Journalism

[Commentary] Ultimately, the power of fake news is in the minds of the beholders — namely, news consumers. We need a news consumers’ equivalent of the venerable Consumers Union that, starting in the 1930s, mobilized millions behind taking an informed approach to purchases, or the more recent drive to empower individuals to take charge of their health by reading labels, counting steps, and getting tested for risk factors.

Recognizing fraudulent news as a threat to free expression cannot be grounds to justify a cure — in the form of new government or corporate restrictions on speech — that may end up being worse than the disease. Unscrupulous profiteers and political opportunists may never cease in their efforts to infect the global information flow of information to serve their purposes. The best prescription against the epidemic of fake news is to inoculate consumers by building up their ability to defend themselves.

[Suzanne Nossel is executive director of the Pen American Center and was formerly deputy assistant secretary of state for international organizations at the U.S. State Department.]

President Donald Trump took a moment during his interview with Fox's Sean Hannity to praise the host for his recent ratings rise since moving into the 9 p.m. timeslot to directly challenge MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. “I will say this, you have been so great,” President Trump said to Hannity during their Oct 11 interview. "I’m very proud of you.” “I am a ratings person. Has anyone seen his ratings? What you are doing to your competition is incredible," Trump said to Hannity. "Number one, and I am very proud of you. An honor to be on your show.”

President Donald Trump has threatened press freedoms before, but on Oct 11 he went a step further: suggesting that television networks lose their federal broadcast licenses for what he considers “fake news.” In comments to reporters in the Oval Office, President Trump said, “It is frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write, and people should look into it.”

The remarks alarmed 1st Amendment advocates for suggesting the use of government power to punish the media, recalling for many the threats of President Richard Nixon. “The founders of our nation set as a cornerstone of our democracy the 1st Amendment, forever enshrining and protecting freedom of the press," said Gordon Smith, president of the National Association of Broadcasters and a former Republican senator from Oregon. “It is contrary to this fundamental right for any government official to threaten the revocation of an FCC license simply because of a disagreement with the reporting of a journalist,” he said. Asked whether there should be limits on what journalists can write, President Trump softened his tone. “No. The press should speak more honestly,” he said. “I’ve seen tremendously dishonest press. It’s not even a question of distortion.”

President Trump’s threat to pull NBC’s license doesn’t make sense for a lot of reasons — starting with the fact that NBC doesn’t have a license to begin with. But it is still alarming to news outlets, because federal regulations aren’t clear about whether federal regulators can intervene to stop “fake” news.

You might assume the First Amendment protects all reporting. But current Federal Communications Commission language leaves open the possibility of government intervention, under certain narrow conditions. “The president has no authority to direct the FCC to revoke a broadcast license,” said former Federal Communications Commission lawyer Robert Corn-Revere. “The FCC is an independent regulatory agency.” But presidents can still exert influence — especially since they appoint all five FCC commissioners. And the FCC may exert influence, too. But no one can say for sure how heavy its hand might be. The FCC states on its website that it will investigate stations accused of deliberately distorting the news, but that the burden of proof is high. The commission says it will generally not intervene in cases in which viewers believe stations have “aired inaccurate or one-sided news reports or comments, covered stories inadequately, or overly dramatized the events that they cover” because “it would be inconsistent with the First Amendment to replace the journalistic judgment of licensees with our own.” The FCC’s policy on intentional “distortion” is a troubling one for television companies, according to Mark Schnieder, a former FCC lawyer and adjunct law professor at Georgetown University Law School.

NBC News is defending its report that President Donald Trump wanted a massive expansion of the US nuclear arsenal after Defense Secretary James Mattis pushed back on those claims. Courtney Kube, a national security producer for NBC News, said the report never said President Trump "called for" more nuclear weapons, rather only that he "said he wanted more." NBC reported earlier Oct 11 that Trump suggested dramatically expanding the country's nuclear capabilities — from roughly 4,000 to 32,000 warheads — after seeing data that showed the US weapons stockpile decreasing from that level since the 1960s.

