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Trump Hands Out ‘Fake News Awards,’ Sans the Red Carpet Trump Hands Out ‘Fake News Awards,’ Sans the Red Carpet
(35 minutes later)
President Trump — who gleefully questioned President Barack Obama’s birthplace for years without evidence, long insisted on the guilt of the Central Park Five despite exonerating proof and claimed that millions of illegal ballots cost him the popular vote in 2016 — wanted to have a word with the American public about accuracy in reporting. WASHINGTON — President Trump — who gleefully questioned President Barack Obama’s birthplace for years without evidence, long insisted on the guilt of the Central Park Five despite exonerating proof and claimed that millions of illegal ballots cost him the popular vote in 2016 — wanted to have a word with the American public about precision in reporting.
Specifically, Wednesday was the occasion of his long-promised “Fake News Awards,” honoring “the most corrupt & biased of the Mainstream Media,” as he phrased it on Twitter. On Wednesday night, Mr. Trump delivered in a tweet that said “And the FAKE NEWS winners are...” with link to a website that included a list of 10 news reports and a special mention of the coverage of the Russia investigation. The execution was not flawless.
Mr. Trump had initially pledged to hand out the awards on Jan. 8 before changing the date to Jan. 17. On Wednesday, after weeks of shifting deadlines, cryptic clues and executive obfuscation, Mr. Trump was to release his long-promised “Fake News Awards,” an anti-media project that had alarmed advocates of press freedom and heartened his political base.
When the White House released Mr. Trump’s Wednesday schedule without any mention of an awards ceremony intended to denigrate the media, there was some suspicion that the festivities may not be fully cooked. “And the FAKE NEWS winners are …,” he wrote on Twitter at 8 p.m.
“We’ll keep you guys posted,” Mr. Trump’s press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said at an afternoon press briefing, after attempting, repeatedly, to duck a question about the matter from a Fox News reporter. The message linked to a malfunctioning page on the Republican National Committee website. An error screen read: “The site is temporarily offline, we are working to bring it back up. Please try back later.”
“It’ll be something later today,” she added. “I know you’re all waiting to see if you are big winners, I’m sure.” The page returned less than an hour later as something resembling a Republican Party press release, with a list of Trump-era accomplishments and jabs at news organizations.
The “winners” were CNN, mentioned four times; The New York Times, with two mentions; and ABC, The Washington Post, Time and Newsweek, with one mention apiece.
The reports singled out by Mr. Trump touched on serious issues, like the media’s handling of the investigation by the special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russia, and frivolous matters, like the manner in which journalists conveyed how the president fed fish during a stop at a koi pond on his visit to Japan.
Journalists mentioned by name included Paul Krugman, an Op-Ed columnist at The Times, and Brian Ross of ABC News, who was suspended by the network last month because of an erroneous report.
The content of the spectacle was less notable than its premise: a sitting president using his bully pulpit for a semi-formalized attack on the free press.
In two subsequent tweets, Mr. Trump added that there were “many great reporters I respect” and defended his administration’s record in the face of “a very biased media.”
The technical anticlimax seemed a fitting end to a peculiar saga that began in November when Mr. Trump floated the bestowing of a “FAKE NEWS TROPHY.”
The idea matured into the “Fake News Awards,” which the president initially said in a Jan. 2 Twitter post he would give out on Jan. 8 to honor “the most corrupt & biased of the Mainstream Media.”
With the date approaching, Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter that the event would be moved to Wednesday because “the interest in, and importance of, these awards is far greater than anyone could have anticipated!”
From the beginning, the awards were the sort of Trumpian production that seemed easy to mock but difficult to ignore. Members of the news media joked about the speeches they would prepare, the tuxedos and gowns they would fetch. It would be an honor, they said, just to be nominated.From the beginning, the awards were the sort of Trumpian production that seemed easy to mock but difficult to ignore. Members of the news media joked about the speeches they would prepare, the tuxedos and gowns they would fetch. It would be an honor, they said, just to be nominated.
Here, it seemed, was the opéra bouffe climax of Mr. Trump’s campaign against the media, a bizarro-world spectacle that both encapsulated and parodied the president’s animus toward a major democratic institution.Here, it seemed, was the opéra bouffe climax of Mr. Trump’s campaign against the media, a bizarro-world spectacle that both encapsulated and parodied the president’s animus toward a major democratic institution.
Late-night comedy shows created satirical Emmys-style advertising campaigns to snag what some referred to as a coveted “Fakey.”Late-night comedy shows created satirical Emmys-style advertising campaigns to snag what some referred to as a coveted “Fakey.”
“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” bought a billboard in Times Square, nominating itself in categories like “Least Breitbarty” and “Corruptest Fakeness.” Jimmy Kimmel, who has emerged as a Trump bête noire, called it “the Stupid People’s Choice Awards.”“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” bought a billboard in Times Square, nominating itself in categories like “Least Breitbarty” and “Corruptest Fakeness.” Jimmy Kimmel, who has emerged as a Trump bête noire, called it “the Stupid People’s Choice Awards.”
Politico reported that the awards could even pose an ethical issue for White House aides, with some experts arguing that the event would breach a ban on government officials using their office to explicitly promote or deride private organizations.Politico reported that the awards could even pose an ethical issue for White House aides, with some experts arguing that the event would breach a ban on government officials using their office to explicitly promote or deride private organizations.
