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With patriotic imagery and four capitalized words, The Detroit News pushes back against claims of "very fake news" and journalists as "the enemy of the American people."
It's a fresh example of forceful responses to sustained attacks on the industry's credibility, led by a maverick presidential candidate now delivering his shots from the White House.
This fills Page 5 of Saturday's newspaper.
"No fake news here" says this full-page ad in Saturday's print edition, two days after the news consumer-in-chief said "fake news" seven times at a White House news conference (video excerpt below). It appears less than a day after this tweet:
The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2017
More in that vein came Saturday morning:
Don't believe the main stream (fake news) media.The White House is running VERY WELL. I inherited a MESS and am in the process of fixing it.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2017
And at an airport hangar rally late Staurday in Melbourne, Fla., Trump is quoted as saying of the media: ""They have their own agenda. And their agenda is not your agenda."
These latest attacks aim at national newspapers and networks, but have a scattershot impact on all journalists. Here's part of what he said on live television Thursday in one of several harsh blasts aimed at an audience of millions, not the dozens of reporters in front of him:
"Much of the media in Washington, D.C. — along with New York, Los Angeles, in particular — speaks not for the people but for the special interests and for those profiting off a very, very obviously broken system. The press has become so dishonest that if we don't talk about, we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people. Tremendous disservice.
"We have to talk to find out what's going on, because the press honestly is out of control. The level of dishonesty is out of control.”
In Saturday's counterpunch, the 144-year-old Detroit daily says this about "The Real Detroit News:"
LIGHT. We take our watchdog role seriously. Each day we work to open doors and shine a light on the dark places where corruption grows. Our job is to give the information you need to make informed decisions.
TRUTH. No fake news here. We bring you the news without an agenda and absent the influence of special interests. We are beholden only to our readers. We'll tell you what really happened, and let you make up your own mind.
FACTS. Who. What. Where. When. Why. How. Our commitment is to get the whole story, and get it right. The first priority is always accuracy.
Ever Vigilant. Ever Alert.
"I am proud of our journalists and the work they do," assistant managing Kelley Root Guthtrie of The News posts on Facebook with the ad.
Admirers there include Free Press executive editor Robert Huschka, who comments "very cool!" In another comment, News reporter George Hunter says: "I'm proud to work for a publication that presents all sides of the issues."
This trust-us response to Trump's increasingly frequent broadsides, as well as to polls that show media credibility is eroding, reflects self-defense moves throughout the news business.
"Know fact from fiction," says an Orlando Sentinel ad in Florida. "We're committed to bringing you truth in journalism because as times change, the need for quality reporting doesn't."
Under the headline "Is Donald Trump Saving the Media?", The Washington Post last week reported:
Some news organizations apparently think . . . that Trump’s accusations of “fake news” could make the president’s skeptics more likely to purchase subscriptions. Visit the website of a newspaper with a paywall these days, and there is a decent chance you will be greeted by a sales pitch that explicitly or implicitly centers on the publication's promise to hold Trump accountable.
Vanity Fair magazine reacted last September to Trump claims that it's dying:
Vanity Fair's website right now -- "THE WAY DOWN, BIG TROUBLE, DEAD!" MAGAZINE TRUMP DOESN'T WANT YOU TO READ" pic.twitter.com/oREyw9ggse
— Steve Kopack (@SteveKopack) December 15, 2016
Reactions to accusations from the president include these tweets Friday from, in order, a National Public Radio "Morning Edition" host, a New York Times columnist, a legendary investigative reporter and a Detroit news site editor-reporter:
A journalist is a citizen. Who informs other citizens, as free citizens need. Some are killed doing it. I'm grateful to many who inform me.
— Steve Inskeep (@NPRinskeep) February 17, 2017
To disagree is not to be dishonest, Mr. President, and journalists aren't your enemies. We ARE enemies of lies, incompetence and cover-ups. https://t.co/xv0wcE7IbA
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) February 17, 2017
The most dangerous 'enemy of the people' is presidential lying--always. Attacks on press by @realDonaldTrump more treacherous than Nixon's.
— Carl Bernstein (@carlbernstein) February 18, 2017
David Gilkey, an NPR photojournalist, was killed while covering tragedy & hope in Afghanistan in 2016. #NotTheEnemy https://t.co/pVEZPbwDVu
— Motor City Muckraker (@MCmuckraker) February 18, 2017
Here's nearly three minutes of what the president said Thursday near the start of his feisty news conference:
