Attacks on the Media Reaching Dangerous New Levels

[struggle4progress]

By RYAN BORT

Hours after calling legendary Washington Post reporter and current CNN contributor Carl Bernstein a “degenerate fool,” President Trump roused himself out of bed Thursday to levy another series of unhinged attacks against the media. Beginning just before 7 a.m., the president tweeted a whopping 10 times over the next three hours, with six of his missives aimed directly at the amorphous concept of “Fake News.” Once again, Trump described the press as the “Enemy of the People,” a phrase parroted by a California man arrested Thursday for threatening to shoot Boston Globe employees in the head. Also of note was a baseless allegation made by the president that NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt doctored the tape of the May 2017 interview in which Trump admitted that he fired James Comey as FBI Director because of the Russia investigation ...

Trump’s latest onslaught of attacks against what he believes to be inaccurate reporting come the same week the he erroneously tweeted that China was responsible for hacking into Hillary Clinton’s email server prior to the 2016 election. The tweet was based on an uncorroborated report from right-wing website The Daily Caller, which cited anonymous sources in its reporting. The next morning, Trump tweeted that when an outlet cites anonymous sources, “stop reading the story, it is fiction!”

... the White House regularly holds briefings in which officials are not permitted to be quoted by name, and Trump has long tried to manipulate the media by proffering himself as an anonymous source, which may explain why he believes people who refuse to go on the record — or at least the ones with unflattering things to say about Trump — are doing so because they are lying ...

... the FBI has denied Trump’s anonymous-source-based claim that China hacked into Hillary Clinton’s email server, citing that they have “not found any evidence the servers were compromised.” Trump, of course, has not removed the tweet.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-media-enemy-of-people-717346/

[struggle4progress]

1. Goes wild against 'Enemy of the People' media

Alex Lockie

... Trump's anti-media tirade comes after a pronounced scrape with CNN over a story in which it cited anonymous sources as saying the longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen had incriminating evidence against Trump.

Lanny Davis, Cohen's lawyer, publicly contradicted the story by saying he was CNN's source when CNN's story said specifically that Davis had not commented.

But CNN stands behind the story, and two of its employees told Business Insider senior politics reporter Allan Smith the network's level of commitment to its story is "100%."

On Wednesday, Trump called Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein, who co-wrote the piece, "sloppy" and a "degenerate fool" in response. Bernstein fired back on Twitter that he had spent his "life as a journalist bringing the truth to light, through administrations of both parties" ...

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-lanny-davis-cnn-story-media-enemy-of-the-people-2018-8

[struggle4progress]

2. Bashes CNN, NBC

By STEPHANIE MURRAY 08/30/2018 08:11 AM EDT

... The relationship between Trump and Zucker dates back to the former's time as host of "The Apprentice," the hit reality TV show on NBC, which Zucker once ran. Their relationship has turned frosty since Trump's emergence on the political stage, with the president regularly bashing CNN, the network for which he seems to hold special disdain.

Trump went on Thursday morning to attack NBC News, suggesting without evidence that an interview he sat for with "NBC Nightly News" anchor Lester Holt had been doctored, an alleged infraction for which NBC News chairman Andrew Lack will be fired, Trump predicted ...

Trump's interview with Holt, in which he admitted he fired former FBI Director James Comey over the bureau's investigation into allegations of collusion between the Russian government and the 2016 Trump campaign, has been a sore spot for Trump. That Russia investigation, now led by special counsel Robert Mueller, is believed to be probing obstruction of justice allegations against the president focused in part on his decision to fire Comey.

Trump has since claimed his decision to fire Comey had nothing to do with the Russia investigation, contradicting what he told Holt in an interview days after Comey's dismissal ...

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/30/trump-cnn-nbc-jeff-zucker-andy-lack-803999

[struggle4progress]

3. Accuses Google of rigging search results against him

Alex Lockie Aug. 28, 2018, 6:42 AM

President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Google without evidence of intentionally playing up negative news articles about him in its search results while hiding coverage that reflected conservative voices.

From Trump's Twitter on Tuesday morning:

"Google search results for 'Trump News' shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of results on 'Trump News' are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!"

