Trumpâs 'fake news' awards win the prize for flops
By the time he got around to presenting his long-promised â2017 Fake New Awards â even President Donald Trump seemed to be losing interest in the event.
After tweeting a link to his list of winning or  if you prefer  losing journalists and news organizations last Wednesday night   Trump  tweeted another message that sounded almost apologetic: âDespite some very corrupt and dishonest media coverage â  he  tweeted  âthere are many great reporters I respect and lots of GOOD NEWS for the American people to be proud of!â
With that sweet little air-kiss to the media that his awards list dumps on   Trump  gave away a reality of Trump World: As much as  he  attacks the âfake â âlyingâ or âcorruptâ news media â and unapologetically picks up Twitter material from Fox News programs â  he  also signals to reporters that  as in the Corleone family in âThe Godfatherâ books and movies  itâs just business; donât take it personally.
 He  still picks up the phone and offers exclusives to the âfailing New York Timesâ (which really isnât) or other mainstream media as it suits  his  purpose.
Let us not forget that the wealthy real estate developer also spent many years starring in  his  own reality TV show  âThe Apprentice â and performing in the WWE  among other adventures. In a way   Trump âs experience behind and in front of cameras is so extensive that  for  him   taking on the role of media critic sounds almost like a conflict of interest.
And considering  his  deplorable record of issuing âalternative facts â as famously declared by one of  his  spokespeople (The Washington Post has listed more than 2 000 false or misleading quotes from  him  in  his  first year in office)  taking media criticism from  Trump  is sort of like taking dating advice from Bill Cosby: Even if  its  good advice  the source has a credibility problem. âThe interest in  and importance of  these awards â  he  said  âis far greater than anyone could have anticipated!"
But when the event came up  it was remarkably low-key for the famously flamboyant and larger-than-life  Trump . No Oscar-worthy red carpets  limos or Hollywood reporters asking what people were wearing.
Instead there was a tweet from  Trump  with a link to the Republican Partyâs gop.com website  which immediately crashed under the sudden spike in demand. Some wags have found some symbolism in that  as though the Grand Old Party still isnât ready for the arrival of  Trump  and  his  loyal new tribe of the Trumpicons.
Ready or not  it soon became apparent why  Trump  had gone low-key with  his  list. As a list of abuses of truth or the public trust  it flops. Thatâs because most major media have this habit of correcting errors as soon as possible.  Trump  has a habit  cultivated long before  he  became president  of almost never apologizing for or even admitting to making a mistake.
Itâs easy to see why  Trump  would want to remind everybody that the stock market has surged  contrary to Krugmanâs doomsday prediction. But  as The Washington Postâs Fact Checker pointed out  Krugman retracted that prediction three days later  noting that âit is possible that bigger budget deficits will  if anything  strengthen the economy briefly.â
By the time he got around to presenting his long-promised â2017 Fake New Awards â  [TGT]  seemed to be losing interest in the event.
After tweeting a link to  [TGT]  list of winning or  if you prefer  losing journalists and news organizations last Wednesday night    [TGT] tweeted another message that sounded almost apologetic: âDespite some very corrupt and dishonest media coverage â   [TGT]   tweeted  âthere are many great reporters I respect and lots of GOOD NEWS for the American people to be proud of!â
With that sweet little air-kiss to the media that his awards list dumps on  [TGT] gave away a reality of Trump World: As much as  he  attacks the âfake â âlyingâ or âcorruptâ news media â and unapologetically picks up Twitter material from Fox News programs â  he  also signals to reporters that  as in the Corleone family in âThe Godfatherâ books and movies  itâs just business; donât take it personally.
 He  still picks up the phone and offers exclusives to the âfailing New York Timesâ (which really isnât) or other mainstream media as it suits  his  purpose.
Let us not forget that the wealthy real estate developer also spent many years starring in  his  own reality TV show  âThe Apprentice â and performing in the WWE  among other adventures. In a way    [TGT]  âs experience behind and in front of cameras is so extensive that  for  him   taking on the role of media critic sounds almost like a conflict of interest.
And considering  his  deplorable record of issuing âalternative facts â as famously declared by one of  his  spokespeople (The Washington Post has listed more than 2 000 false or misleading quotes from  him  in  his  first year in office)  taking media criticism from   [TGT]   is sort of like taking dating advice from Bill Cosby: Even if  its  good advice  the source has a credibility problem. âThe interest in  and importance of  these awards â  he  said  âis far greater than anyone could have anticipated!"
But when the event came up  it was remarkably low-key for the famously flamboyant and larger-than-life  Trump . No Oscar-worthy red carpets  limos or Hollywood reporters asking what people were wearing.
Instead there was a tweet from  Trump  with a link to the Republican Partyâs gop.com website  which immediately crashed under the sudden spike in demand. Some wags have found some symbolism in that  as though the Grand Old Party still isnât ready for the arrival of  Trump  and  his  loyal new tribe of the Trumpicons.
Ready or not  it soon became apparent why  Trump  had gone low-key with  his  list. As a list of abuses of truth or the public trust  it flops. Thatâs because most major media have this habit of correcting errors as soon as possible.  Trump  has a habit  cultivated long before  he  became president  of almost never apologizing for or even admitting to making a mistake.
Itâs easy to see why  Trump  would want to remind everybody that the stock market has surged  contrary to Krugmanâs doomsday prediction. But  as The Washington Postâs Fact Checker pointed out  Krugman retracted that prediction three days later  noting that âit is possible that bigger budget deficits will  if anything  strengthen the economy briefly.â