Those who are familiar with The Apprentice, the American reality television show created by British TV producer Mark Burnett, and co-produced with Donald Trump, will attest to the notion that the 47th president of the US who is having his second bite of the presidential cake, is running the affairs of the White House, especially the media briefings, like his own reality TV show.
His first tenure as president, between 2017 and 2021, was disastrous when it comes to media relations. Trump single-handedly destroyed government and media relations in the US, with his dismissive approach to journalists, especially during televised media briefings.
His return to power signalled another terrible chapter for the media, especially those working for media houses he regards as anti-Maga.
During the International News Media Association 95th world congress, which took place during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to the White House, it was reported that barely in the office for 120 days, Trump was, thus far, “the biggest news story in the world today”.
In his 100 days in office, freedom of speech has been severely affected, media freedom has been curtailed, journalism is more litigious, government and media relations at their lowest ebb, and there’s a rise of regulatory pressures on the public media in the US.
In SA, we commemorated the South African World Press Freedom Day, which provided a platform for African countries, especially in Southern Africa, to discuss, debate and dissect the challenges facing the media in the 21st century, especially during this age of AI, with disinformation and misinformation peddled at every turn.
Organised by Unesco in conjunction with Media Monitoring Africa, the Press Council of South Africa, South African National Editor’s Forum, Media Institute of Southern Africa and the Global Dialogue Institute, the two-day event, which attracted journalists, media activists, researchers, scholars, academics, civil society and students, was unanimous in its collective voice that freedom of the media be cherished and jealously guarded against any encroachment – be it from government, advertisers or big tech companies.
An example of government trampling of freedom of expression is there for the whole world to see in Trump’s unorthodox handling of the media, threatening journalists who ask uncomfortable questions at his media briefings.
It took one brave and courageous journalist, Peter Alexander of NBC, to throw a spanner in the works when he declared, “I am not available for this misinformation theatre, I am here to know more about the plane.” He was referring to the plane Trump has accepted as a gift from Qatari rulers during a state visit.
As expected, that question riled Trump, and he resorted to his tricks and tactics of attacking the media. He barked: “You are a terrible reporter. Number one, you don’t have what it takes to be a reporter. You are not smart enough.”
Nothing new. We’ve seen this movie before. That was Trump’s style in his first term. He is quick to dismissed any opposing view as “fake news”.
But guess who the king of fake news, propaganda, lies, and deceit, in fact, is – Trump himself. There’s no denying it. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
For us in the space of media and communication, especially media training, Trump is a typical example of how not to handle the media. For whatever reason, he’s providing a painful yet comic relief at the expense of the truth. As soon as his term ends, we will be trying to quantify the immense damage he will have left behind.
White House correspondents are in for a torrid time for the remainder of the Trump years. What with current White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, much like her predecessor during Trump’s first term, Jen Psaki, taking an adversarial stance towards the media. She was cut from the same cloth as her boss.
In the final analysis, we should be proud of South African journalists, especially ENW political editor Tshidi Madia and Newzroom Afrika political correspondent Ziyanda Ngcobo for their balanced, factual and honest reporting on the international stage. Critics who have been accusing the media of being unpatriotic must now think twice.
• Themba Sepotokele is a communication strategist, media trainer and journalism lecturer. He is the author of “Being a Spokesperson”