Defense Secretary James Mattis in a statement hit back at the NBC report, saying President Trump never "called for" an increase in the nuclear arsenal. "Recent reports that the President called for an increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal are absolutely false. This kind of erroneous reporting is irresponsible,” Sec Mattis said.

President Donald Trump made two things clear when he told reporters gathered in the Oval Office that “it's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write, and people should look into it.” One: He does not value a free press. Two: He does not even understand how a free press works.

It is simply untrue that “the press is able to write whatever they want to write.” News outlets that defame or invade the privacy of the people they cover can be sued into extinction. Just ask Gawker, which went bankrupt and shuttered last year after losing a case brought by Hulk Hogan.

Two former commissioners with the Federal Communications Commission threw cold water on President Donald Trump’s suggestion to “challenge” the broadcast licenses of networks over news reports he considers to be “fake” and “bad for country.” “To me it’s just incomprehensible that because of the content of NBC News that somehow their license would be at risk,” said Alfred Sikes, a Republican who chaired the FCC under President George H.W. Bush. “Any kind of action would require a majority of commissioners and I find it very, very unlikely that based on arguments about the foundations of NBC News content that those licenses would be put up for review,” he added.

Michael Copps, a Democrat who served as FCC commissioner from 2001 to 2011, was similarly disturbed by President Trump’s tweet, which followed criticism of a series of NBC News reports critical of his administration and whose facts he disputed. “If such a threat were carried out it would be a blatantly unacceptable intervention in the jurisdiction of an independent federal agency,” said Copps. “It would have a chilling effect not just on NBC but maybe even worse, small and independent stations who might not have the resources of NBC to fight back such an effort.”

President Donald Trump’s suggestion that NBC should potentially have its broadcast license challenged has prompted a wave of condemnation from both sides of the aisle, with many saying that such a move would violate the First Amendment.

“The president’s threat against NBC and other media outlets is far from empty,” said Sen Brian Schatz (D-HI), referencing a similar proposal from President Nixon, who wanted to crack down on the Washington Post. “In confirmation hearings for Ajit Pai, we raised this possibility,” Sen Schatz said. “Now, the FCC must show that it is loyal to the law, not the president, and make clear that it rejects this kind of interference.”

“This threat alone could intimidate the press and lead to skewed and unfair reporting,” said House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ). “I therefore call on FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to immediately condemn this unwarranted attack. I also call on the Chair to announce publicly that he will not follow through on his orders from the President. Chairman Pai should not act in any way to undermine free speech on our airwaves.”

President Donald Trump said it is "disgusting the press is able to write whatever it wants to write" during remarks from the Oval Office, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sitting by his side. Presdient Trump was asked about a report from NBC News that claimed he’d sought to dramatically expand the US nuclear arsenal. President Trump called the report “fake news” and said a ten-fold increase in the US nuclear arsenal would be “totally unnecessary” and that he merely wants US weapons programs to be in “tip top shape.”

“It is frankly disgusting the press is able to write whatever it wants to write,” President Trump said. When asked, he said "no," he would not seek to limit what the press writes. "The press should speak more honestly," he said. "I've seen tremendously dishonest press. It's not even a question of distortion. Like the question that was just asked before about 10 times the nuclear capablity. I know the capability we have, believe me, and it is awesome. It is massive. So when they make up stories like that, that's just made up, and the generals will tell you that. And then they have sources that don't exist, they don't exist. They make up the sources. There are no sources."

President Donald Trump is yet again threatening to crack down on media outlets he doesn't like. But this time he's doing it in a much more brazen fashion. And it's almost exactly what Richard Nixon appeared to attempt in the 1970s. The difference here is that Nixon talked about the scheme only privately. Nixon allies challenged the licenses of TV stations whose owners ran afoul of Nixon. And those owners were The Washington Post Co.