Unable to quash unfavorable reporting by slinging schoolyard taunts and taking away access, the Trump administration has taken a new tack: putting a target on individual journalists, under the guise of calling out “media bias.”
Last week the White House debuted a so-called media bias portal on its website that catalogs alleged “false and misleading stories.” Its database—titled the “Offender Hall of Shame”—is searchable by publication and reporter, and flags reports for offenses such as “misrepresentation” and “left-wing lunacy.” On Tuesday, the administration added a “tipline” to the initiative: “Help expose the worst of the worst,” the page reads. “If you know of any media outlet misrepresenting the Trump Administration, and skewing the truth, link the article below for our team to review it!”
As of Friday afternoon, there were 39 “claims” recorded on the site. Among them: a New York Times report on the 79-year-old Donald Trump’s health and stamina (“bias” and “malpractice”) and several reports about the president’s recent suggestion that Democrats should be executed for publishing a video encouraging military personnel not to obey unlawful orders (Trump simply “called for them to be held accountable” for “inciting sedition,” according to the White House). The Washington Post on Thursday was named “media offender of the week” for its reporting on the second strike the United States conducted on an alleged drug boat in September to kill two men who had survived the first attack—a potential war crime that has led even some Republicans to express concerns, and that has intensified pressure on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The White House claims the Post “published an unsubstantiated lie to undermine the Department of War’s anti-terrorist operations.” But to some media figures, what the White House is actually doing with its stunt is obvious: It’s the “wrongful and intentional targeting of journalists by government officials for exercising a constitutionally protected right,” as Post editor Matt Murray said in a statement Thursday night. “The Washington Post will not be dissuaded and will continue to report rigorously and accurately in service to all of America.”
Indeed, the campaign—which includes a cringey Spotify Wrapped–style video of “fake news”—is an obvious intimidation effort. One editor whose publication made the White House’s “media offender” database told me his reporter has been subjected to “days and days and days of emails” after being named on the site—an onslaught of “disgusting, hateful shit.”
