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Trump Fails To Make State of the Union Ratings Great Again

January 31, 2018 By WHC Insider

Media Post’s  Joe Mandese reports that President Trump’s Nielson ratings are below previous presidents.

Donald Trump has been called the “ratings” President, because of his propensity to use the TV industry term to refer to his Presidential performance, and because he’s an ex-reality TV personality and producer. But based on Nielsen’s official ratings, the performance of his first State of the Union Address wasn’t exactly huge.

While it’s true that the ratings of Presidential State of the Union addresses have been trending downward in recent years, Trump’s first SOTU ranks only eighth in terms of viewers among the last 25 to be aired on the major broadcast and cable networks carrying it live, according to an analysis of Nielsen data.

Filed Under: 2012 WHC Garden Brunch, Donald Trump, The White House, Uncategorized Tagged With: ABC News, CNN, Donald Trump, Fox News, MSNBC, NBC News, Nielson ratings, State of the Union

David Cameron Tells Trump “Fake News” Act is Dangerous

December 14, 2017 By WHC Insider

Photo courtesy Pixabay.

At the annual Transparency International UK lecture in London, former British prime minister David Cameron called President Donald Trump’s attacks on the mainstream media was dangerous, with the true threat to democracy coming from sources like Russian twitter bots.

“When Donald Trump uses the term ‘fake news’ to describe CNN and the BBC, that is not just a questionable tactic.  It’s actually dangerous,” the former prime minister said in his remarks.

Cameron noted that “of course” journalists occasionally makes mistakes. But Trump’s use of “fake news” as an attack on the media “is an attempt to question the whole legitimacy of organizations that have an important role in our democracy.”

“Let me put it like this. President Trump, ‘Fake news’ is not broadcasters criticizing you. It’s Russian bots and trolls targeting your democracy, pumping out untrue stories day after day, night after night.”

“When you misappropriate the term ‘fake news’,” he continued, “you are deflecting attention from real abuses. Ignoring what’s happening on social media is facilitating a form of corruption that is undermining democracy.”

Cameron resigned as prime minister in 2016, immediately after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in their “Brexit” vote, which Cameron opposed.  Many point to the similarities between the surge in nationalistic movements surrounding the Brexit vote and the 2016 U.S. presidential elections that placed Trump in the White House.

 

Filed Under: 2016 election, Donald Trump, Free Press, Media Strategy, News Media, Social Media

Kremlin Considers Trump’s Tweets as Official White House Statements

December 12, 2017 By WHC Insider

Photo courtesy Pixabay

The Kremlin has acknowledged that Russian President Vladimir Putin reads tweets posted by President Donald Trump, and the Russian government considers them to be official positions of the administration.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed his government’s stance in a statement.

“In any case, everything which is published from [Trump’s] authorized Twitter account is perceived by Moscow as his official statement… Naturally, it is reported to Putin along with other information about official statements by politicians.”

Trump regularly posts on Twitter to make official policy announcements and also to appeal to his base of supporters and vent frustrations at those with whom he disagrees, including the media and lawmakers.

The president has frequently been criticized about his tweets, including criticizing U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May after a sharp rebuke following his retweeting videos originally posted by ultra-nationalists in the United Kingdom suggesting violence against Muslims.

Trump also recently lashed out at Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in a tweet saying she “would do anything for [campaign contributions]” after the Senator called for his resignation following “credible” and “numerous” allegations of sexual harassment against Trump.

Filed Under: Donald Trump, News, Social Media, The White House

Washington Post Reporter Apologizes to President Trump for Posting Inaccurate Photos on Twitter

December 11, 2017 By WHC Insider

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

President Donald Trump has received an apology from Washington Post reporter David Weigel, who posted a photo of Trump’s rally in Florida on Friday.

Weigel had posted a photo on Twitter of the crowd at the Pensacola Bay Center showing a significant number of empty seats.  After being told that the photo was taken before the venue started, Weigel removed the post and apologized in a later Tweet with the president.

.@DaveWeigel @WashingtonPost put out a phony photo of an empty arena hours before I arrived @ the venue, w/ thousands of people outside, on their way in. Real photos now shown as I spoke. Packed house, many people unable to get in. Demand apology & retraction from FAKE NEWS WaPo! pic.twitter.com/XAblFGh1ob

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2017

Sure thing: I apologize. I deleted the photo after @dmartosko told me I’d gotten it wrong. Was confused by the image of you walking in the bottom right corner. https://t.co/fQY7GMNSaD

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) December 9, 2017

In response to the apology, the president demanded Weigel be fired.

.@daveweigel of the Washington Post just admitted that his picture was a FAKE (fraud?) showing an almost empty arena last night for my speech in Pensacola when, in fact, he knew the arena was packed (as shown also on T.V.). FAKE NEWS, he should be fired.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2017

The Washington Post issued a statement on Weigel’s erronious Tweet on Saturday:

“Dave Weigel relied on an inaccurate image in tweeting about President Trump’s rally in Pensacola,” said Washington Post’s vice president of communications, Kristine Coratti Kelly. “When others pointed out the mistake to Weigel, he quickly deleted the tweet. And when he was later addressed by the president on Twitter, he promptly apologized for it.”

