Mohammad Alhusseini
Mohammad Alhusseini

For more than 50 times, President Donald Trump has tweeted out the phrase 'the failed New York Times,' but the question to be raised is: does a failed newspaper require from the president of the greatest country  in the world to keep reminding us of its failure?

Now after assuming office more than one month ago, it seems that President Trump has not achieved any success in his effort to destruct the deep-rooted fame of his country's mainstream journalism. He also has not been able to shake its credibility even though he armed himself with tens of millions of his fans through social media, which he considers as an alternative way to convey the truth, according to him.

Exactly on the contrary, it seems that the ropes of the New York Times and the Washington Post are being continuously wrapped around his administration, shackling it with matchless influence to one scandal after another.

The president described the reports prepared by professional journalists in above mentioned newspapers as fabricated and fake, then he declined and acknowledged that they are illegal leaks of classified information. But these reports made dangerous repercussions which led to the resignation of his national security adviser. These reports are circling the Attorney General now, and may include others in the future. And this is the strongest response to the skeptics who throw doubt on the influence of the traditional press and its role.

The headlines of these two newspapers which are characterized by sedate and seriousness , and the reports of their teams provide the main material to other audio and video media outlets, and to other sites, online forums and social media. This material shapes in fact the American and International public opinion in a way that it became a nightmare anxiously watched by the White House every morning in a politically hotter than ever America.

The torrent of Trump's tweets, his intensive speeches and repeated TV appearances have not worked in reining the two newspapers as it is evident that they decided not to surrender and go on with their battle till the end. These two newspapers are still circulating, in spite of the economic challenges which face traditional press, as hundreds of thousands of issues still hit the stands every day. This goes in parallel with their thriving websites which readers cannot fully reach without paid subscription .

Taking an anti-press position is nothing but complete madness, and it is a misadventure which involves a lot of irreverence and miscalculation on the part of the US President as the first constitutional amendment in the United States calls since over two centuries ago for the freedom of speech and.

In fact, expression cannot be free unless it is crowned by a periodical professional press that is represented by permanent and regular control which deserves then the title of 'the Fourth Authority' as it has always been termed.

Mr Trump cannot go on in his intransigence and insistence on waging a desperate war. If only his media team advises him to review his costly position. Now after the new president's first weeks in the White House, we can say that there are two newspapers that govern Washington 's decision and affect it more than the President himself! A greeting to the ruling press.

By Mohammad Al-Husseini

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