Donald trump sealed the press
The opposition of the new US President with the media reached a climax: in a briefing at the White house did not let representatives of publications, critically covering the activities of Donald trump. The White house correspondents ‘ Association, said the press service of the head of state “strong protest”. In response Donald trump refused to participate in the gala dinner of the Association is tradition that does not violate any President since 1981. Staff fell into disgrace the media are convinced that trying to restrict freedom of the press, Donald trump is seeking to write about it only good. However, the rights of journalists were violated and the former President of the United States Barack Obama.
The last time the President of the United States did not take part in the gala dinner of White house correspondents (WHCA) in 1981: Ronald Reagan then could not come, because has not yet recovered from the attack perpetrated on him. And although this dinner is a common social event (in recent years it was attended by almost more Hollywood stars than journalists), personal presence of the President is considered a kind of homage on the part of the Executive branch in relation to the “fourth estate” — the press.
Donald trump said that will not be present at the April WHCA reception after the Association expressed the White house’s “strong protest”. Journalists angered by the fact that on Friday closed briefing, press Secretary of the White house Sean Spicer for the first time allowed a number of media.
Among the fallen in disgrace reporters were only those whose publications have criticised the policy of the new President: CNN, The New York Times, Politico, the Los Angeles Times and several others.
Some days before this Donald trump called the media and TV channels NBC News, ABC and CBS “enemies of the American people”, accusing them of spreading “fake news.”
Some Russian non-state media already many years exist in conditions similar and different kind of restrictions from the authorities, but in the US such a sharp conflict between the White house and the press was not, perhaps, with the presidency of Richard Nixon, that is, from the early 1970s.
“President trump and his administration require not honest and objective reporting. They want to be told only good things, whatever the facts. President trump is not a fighter bias. It requires a bias in their favor and punish journalists that this requirement does not submit”, — said “Kommersant” the head of the European Bureau of Politico David Herzenhorn, who previously worked in The New York Times.
According to the interlocutor, “b”, if, for example, the decree of Donald trump about the restriction of entry into the U.S. the citizens of seven Muslim countries “would be properly prepared and caused chaos around the world,” American media coverage of him is not so critical.
“But in the end the head of the White house by his decree violated several international norms, particularly in the country were unable to enter the foreign students, who had all the necessary documents. It is not the fault of the media that everything turned out so miserably. The presidential decree was repealed by the independent courts. The role of the media came down to, to show what consequences for the whole world was brought about by the actions of the new administration,” explained David Herzenhorn.
According to him, his colleagues covering the White house, do it as impartially as in previous administrations: “the Problem is not the attitude of the media, and that the new President and his team are ready to lie and spread “alternative facts,” calling the press “the enemy”, instead of with respect to accept the fact that the US media has historically played an important role, is rightly considered the “fourth branch” of government.”
Meanwhile, as the American media, restrictions on the rights of journalists were also under the previous President of the United States Barack Obama. Representatives of the press pool of the White house have repeatedly complained that the activities allowed only for official personal photographers, and the President refuses to answer journalists ‘ questions.
During the eight years Barack Obama has only held 94 of the press conference, which envisaged the possibility of communicating with the press, while George W. Bush 307 times answered questions of journalists, and bill Clinton — 493 times. However, the current conflict between the White house and the press can not be compared with the claims of journalists to the predecessor of Donald trump.
Earlier, representatives of the new President repeatedly complained about the biased attitude on the part of many of the liberal media, which was allegedly evident during the election campaign. Studies support these claims, but the difference compared with the coverage of the election campaign of the democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is not so great.
So, according to the December report of the school of Kennedy, Harvard University, 77% of the materials of Donald trump had a negative connotation. About Hillary Clinton in a negative way was discussed in 64% of the materials.
The Russian expert, the President of holding “Minchenko consulting” Evgenie Minchenko, who has studied electoral strategy of Democrats and Republicans, I am convinced that by engaging in a confrontation with the media, Donald trump is guided by the tactics of the three points.
“First, he prefers direct communication with voters over the media — through social networks, live broadcasts and meetings with voters. Second, he is building a private media Empire, simultaneously making more loyal to the existing conservative media such as Fox News. And the third paragraph says “the domestication of the” other media”, — the expert explained “Kommersant”. According to him, the command of the new President intentionally places unfriendly media “starving” later to make them more compliant in exchange for cooperation.
However, while this tactic is justified only partly. According to a recent poll conducted by the University Quinnipiac (Quinnipiac University), 52% of American citizens trust the media more than Donald Trump, and only 37% — on the contrary. Among those who are sympathetic to Democrats, 86% trust the press, not the President. However, among voters-Republicans, the picture is quite different: 78% believe the White house, and only 13% of journalists.
Elena Chernenko, Mikhail Korotkov