US — #WeeklyAddress: January 22 — 28: President Trump continues criticism of the media, even while in Davos

Organisation:

RSF_en

Below are the most notable incidents regarding threats to press freedom in the US during the week of January 22 – 28:

President Trump criticizes the media at Davos summit

On January 26 while at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, President Trump received a round of boos from the audience for his remarks attacking the media. At the outset, the speech he gave centered on the US economy; yet he soon veered towards his own vendetta against the press when he said, “it wasn’t until I became a politician, that I realized how nasty, how mean, how vicious and how fake the press can be.” Also during his trip to Davos, Trump responded to the New York Times article that was published January 25 with “fake news, folks. Fake news. Typical New York Times fake story.” In the article, NYT reported that the president originally ordered Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation, to be fired, yet held up doing so when the White House counsel threatened to quit. Trump has targeted NYT multiple times during his presidency, including when he gave the news outlet one of his “fake news” awards.

San Antonio reporter harassed while on assignment

On the evening of January 23, Ashlei King, a reporter for KABB Fox29, a Fox-affiliated television station, and News4S, an NBC-affiliated television station, was the target of derogatory insults. Several unidentified individuals in a vehicle drove by King multiple times while she was setting up for a live shot in front of a school in San Antonio. In a Facebook Live video, King, who is African-American, explained the incident, “They drove by and they yelled ‘F the government. You effing fake news. F you, you n-word.’ And they kept saying it, like you n-word, you n-word, you n-word.” King described prior incidents where she had been yelled at, but said this one felt different. She told Reporters Without Borders (RSF) that while she felt the insults were in part a result of her race, they were also a result of her profession and therefore “a little of both.” While she admitted “there is a lot of hate in the country right now,” King insisted she would not be intimidated by the incident, even if she will continue to remain aware of her surroundings while on the job so as “to make sure nothing happens again.”

Since the start of his administration, President Trump has frequently referred to news outlets and specific reporters as “fake news” for coverage he deems unfavorable. He has also re-tweeted at least three violent memes against the network CNN, which has led to an apparent increase in violent threats from members of the public towards media outlets and reporters. The most recent incident involved multiple death threats against CNN’s headquarters in Atlanta.

Latest anti-media tweets from Trump: more of the same

President Trump tweeted criticism of the media two times this week; once shaming “fake reporting” and another praising “Crazy Jim Acosta of Fake News CNN”.

On Monday, Vanity Fair reported that Ivanka Trump was searching for a new White House chief of staff to replace General John Kelly. According to Vanity Fair, the president told a close friend, “I’ve got another nut job here who thinks he’s running things”; however, Trump quickly attempted to shift the discussion to the media’s “fake reporting.”

Trump then went on to simultaneously praise and mock CNN’s chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta. The tweet attacking CNN came after Brandon Griesemer was arrested for making death threats against the network.