On Friday January 20th, 2017 President-Elect Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States of America. Just typing out this sentence already seems unbelievable, but that's what happened. I'm sure 8 years ago, when President Obama was elected, saying that America will have its first black president was unbelievable as well. But this is a new era, with a future president that has a quick tongue as well as quick fingers (you all know his Tweeting habits), so no one is quite sure what to expect with him yet. One thing we can all foresee however, is that Mr. Trump will have a contentious relationship with the media. In his first press conference since winning the election, he called CNN "fake news" and Buzzfeed news a "failing pile of garbage." He refused to answer CNN reporter Jim Acosta on the question of if Mr. Trump had any knowledge of the allegations Russia made on him and his financial and personal dealings. CNN reported that him and former President Obama were briefed on the rumors but did not disclose the allegations of the financial and personal dealings that Mr. Trump may/may not (no one really knows the truth) have had with Russia. Just to be clear, CNN did not say or report that the allegations were true or not; they didn't mention it in detail at all. It was BuzzFeed, however that did publish a 35 page dossier of a report that they said came from an ex-British intelligence officer that was hired by political opponents to spy on Trump and BuzzFeed claimed that their sources were unverified. The ethics of what BuzzFeed did was debated by multiple powerhourses in the media field.
The term fake news has risen in the past 2 months or so with not only President Trump using the term it seems to discredit any news organization that asks questions he does not like, but a term that can mean unverified sources, deliberate false claims, and other things. Fake news and its meaning is changing and as we enter this new administration, it will be interesting to see what new definition it will take as Trump is in office. Seeing then President-elect Trump flat out deny a reporter in asking him a question only to answer one from Breitbart news, because he liked that question better is not a good sign for journalists of any news organization. It's not right that a President can pick and chose who he wants to answer questions to or have stories done on him. It's also not right for any news organization to publish a report without verified sources or thorough research; that looks bad on all news organizations.
I think the past election has taught journalists in the media field a valuable lesson on quality reporting, ethics, buzzwords and where the world of journalism can go in the future.
