Since seemingly the beginning of time (but really since June 6, 2015), Trump and his fellow associates have been continually calling out the “mainstream media” for their unfair coverage of him. Many people thought that the whining would stop after he won the presidency but were surprised to find that it not only picked up but also became more dangerous.
Trump began tweeting absurd statements such as, “Any negative polls are fake news,” and using other rhetoric to paint a picture of the press directly attacking him. To further lock in his anti-media message, the Trump administration sent the “ Mainstream Media Accountability Survey” to all their supporters from the campaign trail, which asks numerous questions meant to better understand his base’s opinion of media outlets like CNN and MSNBC.
I decided to take the quiz and learned a great deal about the future of media representation in American politics and most importantly, the power of directed propaganda.
The quiz starts rather non-accusing, asking the reader how they feel certain media outlets are covering the president, but it soon takes a quick turn for the worst. The questions start to decide your answer for you, such as a "check all that apply" question which asks: “On which issues does the mainstream media do the worst job of representing Republicans?” Questions like these assume that the reader is on the same page as them, further directing them on the questionnaire's point of view.
But it does not end there. They soon become extremely accusing, featuring “questions” like, “In order to preserve whatever journalistic integrity they have left, the mainstream media must come forward and admit Hillary lied about her secret server," and “More time is spent covering fake 'scandals' involving Trump than real scandals involving Hillary and our national security,” with the option to answer “yes” or “no.”
“Questions” like these essentially provide the reader with false information on a topic, and due to the medium in which it is being relayed, they have no one to push back on it. Trump and his administration are dominating his supporters’ perspectives on the American media and delegitimizing everything they say.
After the survey is completed, you are directed to a page and asked to make a donation in order to, “Help us find ways to cut through the noise and deliver our message straight to the voter.” Though this statement is quite vague, it helps to clarify one of the most troubling sentiments of this survey. It seems to show that President Trump and his administration plan on reporting news directly to the American people in opposition to the impartial “mainstream media” available to us today.
If this is true, the new direction of the media will be one of unhinged bias towards all that oppose Trump and his values. A “Trump 2020” campaign rally will be held on Saturday, Feb. 18, which is expected to hold more cries of “fake news” than ever. Hopefully, the American media will not be forced to succumb to the next four (possible) years of constant attacks from the government.
Update: While I was writing this article, Trump sent out a tweet stating, “The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!”