Filed Under: Correspondents, Donald Trump, Event Coverage, Free Press, News Media, Social Media, Uncategorized

Journalists Express Mixed Feelings On Attending White House Christmas Party

December 1, 2017 By WHC Insider

Photo courtesy the White House

Following CNN’s announcement they will not attend the annual White House Christmas party for the media, other reporters have expressed mixed responses and reservations over socializing with an administration that often lambastes mainstream journalists as “fake news.”

For example, New York Magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi wrote in an email to Politico that:

“While I don’t think it’s improper to attend social events with the president per se, I personally am uncomfortable with the idea of being a guest in this White House for a party (if I would not be covering the party), given Donald Trump’s stated threats to the First Amendment and general lack of understanding or interest in its importance. For that reason, my personal feelings are that it sends the wrong message to schmooze under mistletoe while our freedoms are under attack. That said, I don’t judge colleagues who arrive at a different conclusion.”

Another White House correspondent, who wished to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak on the record about this topic, said that he would attend the holiday event.

“I do get bothered [by the attacks on the press].  But I don’t view it as our role to engage in a fight with the president. I think that it’s our role to keep doing our jobs reporting the news and not treat it like we’re two warring institutions of American democracy. We don’t need to reciprocate that attitude.”

CNN announced earlier this week it would not be accepting the White House invitation, although they would send a reporting team to the event and report on any relevant news that may come out of the party.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded by posting on Twitter that “Christmas comes early!” because of CNN’s decision.

Christmas comes early! Finally, good news from @CNN. https://t.co/3GeJysIol3

— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) November 29, 2017


The White House Christmas party is held annually, and is normally a casual event where reporters mingle off-the-record with administration officials and staff.

Filed Under: Correspondents, DC, Donald Trump, Event Coverage, Free Press, News Media, Press Secretaries, The White House, Washington Events, White House Staff

Department of Justice Files Suit to Block AT&T Merger With Time Warner

November 21, 2017 By WHC Insider

Photo courtesy Josh Hallett.

The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit to block AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner, a potential $85 billion deal granting the telecommunications giant access to major media brands including CNN, Warner Brothers, HBO and more.

Filing in the District Court for the District of Columbia, government lawyers claim the merger would allow companies under AT&T’s umbrella to control a disproportionate interest of both what individuals watch and how they watch it, meaning they could force both competitors and consumers to pay higher prices.  AT&T owns satellite provider DirecTV, while Time Warner owns networks such as TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network and HBO.

“This merger would greatly harm American consumers,” said assistant attorney general Makan Delrahim.  “It would mean higher monthly television bills and fewer of the new, emerging innovative options that consumers are beginning to enjoy.”

AT&T general counsel David McAtee countered the lawsuit’s claims, saying the deal was a “vertical merger,” combining two companies that operate at separate stages of a production process.  He also stated that the lawsuit was “a radical and inexplicable departure from decades of antitrust precedent.”  Historically, vertical mergers are much more difficult for government officials to block.

The Department of Justice was forced to defend the lawsuit in light of several comments by President Donald Trump, criticizing cable news network CNN, which is owned by Time Warner.  One executive at Turner Broadcasting said, “there isn’t any precedent.  It’s one thing to say ‘Fake news!’, it’s another to reverse governmental policy because you object to a company’s journalism.”  Trump has indicated several times he may attempt to thwart the merger, both during the presidential campaign and as president.

AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson said he has no intention of selling CNN to win approval of the Time Warner merger.

 

Filed Under: Donald Trump, Free Press, News, News Media

Fox News Rejects Democratic Mega-Donor’s Television Commercials

November 7, 2017 By WHC Insider

Fox News building on 6th Avenue in NYC. Photo courtesy Jim Henderson via Wikimedia Commons.

Fox News has cancelled a contract to broadcast advertisements on the network that were purchased by a Democratic mega-donor as part of a $10 million national campaign demanding the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

Californian hedge fund manager and activist Tom Steyer confirmed on Friday that Fox News informed him October 31 it was discontinuing his ad entitled “Join Us,” which urged viewers to sign an online petition demanding Congress begin impeachment proceedings.

Brad Deutsch, an attorney for Steyer, claimed Fox News was in breach of contract after agreeing “unconditionally” on October 27 to air the ads for a second week.  Deutsch stated the network’s actions on pulling the ads early showed “a profound failure of journalistic integrity, a suppression of constitutionally protected speech, and likely a consequence of inexcusable political pressure.”

The ad campaign was the focus of a tweet sent from President Trump on the same day, saying Steyer was “[w]acky & totally unhinged.”

