US — #WeeklyAddress July 16 - July 23: Trump ramps up attacks on the press amid critical coverage

Pro-Trump committee creates media accountability survey

President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again Committee” sent its fourth mainstream media accountability survey to it’s mailing list on July 19. The preface to the survey read: “I’ve said it before and I will say it again: the Mainstream Media wants our agenda to fail. It’s a 24/7 barrage of fake stories, and absolute revulsion for everything we stand for as a movement.” The survey consists of 27 questions, including multiple choice and short answers relating to news outlet preference, political bias in media, and the level of trust in mainstream news. Some of the questions targeted specific news outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, and Fox. Those who receive emails from the “Make America Great Again Committee” have yet received dozens of polls, and were polled on media accountability in May 2018, February 2017, and August 2016.

Trump tweets “fake news” and calls press “enemy of the people” again

President Trump has insulted the “fake news” media seven times in the past week over Twitter, with five tweets from July 19 that appeared to be in response to an article published in The New York Times about President Trump’s knowledge of Russian activity in the 2016 presidential election two weeks before his inauguration. He again claimed The Times’ sources were made up or nonexistent—a common tactic for the president when attacking unfavorable media coverage.

He also referred to the media as the “enemy of the people,” yet again, for their coverage of the Helsinki summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

White House held only four press briefings in the past month

The White House has only held four press briefings in the past month, continuing the trend of less frequent press briefings under the Trump administration. The length of the briefings has also steadily decreased. From January to June, the average length of press briefings declined from 30 minutes earlier this year to just under 17 minutes by the end of May.

Fox News host receives hate mail after criticizing Trump on-air

Fox News host Neil Cavuto was bombarded with hateful and intimidating messages after speaking critically of President Trump last week, which he spent 10 minutes reading on a July 18 episode of “Your World with Neil Cavuto.” Numerous viewers sent these messages in response to Cavuto’s critical reception of the Trump-Putin joint press conference in Helsinki, Finland on July 16. He called the president’s refusal to confront Putin about Russian meddling in the 2016 election “disgusting” while analyzing the joint media appearance with a guest on his show that same day. One hate message he received read: “Watching a guy who’s so fat, the only reason some of his viewers stick around is to see him croak on live TV! P.S., i’m disgusted with you!”

Reporter for The Nation forcibly removed from Trump-Putin press conference

During the July 16 press conference between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Helsinki summit, Sam Husseini, an op-ed reporter for The Nation, was forcibly removed from the press pool and put into a Finnish jail for six hours. Husseini, who also described himself  as a political activist, was holding a piece of paper which read “nuclear weapons ban treaty,” the subject about which he planned on asking a question. Security officials can be seen in a video attempting to grab the sign out of his hand, escalating the situation. According to RSF's testimony of a Finnish journalist who witnessed the incident, reporters were notified prior to the presser that signs and banners were prohibited. In an interview with Talking Points Memo, Husseini recalls: “They really roughed me up on the way out of the presidential palace.” Read more about this incident on the US Press Freedom Tracker.

Canada newsprint tariff puts pressure on local media

Lawmakers testified before the International Trade Commission on Tuesday, July 17, about the recent tariffs implemented in President Trump’s trade policy. The tariffs have increased the price of newsprint by 25 percent, which is typically the second-largest expense for most news organizations and publishing companies. The tariffs, when paired with the move from paper to digital consumption, have these companies and now US lawmakers concerned that the American paper industry will shrink drastically. “The tariff has triggered a dramatic increase in the cost of newsprint … Cutting back the number of pages to offset the increase means less local news coverage for our communities,” said Lisa DeSisto, CEO and publisher of both MaineToday Media and Sun Media Group. US Senator Susan Collins proposed a bipartisan bill to suspend the tariffs, calling it the Protecting Rational Incentives in Newsprint Trade (PRINT) Act. The bill currently has 29 co-sponsors.

Journalist barred from accessing ICE detention facility

According to tweets from independent journalist Molly Crabapple on July 17, guards from the Port Isabel, Texas ICE detention center barred the reporter from entering the facility and refused to show her what rule forbade entry. Crabapple was driven by her friend to the detention center to visit the immigration court when she was stopped by a guard who told her friend that she didn’t have permission to enter. When Crabapple asked the guard if she could walk into the facility instead, the guard told her walking is forbidden and suggested she take a cab--the number for which they refused to provide. After Crabapple sent out multiple tweets highlighting the obstacles she encountered, other journalists came forward with their support, including former New York Times investigative reporter Nina Bernstein who shared about her own experience with ICE: “This thread brings back bad memories. ICE always obstructed, so I did interviews with immigration detainees as a “friend,” a driver’s license as ID. The detainee knew I was a journalist for @nytimes . Detention personnel did not. Of course there was less media attention then.” CNN reporter Bob Ortega retweeted Crabapple’s tweet, commenting: “[This thread] will be very familiar to anyone who's done this kind of coverage. And though it is getting worse, this has been going on for years.” Media coverage of immigration and refugees is being strategically obstructed by governments across the world.

The United States ranks 45th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index after falling 2 places in the last year.

For the latest updates, follow RSF on twitter @RSF_en.