Today | News | Books | Recipes White House launches 'Trump TV' after ban on major news outlets White House launches 'Trump TV' after ban on major news outlets Text-Only Version Go To Full Site "Trump TV" began streaming Monday night with the tagline: The Essentials Station. The channel opened with the president's July 3 speech at Mt. Rushmore, where among other things, he blamed "newcomers to our country" for what he called "a resurgence of the communist menace in our land." The launch followed a Friday post on Trump's Truth Social site announcing that CNN, MS NOW and Politico were being barred from the White House. The president called the outlets "Fake News" and accused them of reporting "FICTION and LIES" about him, the administration and the United States. Related Story: NPR In a joint statement, Fox News Media, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News and CNN pushed back on the White House ban, defending the public's "vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government." "No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting," the statement said. Related Story: NPR In posts on X, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, both Democrats, called the new White House venture "state run" media. Newsom said it amounted to "truly autocratic behavior from a failed President." An email from a White House official said: "Applying this logic, Mark Kelly's twitter feed is "state run media' for a party of radical socialists. It doesn't make any sense." The dispute is over a broader effort dating back to Trump's first term to control the narrative surrounding his presidency while bypassing a more critical mainstream media, says Stephen Farnsworth, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va. "Over and over again, I think President Trump has really decided what he wants to do is tell the Trump story himself." Farnsworth, author of Spinner in Chief: How Presidents Sell Their Policies and Themselves, says it's difficult to imagine that anyone other than the base will bother to tune in. "The challenge, I think, for Trump TV is whether you're going to reach anyone other than the already committed Trump voters," he says. Jane Kirtley, an emerita professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota, says the White House move is "unprecedented" and presents a concern that a government-controlled media source might function as a direct pipeline to the public in much the same way that state-run television works in other countries. "I think the public has a right to have information that has been subjected to scrutiny and that has been vetted by independent sources like the news media. And here we don't have that," she says. Kirtley also sees a link between the ousting of mainstream media outlets and the launch of Trump TV: "I cannot think that the timing is coincidental, that the decision to ban these media organizations from the White House on the eve of the launch of Trump TV just happened by coincidence." It is clear that the Trump White House has been willing to go full stop to "shape the narrative" in its favor, Farnsworth says. "He's tried in various ways to control the White House press corps, the White House Correspondents Association and the like," he says. "This is, I think, another step on that road to the Trump narrative being told in a way that is dominated by President Trump." STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: The White House has launched a 24/7 live stream on YouTube called Trump TV. The context is that the major TV networks are not carrying live coverage of White House events using what is known as pool video. It's part of their show of support against President Trump's attacks against three outlets for coverage he didn't like. This includes the White House's removal of CNN from the TV pool. NPR's Scott Neuman reports on the latest of Trump's ongoing efforts to bypass traditional media.SCOTT NEUMAN, BYLINE: Trump TV, launched Monday, was introduced with a slick promo that suggested the new YouTube channel is must-see TV.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)THE BUGGLES: (Singing) Video...UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) The show's starting...THE BUGGLES: (Singing)...Killed the radio...UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) The show's starting.THE BUGGLES: (Singing)...Star.NEUMAN: Since then, it's been 24 hours a day of White House events and Trump rallies. Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington, says this might be exciting for Trump's base, but probably not for anyone else.STEPHEN FARNSWORTH: I don't know that a large number of undecided voters or moderate voters or people not already in Trump's camp are going to say, I've got to tune in.NEUMAN: Democrats, such as Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and California Governor Gavin Newsom, immediately compared the channel to authoritarian governments' state-run media. In an email statement sent to NPR, a White House official said, quote, "applying this logic, Mark Kelly's Twitter feed is state-run media for a party of radical socialists." The channel's launch follows an announcement last week by Trump that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be barred from the White House. The president called the outlets fake news.JANE KIRTLEY: I cannot think that the timing is coincidental.NEUMAN: That's Jane Kirtley, professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota. It can be a fine line between a channel that simply says, this is what the administration is doing, and one that is outright political propaganda, Kirtley says. She says having something that resembles an official government channel is problematic.KIRTLEY: We in the United States are not used to having a government information channel. If you go to other countries where there is official state media, everybody understands what that is.NEUMAN: The outlets banned by Trump have filed a federal lawsuit against the action. And in solidarity, some media organizations, including NPR and Fox News, are also refusing to take audio, video or photos from White House events until further notice. The White House is expected to respond to the lawsuit at a hearing this afternoon in U.S. district court in Washington, D.C. The presiding judge was appointed by President Trump during his first term.Scott Neuman, NPR News, Washington. Links
Browse another page: |