The US President has launched the ‘Real News’ channel via his Facebook page to spruik the achievements he says the ‘fake news’ media is failing to cover, NBC reports.
Hosted by former pro-Trump cable news commentator Kayleigh McEnany and paid for by Trump’s presidential campaign committee, the first episode filmed in Trump Tower focused on the number of jobs he has created and his new policies including the Raise Act.
“Americans deserve a raise and President Trump is finally putting the American worker first,” Ms McEnany said.
Some political experts have praised the move for bypassing the mainstream media, with the episode shared with more than 22 million Facebook page followers and on Twitter.
The trouble with ‘state-run’ TV
But others says the President is setting a dangerous precedent.
“When a government starts reporting and phrasing things as real news, that’s the time to worry that you’re being lied to,” Columbia University politics professor Robert Shapiro said.
While the statistics presented in the first report “were perfectly accurate and truthful, it basically accentuates the positive,” he added. “And to get a fuller picture, obviously which includes a lot of the negatives, you have to rely on free press for that.”
Personally, it reminds us of the state-owned media channels you see in other countries.
Maybe Trump and Kim Jong-Un have more in common than they thought?
