On Monday’s NBC Today, correspondent Peter Alexander briefly noted that “the President ratchets up his war on the news media” with tweets criticizing liberal press for a recent series of high-profile mistakes and fake news stories. However, the reporter was more interested in turning the topic into an excuse to slam Trump for his own “misleading claims.”
“All this as the President ratchets up his war on the news media, calling it ‘a stain on America’ after several news organizations issued corrections to recent reports on the President,” Alexander proclaimed during a segment rounding up the political news of the day. He fretted over the President “tweeting that a Washington Post reporter [Dave Weigel] ‘should be fired’ even after that reporter apologized and corrected an inaccurate tweet about the crowd size at the President’s weekend rally in Florida.”
The other media “corrections” that Alexander referred to included ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross falsely claiming that “candidate” Trump ordered Michael Flynn to make contact with Russia during the campaign. He was forced to issue a “clarification” on the phony scoop and was suspended for four weeks without pay from the network.
On Friday, CNN reporter Manu Raju got an entire story wrong about Donald Trump Jr. receiving a Wikileaks e-mail by not realizing that the information in question was already public at the time. Like Ross, he had to issue an on-air correction, but unlike his ABC colleague, Raju faced no disciplinary measures from CNN.
Instead of explaining all those media mistakes to viewers on Monday’s Today show, Alexander decided to attack Trump: “Critics pouncing, accusing President Trump of being a hypocrite, noting his long record of making false and misleading claims without apologizing or correcting himself. More than 1,600 since taking office according to a Washington Post study.”
How exactly do any of Trump’s misleading statements absolve journalists from getting their facts wrong? Aren’t they hypocrites for claiming to be the arbiters of truth and then spreading false information?
Alexander didn’t bother addressing those fundamental credibility questions, he had more important breaking news to cover:
And now, The New York Times is pulling back the curtain on life inside the White House, interviewing 60 sources reporting the President spends at least four hours a day, and sometimes as much as twice that, in front of a television. And quenches his thirst, drinking up to “a dozen Diet Cokes” each day.
A lot of good details, a lot of insight into the President’s routine there. The Times reports, before taking office, Mr. Trump told top aides to think of each presidential day as an episode in a TV show in which he vanquishes his rivals.
Apparently the liberal media logic is that reporters can screw up as much as they want because the President is a liar who likes to watch TV and drink Diet Coke.
Alexander’s biased report was brought to viewers by Subaru, Fruit of the Loom, and JCPenney.
Here is a transcript of the relevant portion of the December 11 segment:
7:09 AM ET
(...)
PETER ALEXANDER: All this as the President ratchets up his war on the news media, calling it “a stain on America” after several news organizations issued corrections to recent reports on the President. Mr. Trump tweeting that a Washington Post reporter “should be fired” even after that reporter apologized and corrected an inaccurate tweet about the crowd size at the President’s weekend rally in Florida.
Critics pouncing, accusing President Trump of being a hypocrite, noting his long record of making false and misleading claims without apologizing or correcting himself. More than 1,600 since taking office according to a Washington Post study.
And now, The New York Times is pulling back the curtain on life inside the White House, interviewing 60 sources reporting the President spends at least four hours a day, and sometimes as much as twice that, in front of a television. And quenches his thirst, drinking up to “a dozen diet cokes” each day.
A lot of good details, a lot of insight into the President’s routine there. The Times reports, before taking office, Mr. Trump told top aides to think of each presidential day as an episode in a TV show in which he vanquishes his rivals.
(...)
