'We are not fake news': At a Trump-free correspondents dinner, White House press has its say.

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post



By Monica Hesse April 30 at 12:17 AM

The White House Correspondents’ Association punched back this weekend against an administration that has denigrated it, attempted to discredit it and, ultimately, snubbed it by becoming the first administration in decades to skip out on the annual bread-breaking between the White House and the reporters who cover the presidency.

“We cannot ignore the rhetoric that has been employed by the president about who we are and what we do,” association president Jeff Mason told a ballroom of journalists attending the correspondents’ dinner on Saturday night. “We are not fake news. We are not failing news organizations. And we are not the enemy of the American people.”

At the last line, he received a standing ovation.

President Trump’s relationship with the press has been notoriously tempestuous. He lambasted the media at his campaign rallies, calling them “fake,” and “failing” and, most memorably, America’s “enemy.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/we-are-not-fake-news-at-a-trump-free-correspondents-dinner-white-house-press-has-its-say/2017/04/29/a9548892-2d26-11e7-b605-33413c691853_story.html?utm_term=.f2a7e83487b7&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

[WePurrsevere]

1. "we are not the enemy of the American people"... Okay... prove it!

If you're not the enemy of the people do your damn job. You ALL need to report ALL of the news, ALL of the time and stop being blatantly partisan when it suits you or your corp owners.

[kacekwl]

2. +1000

[still_one]

3. They sure did their damdest to get trump elected. I guess they have forgotten how

when Comey sent the letter to the republicans in Congress, they said that the FBI had reopened the email investigation. That was a LIE:

https://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/10/28/media-freak-out-fbi-letter-disregard-facts-and-run-gops-false-description-clinton-email-review/214184

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-chaffetz-fbi-investigation-lies-e9fff5359102

https://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/10/30/ny-times-floods-front-page-fbi-letter-stories-while-acknowledging-it-didn-t-reopen-clinton-server/214202

So when you say "We cannot ignore the rhetoric that has been employed by the president about who we are and what we do,”, perhaps you should look in the mirror and do some self-reflection, because the way you covered the election was a disgrace.

[IronLionZion]

4. Make Journalism Great Again!

If nothing else good comes of this burning trumpster fire, I hope that real journalism is encouraged and energized again.

One act of resistance is I started paying for Washington Post to support their investigative journalism and fact-based critiques of our president. Whatever we want to see more of, we support and give money to.

[BigmanPigman]

6. I did that a week after the election too.

I was hoping they had learned their lesson. I think we have too though...always check the real facts first and not believe propaganda.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. THEY created him

and helped him to get into office by reporting every RW utterance and fake news without fact-checking, pushing Russian propaganda, and manufacturing false equivalencies between the two candidates all for the eyeballs and a ridiculous attempt to make the two completely disparate candidates "equal". Now their creation is biting the hand that fed him.

It's like the old Aesop fable (with many variations including the scorpion and frog, etc) of the farmer and the snake where the farmer finds a snake frozen in the snow, takes pity on it, warms it in his coat against his body, and as soon as the snake is revived, it bites him. Before the farmer dies from the venom, he asks the snake why he bit him despite being saved, and the snake replies - "You knew it was my nature".

[Mr. Ected]

7. Sorry, WaPo, you can't report that mainstream media isn't fake news

And on the same day run this article: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10028997117

Come on, press. Do your duty. Quit reverting back to the norm of treating the President like a dignitary. This President is scum and you know it. Say it. Quit normalizing him.

[DURHAM D]

8. Oh please, decades of "false news" from all of msm

about Hillary and others on the left naturally leads to "fake news".

I remember well how much the print media HATED Eleanor Roosevelt.

[calimary]

14. My memory doesn't go back that far, but I had heard of this, too.

History has been very kind to Eleanor Roosevelt, which is good and bad - because it makes one wish she didn't have to wait till after she died to be fully appreciated. Unfortunately, that will be Hillary Clinton's fate, too, I'm afraid.

[OKNancy]

9. Not the enemy, but in an attempt to be fair, mainstream news sometimes fails

They should not have tried to normalize Trump. They also thought Hillary was a lock, so they overstated every little thing about her and her campaign. They jumped to trash her at every opportunity, starting with "Clinton Cash".

They should have and should now use the word lie when it comes to Trump and his spokespeople.

[oberliner]

10. This was embarrassing

"We cannot ignore the rhetoric that has been employed by the president..."

Actually, yes, you could have and should have.

[sharedvalues]

11. Lame quote that illustrates Mason doesn't understand media

Lakoff: Don't think of an elephant (🐘 )
Nixon: I am not a crook (he's a crook)

Mason: We are not fake news
(What do you think people will take away from that?)


Mason is demonstrating a total lack of understanding of communication with that quote.

[calimary]

15. George Lakoff says DO NOT use "their" wording. DO NOT. It only reinforces that negative framing.

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It's freakin' INFURIATING!!! We suck at messaging but our ideas are the best. The bad guys are the best at messaging but their ideas suck.

I do NOT understand why this guy isn't on staff with the DNC. They need to hire this guy and learn from him.

[sharedvalues]

16. Preach it, calimary!

People speculate the reason GOP is better at messaging is because young GOP end up doing business degrees and worrying about marketing, while young Dems are busy trying to save the world, not worrying about PR.

[Turbineguy]

12. Trump preferred to be surrounded by his dolts.

His message is for them.

[SunSeeker]

13. It wasn't just Trump free, it was free of celebrities & big name politicians.

The only politician I saw in the audience was Darryl Issa--who sat stone faced.

For some crazy ass reason, Hasan Minaj was told he could not mock the "President in absentia." Although Minaj still did Trump jokes, and did them well, the whole thing had this tragic pall hanging over it. Kind of like the Oscars after 9/11.

It all points to journalism's marginalization in our country, something our democracy cannot survive.