Trump's 96% figure appears to come from a PJMedia, a conservative opinion blog that published a post Saturday that used unscientific methods to estimate that 96% of Trump-related search results in Google's News tab came from outlets categorized by PJMedia as liberal ...

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-vows-to-address-google-search-allegedly-rigging-media-against-him-2018-8

[struggle4progress]

4. 'Fake social,' 'fake search' are the new 'fake news'

Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY
Published 3:44 p.m. ET Aug. 30, 2018 | Updated 6:03 p.m. ET Aug. 30, 2018

SAN FRANCISCO — Top Silicon Valley executives will get grilled on Capitol Hill next week on how their companies police Russian interference in U.S. elections. Expect some pointed questions on how these companies police political speech, too.

Growing allegations that Facebook, Google and Twitter limit the reach of conservative voices and viewpoints on their platforms is the latest political crisis to engulf the technology industry.

Over the past year, censorship charges have become a conservative rallying cry, raised in multiple hearings on Capitol Hill. Now the attacks are ratcheting up, with some GOP leaders and now President Trump using the hashtag #stopthebias to target left-leaning Silicon Valley ahead of the November midterm elections.

Why? It hits a bull's eye with supporters whose opinion of social media has sunk to the level of mainstream media. A new poll from the Media Research Center conducted by McLaughlin & Associates found that 65% of self-described conservatives believe that social media companies intentionally censor the political right. Some Republicans have started using bias claims in fundraising pitches ...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2018/08/30/trump-attacks-facebook-google-and-twitter-midterms/1144471002/

[struggle4progress]

5. Keeps claiming things he said on tape aren't real

Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large
Updated 11:05 AM ET, Thu August 30, 2018

On Thursday morning, President Donald Trump claimed a taped interview with NBC's Lester Holt in 2017 was somehow doctored to make him look bad.

As part of a broader attack on the so-called "fake news," Trump tweeted this: "When Lester Holt got caught fudging my tape on Russia, they were hurt badly!" ...

NBC put out a transcript of the interview shortly after it happened. And released video of the extended interview ...

It's not clear what Trump is alleging about NBC and the tape of his interview -- which is, of course, intentional. Saying that the news network was "fudging" the tape is vague enough that the conspiracy theorists who want to believe Trump is "onto something" can do so ...

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/30/politics/trump-lester-holt-nbc/index.html

[Arkansas Granny]

6. He's flailing and throwing twitter bombs right and left to try to cover up his inadequacies.

His base, which has as tenuous a grip on truth as Trump himself, cheers him on. They love to hate and Trump gives them a target to focus that hatred.

[Totally Tunsie]

7. Scary stuff. The monster is completely unhinged. n/t

[Racerdog1]

8. Fight back!

Do not be punching bag for this fuck wad. You have the power to break this sorry bastard along with his band of right wing assholes. Get some balls and just do it.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

9. all fake news unless the great TrumPutin is the source

Every cult leader knows that you must first convince your followers that you are the sole source of truth. Dirty Donnie was cunning enough to recognize the existence of the Fox Cult of Disinformation and has set himself up as the cult leader.

How do you un-brainwash the cult?

[FakeNoose]

10. It might seem like fake news to us on DU

... but it's real enough to the Rush Limbaugh-Faux News crowd who are eating this up. They're already cleaning their guns and stocking up on ammo. Cheeto is playing them like a Wolfenstein video game.

[Scurrilous]

11. K&R

[Haggis for Breakfast]

12. Sooner or later, his attack on the fourth estate

is going to cost someone their life.

What will he do then when he is standing there with blood on his hands ?

[KY_EnviroGuy]

13. Thanks, S4P, for keeping tRump's fascism in the spotlight.

America needs better ways to expose and hold accountable her lying and deceptive public servants.

Hey, we have churches to help with that!

.......Oh, wait they're on Trump's side....

Hey, we have Congressional hearings and sanctions to help with that!

.......Oh, wait, its majorities are on his side, too....

Hey, we have powerful well-respected business leaders that can help lend a voice.

.......Oh, wait, most of them love tRump 'cause he cut their taxes.

... ......... ........ ........