Wacky & totally unhinged Tom Steyer, who has been fighting me and my Make America Great Again agenda from beginning, never wins elections!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 27, 2017

Deutsch wrote in a letter to Fox that “It is no coincidence that the Cancellation of the Advertisement, in the second week of its run, came on the heels of a tweet from President Trump criticizing the spot and Mr. Steyer personally.”

Steyer criticized the decision of the network, saying “[m]illions of Americans have raised their voices in opposition to Donald Trump.  If Fox News is siding with Trump and trying to silence us, they must be afraid of what we have to say.  It shows no respect for democracy.”

Fox News’s co-president Jack Abernathy said the decision to pull the ads was reached due to the “strong negative reaction” by the network’s viewers.

“Due to the strong negative reaction to their ad by our viewers, we could not in good conscious take their money,” Abernathy said.

 

Filed Under: Donald Trump, Free Press, News, News Media, TV

Twitter Employee Disabled Trump’s Account on Last Day

November 3, 2017 By WHC Insider

Twitter announced late Thursday that an employee deactivated the account of President Donald Trump for 11 minutes on his last day on the job.

After an investigation, Twitter said that “[t]hrough our investigation we have learned that this was done by a Twitter customer support employee who did this on the employee’s last day.  We are conducting a full internal review.”

Through our investigation we have learned that this was done by a Twitter customer support employee who did this on the employee’s last day. We are conducting a full internal review. https://t.co/mlarOgiaRF

— Twitter Government (@TwitterGov) November 3, 2017

Trump himself seemed to brush off the incident, suggesting the employee’s actions showed the impact the president was having through social media.

My Twitter account was taken down for 11 minutes by a rogue employee. I guess the word must finally be getting out-and having an impact.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017

The president’s Twitter account is highly watched, with 41.7 million followers viewing more than 36,000 tweets reportedly sent from Trump himself, often directing the news cycle of the day and raising controversy.

Filed Under: Donald Trump, Free Press, News, Social Media, The White House

New Poll: Nearly Half of American Voters Think Media Makes Up Stories About Trump

October 18, 2017 By WHC Insider

Photo courtesy Pixabay.

Nearly half of registered voters in the United States agree with President Trump, believing that the media fabricates “fake news” stories about the White House.

In the survey, 46 percent of respondents — 76 percent of Republicans, 20 percent of Democrats and 44 percent of Independents — say they think the media invents stories about the current administration.  Conversely, 37 percent — 11 percent of Republicans, 65 percent of Democrats and 31 percent of Independents — disagree.

Among supporters of Trump, those numbers surge to an overwhelming 85 percent believe the media makes up news stories about the president.

“Dishonesty in the media is one of the things that surprised me most,” the president recently said during a radio interview with Chris Plante.  “I thought after I won, the media would become much more stable and much more honest.  They’ve gone crazy.  CNN is a joke.  NBC is a total joke.  You watch what they report, it bears no relationship to what I’m doing.  But the media is absolutely dishonest.  And frankly, I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

Respondents disagreed with the president’s suggestion to revoke broadcast licenses for networks based off news content.  Only 28 percent believed the government should have the power to revoke licenses, with 51 percent disagreeing the government should have that power.  21 percent were undecided.

So much Fake News being put in dying magazines and newspapers. Only place worse may be @NBCNews, @CBSNews, @ABC and @CNN. Fiction writers!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2017

The survey was conducted by Morning Consult for Politico between October 12-16 2017, interviewing 1,991 registered voters.  The margin of error in the poll is plus or minus 2 percent.

Filed Under: Donald Trump, Free Press, News Media, Polls

FCC Chair: No Authority to Revoke Licenses Over Content

October 17, 2017 By WHC Insider

Photo courtesy FCC.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said his agency doesn’t have the authority to revoke a broadcast network’s license based on content, in response to a recent tweet by President Donald Trump.

“Under the law, the FCC does not have the authority to revoke a license of a broadcast station based on the content of a particular newscast,” Pai said at an event sponsored by AT&T.  “I believe in the First Amendment.  The FCC under my leadership will stand for the First Amendment.”

President Trump tweeted last week that the FCC should investigate revoking NBC’s broadcasting license after NBC News published a story that said he had called for a ten-fold increase in the nation’s nuclear stockpile.

With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2017


FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel also tweeted “Not how it works,” in response to the president.

Pai was also asked if the FCC had a role in determining what constitutes “fake news.”

“Traditionally, that has not been within the FCC jurisdiction,” the chairman replied.

Filed Under: Donald Trump, Event Coverage, Free Press, News

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About White House Correspondents Insider

Exploring “behind the scenes” of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

We track the White House Correspondents’ weekend and all the activities around it, from journalists and media companies to the White House and politicos.

Tammy Haddad is Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief of WHC Insider and CEO of Haddad Media.

White House Correspondents Insider is not affiliated with or approved by the White House Correspondents’ Association, which is a registered trademark of the WHCA.

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