too lose credibility?
It depends. It depends on what he said, what context, and how it was presented.
No I don't. Fake News is Fake News. Once it is out there the damage is done. How many people actually hear the corrections? Not nearly as many as who hear the initial report. That being said I'll have to fact check the president statements as I take everything from the NYTimes with a grain of salt.
To be clear: You also believe that once the president makes a false or misleading statement (he really does do that) "the damage is done," and "not nearly as many" hear the correction as who heard the initial statement (though corrections aren't part of the president's false or misleading statement workflow)?
(Just checking for consistency in your point of view on these matters.)
No. Because when he gets something wrong the media hammers it so everyone knows it was wrong. They don't do the same accountability on themselves.
