Trump’s war with media

Sean Spicer, the White House spokesperson, had a big-screen televisions set installed on his side of the briefing room early this month to allow local journalists and Internet media reporters who are not stationed at the U.S. presidential office to ask him questions via Skype on a real-time basis. It is a means with which U.S. President Donald Trump to bash the mainstream media outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post and CNN. Could it be called a Washington outsider’s affirmative action policy for media outsiders?

far, White House briefings have been dominated by large and influential media outlets. At any briefing hosted by a Federal government organization, an Associated Press reporters sitting at the front line is always the first one to ask questions. Spicer broke away from the practice on the first day at his job, giving journalists from Fox News, the Washington Times, and obscure Internet news sites opportunities to ask questions. At Spicer’s first media briefing, he pinpointed a New York Post reporter, who is the author of “Clinton Inc.,” which criticized Hillary Clinton.

Major media organizations such as the New York Times and the Washington Post conducted close scrutiny of Trump, whom they saw unfit for U.S. president. The Washington Post, which invited Trump to a group interview with the newspaper’s editorial board, claimed that Trump would become an extreme national risks if he became president. While Washington’s mainstream media bombarded Trump with criticisms every day, conservative and small Internet news outlets across the country churned out news stories favorable to him. It can be said that Trump is repaying debts owed to them.

Trump is also attacking mainstream news outlets criticizing him such as the New York Times, CNN, ABC and NBC – a déjà vu of former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun who opened the door of the Cheong Wa Dae press room to the Internet media and kicked journalists out of government press rooms under the pretext of creating an integrated media briefing room near the end of his presidency. The reporters had to write their stories at Internet cafés. It remains to be seen whether the White House’s Skype can serve as a channel for public opinion. What is clear is that the U.S. media culture will backtrack with the appearance of a president who divides the media in accordance with his own personal preference.