To all who believe President Donald Trump’s persistent claim that the media is dishonest and routinely makes up “fake news,” I ask you to use your common sense.
The only thing any serious news organization has is its credibility. Creating stories out of thin air would very quickly put any legitimate news source out of business, or at the very least, marginalize it to the level of the supermarket tabloids. This is why all newspapers have a “corrections” column so that they can set the record straight whenever they have published something in error.
Indeed, there have been cases of individual reporters breaking this sacred credo and making up facts or quoting nonexistent sources. When their deeds are uncovered, their careers have been brought to a swift end.
The first thing authoritarian leaders do when they assume power is set out to delegitimize the press in the eyes of the people. Trump has followed this playbook since he announced his candidacy. This president has told over 1,000 falsehoods since taking office. So, yes, someone is lying. But it isn’t the press.
