US — #WeeklyAddress September 18 – September 24: Trump still attacking “fake news” media for reporting on Russian election interference

Trump denounces Russia investigation as “Fake News”

On Friday, September 22, President Donald Trump tweeted at 5:44am: “The Russia hoax continues, now it's ads on Facebook. What about the totally biased and dishonest Media coverage in favor of Crooked Hillary?” At 6:26am he tweeted: “The greatest influence over our election was the Fake News Media "screaming" for Crooked Hillary Clinton. Next, she was a bad candidate!” These tweets followed the news that Facebook released thousands of ads linking Russian companies to congressional committees as part of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump maintains the belief that Russian meddling in the 2016 election did not happen; the CIA, NSA, FBI, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence have all concluded that Russia interfered with the 2016 election.

Sean Spicer threatens reporter who emailed him questions

On Thursday, September 21, former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer threatened to report Axios AM reporter Mike Allen to “the appropriate authorities” after Allen emailed Spicer asking for information to use in an article. The article Allen was working on speculated that the FBI was interested in notebooks Spicer kept, detailing his time in the White House. When Allen, who claims to be a close friend of Spicer, texted him for more information, Spicer replied “Mike, please stop texting/emailing me unsolicited anymore...Should you do it again I will report you to the appropriate authorities.” The former Press Secretary was criticized heavily for his inflammatory statements against the press, from calling credible articles “fake news” to accusing reporters of “deliberately false reporting”.

Fox News host wants reporting leaked information to be illegal

On Wednesday, September 20, Fox News host Julie Banderas stated on air that reporting on top-secret information should be “illegal,” a claim that would make it impossible for reporters to cover stories based on information given to them by whistleblowers. During Fox News’ segment “Happening Now”, Banderas questioned her guest, reporter Howard Kurtz, on reporters’ ability to use classified information. In their discussion, she said: “Where do these media organizations start to take responsibility for meddling in our U.S. government? This evidence is top secret. It's illegal to leak this stuff. It should be illegal to report on it if you’re reporting on top-secret information.” The topic of the segment discussed leaked information from the Justice Department indicating that Special Investigator Robert Mueller might indict former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for his alleged role in Russian interference with the 2016 election.

Court revives Rolling Stone defamation suit

On Tuesday, September 19, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals decided that Rolling Stone can be sued for defamation over the infamous 2014 article on an alleged fraternity gang rape at University of Virginia. The article, written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, was retracted after inconsistencies with the story appeared. While the article did not use the perpetrators’ real names, they claim in their lawsuit that enough information was given to deduce their identities. There has been a trend in lawsuits against reporters, media outlets, and companies for their stories. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is currently fighting a defamation lawsuit from CEO Robert Murray over a critical segment on Murray Energy Corporation.

Hollywood Reporter sued for defamation over Sony hack article

On Wednesday, September 20, Nicole Basile filed a lawsuit against the Hollywood Reporter and parent company Eldridge Companies for defamation. The suit claims that an article, written by Gregg Kilday and Tatiana Siegel in March of 2014, falsely implicated her as the perpetrator of the infamous 2014 Sony hack. Over the span of several weeks in 2014, a group called the Guardians of Peace leaked unreleased movies and other valuable insider information from Sony. Shortly after the article was published, the FBI announced that the North Korean government was responsible for the hack as retaliation for The Interview, whose plot was the assassination of Kim Jong Un. Basile is suing Sony for five million USD.

The United States ranks 43rd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index after falling 2 places in the last year.