Journalism can't 'have all the answers' in the complex age of Trump, says veteran reporter
Public is selective about what they'll call 'fake news,' says Lynn Sweet
The public is "selective" about what it deems fake news, according to a veteran reporter covering the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
"And then we'll say: 'Well, how do you know it — you weren't at the game? And they say: 'Well, you know, a TV ... or print reporter said so.'
"So I think what we're really dealing with is selective decisions by people, and it's really perhaps on stories dealing with politics and government," she told The Current's guest host Megan Williams.
'We have to plug away and do our jobs'
Tweeting over the weekend, Trump revealed he met A.G. Sulzberger, publisher of the New York Times, to discuss "the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, 'Enemy of the People.'"
Sulzberger issued a statement saying he had used the meeting to press the president on his "deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric."
The debate over how the media covers the Trump administration reignited last week after CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins was barred from a White House event for asking "inappropriate" questions.
In the face of that, Sweet argued that journalists need to keep doing their jobs.
"I don't think journalism necessarily can have all the answers right now, at this complex point in time with President Trump," she said.
"That's why I just keep saying we have to plug away and do our jobs. It may not be able to cure all of the things that are going on right now, but I know what happens if we stop doing what we're supposed to do."
The FAKE NEWS media (failing <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nytimes</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBCNews</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ABC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ABC</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/CBS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CBS</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CNN</a>) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!
—@realDonaldTrumpTo discuss the issue, The Current's guest host Megan Williams spoke to:
- Olivier Knox, president of the White House Correspondents' Association
- Lynn Sweet, columnist and Washington bureau chief, Chicago Sun-Times
- Becket Adams, media and politics commentator with The Washington Examiner
Listen to the full conversation near the top of this page.
This segment was produced by The Current's Alison Masemann, Howard Goldenthal and Allie Jaynes.