Another line of attack: White House sets up a hall of shame for news outlets

By DAVID BAUDER Associated Press Media Writer NEW YORK AP President Donald Trump s White House is taking on the role of media critic and asking for help from everyday Americans Over the Thanksgiving weekend the White House launched a web portal it says will spotlight bias on the part of news outlets targeting the Boston Globe CBS News and The Independent as its inaugural media offender of the week It s the latest wrinkle in the fight against what Trump back in his first term labeled fake news The Republican president has taken outlets like CBS News and The Wall Street Journal to court over their coverage is fighting The Associated Press in court over media access and has moved to dismantle government-run outlets like Voice of America Trump has also engaged in personal attacks last month alone saying quiet piggy to a female reporter who was questioning him on Air Force One calling a reporter from The New York Times ugly both inside and out and publicly telling an ABC News journalist she was a terrible reporter It s honestly overwhelming to keep up with it all and to constantly have to defend against this fake news and these attacks explained press secretary Karoline Leavitt who called the new web portal an attempt to hold journalists accountable White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington Monday Dec AP Photo Mark Schiefelbein After its debut the White House requested for helpers to submit their own examples of media bias So-called journalists have made it impossible to identify every false or misleading story which is why help from the American people is essential Trump s press office reported Devouring the media like hot french fries Despite the attacks Axios wrote this week that the mainstream media is ending the year as dominant as ever in capturing the president s attention and setting Washington s agenda citing as one example The Washington Post s reporting on military strikes against boats with alleged drug coyotes The irony is that Trump engages with reporters at a level he hasn t seen with any other president in his lifetime disclosed Axios CEO Jim VandeHei co-author of the review with Mike Allen Related Articles Supreme Court allows Texas to use a congressional map favorable to Republicans in Kennedy s vaccine advisory committee delays vote on hepatitis B shots for newborns Trump s immigration message is colliding with his welcome to World Cup fans Admiral says there was no kill them all order in boat attack but video alarms lawmakers Pentagon knew boat attack left survivors but still launched a follow-on strike AP sources say He s invariably bitched about the media and the press VandeHei described The Associated Press He gobbles this stuff up like hot McDonald s french fries He s a mass consumer of this He watches it he calls reporters he takes calls from reporters That s dependably been the contradiction with him The first media honorees were criticized for stories about Trump s reaction to Democratic lawmakers who recorded a video reminding military members they were not required to follow unlawful orders Trump accused the lawmakers of sedition punishable by death The White House mentioned it was a misrepresentation to say Trump had called for their executions The portal also declared news outlets subversively implied that the president had issued illegal orders The news articles they cited did not specifically say whether Trump had or had not ordered illegal programs The new portal also contains an Offender Hall of Shame of articles it deems unfair and a leaderboard ranking outlets with the the bulk pieces they object to Twenty-one outlets are represented led by The Washington Post s five stories CBS News and MS NOW the organization formerly known as MSNBC had four apiece No news outlets that appeal to conservatives were cited for bias Responded a Post spokeswoman The Washington Post is proud of its accurate rigorous journalism Media watchdog welcomes the company The conservative media watchdog Media Research Center which has accused news outlets of having a liberal bias since welcomes the company We re pleased stated Tim Graham MRC s director of media analysis It s a stronger effort than Republican presidents have done before I think all Republicans realize this day that the media is on the other side and need to be identified as on the other side VandeHei stated about the portal I can t think of anything I care less about If they want to set up a site and point out bias great It s called free speech Do it I don t think it makes a damned bit of difference What is damaging is a constant drumbeat of asserts that what people read in the media is false It makes people suspicious of the truth and the country suffers when we re not operating from particular semblance of a common truth VandeHei reported