Journalists are NOT the Enemy of the People

Gillian Gonder
gg346916@ohio.edu

What is fake news and why are we obsessed with it?

The term 'fake news' has been around since the 1800s--it is also called propaganda, yellow journalism, conspiracy theories, clickbait, and so on. Fake news is false information that has been spread by accident or without fact-checking sources, such as in the Dan Rather and Mary Mathers scandal involving the Killian Documents, in which CBS went under fire for publishing document without checking the credibility of the source.

Fake news has been around since news has existed, but in recent years, it has become sensationalized. Donald Trump so frequently tweets about and comments on fake news and unethical journalism that it has become a major point of interest and focus. Trump's heavy use of the term 'fake news' became a rallying cry for right-wing supporters during the 2016 election. Trump has so openly expressed disdain for news companies that he nicknamed the press the "enemy of the people."

It is widely known that Trump dislikes the New York Times, but even so, NYT publisher A.G. Sulzberger accepted an off-the-record meeting with him to discourage him from labeling reporters the "enemy of the people." Sulzberger remarked that calling the press the "enemy of the people" is harmful and has led to a rise in threats and violence towards journalists. Sulzberger also warned that calling reporters this harmful phrase is "undermining the democratic ideals of our nation, and...eroding one of our country's greatest exports: a commitment to free speech and a free press."

One example of this rise in violence against the press is the Annapolis shooting. The Capital Gazette had previously published an article about Jarrod Ramos, the primary suspect of the shooting, detailing his harassment of a woman from high school. From this point on, Ramos openly despised the newspaper, and attempted to debunk the article written against him, claiming that it defamed him. His open disdain for the paper led him to shoot and kill five employees working in the newsroom.

While Trump continues to call the press the enemy of the people and continues to express disapproval for news organizations who do not agree with his views and opinions, Ivanka Trump has taken a different stance. In an interview with the New York Times, Ms. Trump did say that she shares some of her father's issues with the media, but did not condemn journalists. In this interview, Ms. Trump "became the lone senior administration official to publicly say that she did not share the president's view."

Following this interview with the New York Times, Trump said in a tweet that Ivanka "correctly said no" that the news media are the enemy of the people, directly going against previous statements that reporters are the enemy. He finished the tweet saying that "FAKE NEWS, which is a large percentage of the media...is the enemy of the people!"

Courtesy of The Daily Dot

Trump's disdain for news outlets is largely centered around organizations that are left-wing or that do not agree with his actions and beliefs. He seems believe that any news outlet that is somewhat against him publishes fake news.

On that note, it is the job of journalists to publish accurate information. Journalists must learn to handle criticism--no matter what, the left, the right, and the middle will have differing opinions and there will always be negative feedback, but it is the ethical responsibility of journalists to provide readers with news that has sources and that he been fact-checked, whether it is published on a website, posted on social media, or tweeted by a reporter.

Journalism is a job, not a war.