WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump who shares a bitter relationship with the mainstream American press has said he will announce the “most dishonest and corrupt” media awards next week.
Trump has been at loggerheads with several US mainstream media outlets, including the CNN, ABC News, The New York Times and the Washington Post among others.
He has quite often described these popular media houses as “fake” media.
The term is now popularly related to news with which one does not agree with.
“I will be announcing THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR on Monday at 5:00 o’clock,” Trump said in a late-night tweet.
“Subjects will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media. Stay tuned!” Trump said.
He, however, excluded Fox News, his favourite news channel.
In November, he tweeted about a competition among news networks for the “Fake News Trophy”, excluding Fox News.
“We should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favourite President (me). They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!” Trump had tweeted on November 27.
Late in the evening, Fox News listed out some news stories of other networks that later proved to be inaccurate.
In an email to his supporters on December 28, the Trump campaign sought nomination for the “King of Fake News” trophy.
“At President Trump’s request, we are holding a contest to name the 2017 KING of Fake News. And we want to hear from you,” the email said.
“The FAKE NEWS has utterly abandoned their duty to fairly report the news to the American people. Some journalists and liberal pundits think that Americans are too stupid to see through their amateur efforts to manipulate public opinion, but THEY’RE WRONG,” the email wrote.
Noting that Americans are sick and tired of being lied to, insulted and treated with outright condescension, the Trump Campaign said “That’s why President Trump is crowning the 2017 KING OF FAKE NEWS before the end of the year”.
“There’s no point in pretending that some journalists are anything more than peddlers of falsehoods and liberal propaganda,” it said.
As per the Trump Campaign list, the competition for “King of Fame news” is between three news outlets.
“ABC News ‘MISTAKENLY’ reported that candidate Trump directed Michael Flynn to make contact with Russian officials before the election,” it said.
“CNN ‘MISTAKENLY’ reported that candidate Donald Trump and his son Donald J Trump Jr had access to hacked documents from WikiLeaks,” is the second story on the list.
“TIME ‘MISTAKENLY’ reported that President Trump removed a bust of Martin Luther King, Jr from the Oval Office,” the email said as it asked the participants to “let the President know if there is another story you think should be crowned as the 2017 KING of Fake News”. (AGENCIES)
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