And press advocates cringed at the prospect of a gala dedicated to the phrase “fake news,” which has already helped corrode trust in journalism in the United States and around the world. And press advocates cringed at the prospect of a gala dedicated to the phrase “fake news,” which has already helped corrode trust in journalism in the United States and around the world. In response to Mr. Trump’s endeavor, the Committee to Protect Journalists this month recognized the president among the “world leaders who have gone out of their way to attack the press and undermine the norms that support freedom of the media.”
Two Republicans from Arizona, Senator John McCain and Senator Jeff Flake, denounced Mr. Trump’s anti-press attacks, with Mr. Flake noting in a speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday that the president had borrowed a term from Stalin to describe the media: “enemy of the people.” (Ms. Sanders shot back at Mr. Flake on Wednesday, saying, “We welcome access to the media every day.”)Two Republicans from Arizona, Senator John McCain and Senator Jeff Flake, denounced Mr. Trump’s anti-press attacks, with Mr. Flake noting in a speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday that the president had borrowed a term from Stalin to describe the media: “enemy of the people.” (Ms. Sanders shot back at Mr. Flake on Wednesday, saying, “We welcome access to the media every day.”)
Adding to the drama, White House aides remained silent on the details, unwilling even to confirm the fact that the awards would happen at all. The buzz around the president’s latest anti-press stunt has contributed to a larger shift in American attitudes toward the press.
“Maybe the Fake News Awards are themselves fake news, and the WH is making a super-meta statement on the inherent paradox between the ‘real’ and the ‘perceived,’” wrote a Twitter user named @capitalzoo, one of many politicos who had been anticipating the event with glee or dread — or a mixture of both. In a study released this week by Gallup and the Knight Foundation, 66 percent of Americans who were surveyed said most news organizations blurred opinion and fact, up from 42 percent in 1984. “Fake news” was deemed a threat to democracy by a majority of respondents. And political affiliation is a major factor in perception of bias: 67 percent of Republicans said they saw “a great deal” of political bias in the news media, and 26 percent of Democrats said the same.
By Tuesday, the entire venture seemed in doubt, with Ms. Sanders referring to it as a “potential event.” Yet despite Mr. Trump’s manifest interest in opposing the media as a political ploy, the degree of planning for the awards inside the White House was unclear.
It is not unusual for Mr. Trump, in his long and circuitous career in real estate, entertainment and politics, to announce plans to fight back against journalists whose work displeases him and then decline to follow through. “We’ll keep you guys posted,” Mr. Trump’s press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said at a Wednesday press briefing, after attempting, repeatedly, to duck a question about the matter from a Fox News reporter.
“It’ll be something later today,” she added. “I know you’re all waiting to see if you are big winners, I’m sure.”
It is not unusual for Mr. Trump to announce that he will take measures to go after the press. Before the delayed “Fake News Awards,” he had a mixed record on following through.
There was the libel lawsuit that he threatened this month against the author Michael Wolff over his slashing, if error-specked, book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House”; Mr. Wolff’s publisher, Henry Holt and Company, responded by moving up the release date. “Fire and Fury” is now a No. 1 New York Times best-seller, and Mr. Trump’s lawsuit has not materialized.There was the libel lawsuit that he threatened this month against the author Michael Wolff over his slashing, if error-specked, book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House”; Mr. Wolff’s publisher, Henry Holt and Company, responded by moving up the release date. “Fire and Fury” is now a No. 1 New York Times best-seller, and Mr. Trump’s lawsuit has not materialized.
An earlier iteration of the Fake News Awards that the president proposed on Twitter in November — the “FAKE NEWS TROPHY!” — has yet to appear.
At the tail end of the 2016 presidential race, Mr. Trump said he would sue The New York Times for libel over an article that included two women who accused him of touching them inappropriately. The Times replied with a stern letter, and nothing further was heard of the suit.At the tail end of the 2016 presidential race, Mr. Trump said he would sue The New York Times for libel over an article that included two women who accused him of touching them inappropriately. The Times replied with a stern letter, and nothing further was heard of the suit.
On an occasion when he pursued a grievance in court, Mr. Trump met with poor results: The defamation suit he brought against a biographer, Timothy L. O’Brien, was dismissed by a New Jersey judge in 2009. Mr. Trump had claimed that Mr. O’Brien severely understated his net worth.On an occasion when he pursued a grievance in court, Mr. Trump met with poor results: The defamation suit he brought against a biographer, Timothy L. O’Brien, was dismissed by a New Jersey judge in 2009. Mr. Trump had claimed that Mr. O’Brien severely understated his net worth.
Even if this week’s awards do not go forward, the buzz around them has contributed to a larger shift in American attitudes toward the press.
In a study released this week by Gallup and the Knight Foundation, 66 percent of Americans who were surveyed said most news organizations blurred opinion and fact, up from 42 percent in 1984. “Fake news” was deemed a threat to democracy by a majority of respondents. And political affiliation is a major factor in perception of bias: 67 percent of Republicans said they saw “a great deal” of political bias in the news media, and 26 percent of Democrats said the same.
For a while, it seemed that Mr. Wolff might dominate the honors, making Mr. Trump briefly forget his disdain for “fake news” CNN and the “failing” New York Times.
Mr. Wolff is likely to stay a thorn in the president’s side. The Hollywood Reporter said on Wednesday that the author had signed a seven-figure deal to adapt “Fire and Fury” for a medium the president holds dear: television.