Commentary

White House's Cancellation of 'NYT,' 'WaPo' Is Futile

  • by October 24, 2019
The White House this week said it's canceling its subscriptions to The New York Times and The Washington Post, after President Trump described the newspapers as "fake news."

The action isn't surprising. Mostly, it is a silly and futile gesture.

“We don’t even want it in the White House anymore," Trump said about The New York Times in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity that aired Monday night. "We’re going to probably terminate that and The Washington Post. They’re fake.”
Did Trump really expect to be embraced by the mainstream news media and the Washington establishment after running as an outsider who promised to end the "American carnage"?

He also described the press as the "enemy of the people," which suggests treasonous behavior.  

While I wouldn't describe the newspapers as fake, they do show an anti-Trump bias of varying degrees. Among the more recent examples, the Times staff went into a tizzy in August over a headline that wasn't sufficiently critical of Trump's public statements that condemned bigotry, racism and white supremacy.

advertisement

advertisement

Apparently, the Times can't run a straightforward headline about the president.

The WaPo last month ran a contentious analysis about the President's "lost summer defined by self-inflicted controversies and squandered opportunities" that "served to further divide the country and to harden public opinion about the ever-polarizing president."

About halfway into the story, WaPo cites polling data that showed the President's approval rating slipped from 43% in June to 41% in August, hardly a dramatic change. Where's the further division and hardened public opinion? How does anyone measure squandered opportunities in Washington, which is mired in gridlock, unsustainable deficit spending and endless wars?

No one is asking the Times and WaPo to run glowing stories about Trump, either. But the White House is better off keeping its subscriptions and developing a communications strategy that engages with even the most hostile press outlets.
3 comments about "White House's Cancellation of 'NYT,' 'WaPo' Is Futile".
Check to receive email when comments are posted.
  1. Douglas Ferguson from College of Charleston, October 24, 2019 at 10:34 a.m.

    That's an interesting take. I recall that both newspapers were extremely anti-Trump even before his election and that his honeymoon period was non-existent as a new President. I recall that he was "attacked first" in a manner that other Presidents were never treated, well before he started sniping back. But maybe my memory is wrong.

  2. George Simpson from George H. Simpson Communications, October 24, 2019 at 11:14 a.m.

    What many perceive as attacking Trump was simply reporting on the stupid things he did and said. The press is not the enemy, he is his own worst enemy. 

  3. John Grono from GAP Research, October 24, 2019 at 4:42 p.m.

    Thank you George

Next story loading loading..