Hundreds of US newspapers have launched a coordinated defence of press freedom and a rebuke of US President Donald Trump for denouncing some media organisations as enemies of the American people.

The Boston Globe and the New York Times took part along with more than 350 other newspapers of all sizes, including some in states that Mr Trump won during the 2016 presidential election.

The Globe said it coordinated publication among the newspapers and carried details of it on a database on its website.

Each paper ran an editorial, which is usually an unsigned article that reflects the opinion of an editorial board and is separate from the news and other sections in a paper.

The Globe's editorial accused Mr Trump of carrying out a "sustained assault on the free press."

"The greatness of America is dependent on the role of a free press to speak the truth to the powerful," it said.

"To label the press 'the enemy of the people' is as un-American as it is dangerous to the civic compact we have shared for more than two centuries."

Mr Trump has frequently criticised journalists and described news reports that contradict his opinion or policy positions as "fake" news.

He lashed out again today, tweeting "THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA IS THE OPPOSITION PARTY. It is very bad for our Great Country....BUT WE ARE WINNING!"

THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA IS THE OPPOSITION PARTY. It is very bad for our Great Country....BUT WE ARE WINNING! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2018

His comments reflect a view held by many conservatives that most newspapers and other news outlets distort, make up or omit facts because of a bias against them.

A representative for the White House could not immediately be reached for comment on the editorials.

The New York Times editorial said it was right to criticise the news media for underplaying or overplaying stories or forgetting something wrong in a story.

"News reporters and editors are human, and make mistakes. Correcting them is core to our job," it said.

But insisting that truths you don't like are 'fake news' is dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy. And calling journalists the 'enemy of the people' is dangerous, period."

The Kansas City Star in Missouri, which Mr Trump won in the 2016 presidential election, in its editorial also compared Mr Trump’s comments on the media to Stalin’s silencing of his critics. It took issue with the term "fake news".

"Everywhere in the country, any matter that an official doesn’t want to talk about or that a reader doesn’t want to hear about is ‘fake news’ now," the Star said in its editorial, which ran online yesterday.

Today's coordinated editorials were criticised by some in the media, including a CBS News commentary that described them as a "self-defeating act of journalistic group think."

"Seriously Who's going to be persuaded by this effort, or be impressed that a few hundred newspapers can hum the same tune? Who's even going to notice?" CBS News' commentary asked.

In January, US Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican from Arizona, said Mr Trump had embraced the despotic language of former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.</s>Omarosa Manigault Newman just released her tell-all book Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House and it’s packed full of endless accusations. Now she has a new accusation, the reality star claims her former BFF and President of the United States hit on her.

See Also: President Donald Trump’s Voter Fraud Claims Could Lead To More Voter Suppression

Earlier tonight, Omarosa called into the “Joe Madison The Black Eagle” on Sirius XM for an interview with the legendary radio host. The former White House staffer continued her narrative that she was “blind-sighted” by Trump, even though it was clear that he was a racist. For the last question, Joe Madison asked, “Has Donald Trump ever hit on you?”

Madison interjected, “Yeah, well, you are a woman. Has Donald Trump ever hit on you?”

Omarosa answered, “Yes, I’m included in that number of women who Donald Trump has said inappropriate things, has looked at inappropriately.” See the tweet below:

Omarosa has always denied having any sexual relationship with Trump. In February, when Omarosa was on “Celebrity Big Brother,” reality star Brandi Glanville asked her if she slept with Trump. Omarosa responded with, “Hell no! Brandi! Oh my God — that is horrible!”

Brandi said, “Apparently a lot of girls do!” Omarosa deflected and added, “There’s somebody in the White House who is sleeping around with everybody.”

In March, once Brandi was booted from the house, she appeared on E! and was asked if she thought Omarosa was telling the truth, she said, “Nope! I don’t think so! Like, how would they have that relationship for so long and he just keeps bringing her back…I don’t know. I’ve heard a lot of rumors, but listen, you never know what it’s true — but I needed to know.”

In January, former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Claudia Jordan said she heard about “inappropriateness” between the two.

Nonetheless, this is the first time Omarosa has said that Trump hit on her. All of this begs the question, if you knew he was a racist and said “inappropriate things” to you, why did you continue to work for him?

Expect an avalanche of tweets from Mr. President by the morning.

Meet Jogger Joe, The Man Who Took Racist Cue From BBQ Becky In Tossing Homeless Man’s Clothes

Trump-Supporting DA Calls ‘Ghetto’ Maxine Waters A ‘Bitch,’ Can’t Believe She Hasn’t Been Shot

This Colin Kaepernick Retweet Says Everything You Need To Know About The NFL Players’ Anthem Grievance

Omarosa Claims Donald Trump Hit On Her was originally published on newsone.com</s>Omarosa Manigault Newman just released her tell-all book Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House and it’s packed full of endless accusations. Now she has a new accusation, the reality star claims her former BFF and President of the United States hit on her.

See Also: President Donald Trump’s Voter Fraud Claims Could Lead To More Voter Suppression

Earlier tonight, Omarosa called into the “Joe Madison The Black Eagle” on Sirius XM for an interview with the legendary radio host. The former White House staffer continued her narrative that she was “blind-sighted” by Trump, even though it was clear that he was a racist. For the last question, Joe Madison asked, “Has Donald Trump ever hit on you?”

Madison interjected, “Yeah, well, you are a woman. Has Donald Trump ever hit on you?”

Omarosa answered, “Yes, I’m included in that number of women who Donald Trump has said inappropriate things, has looked at inappropriately.” See the tweet below:

Omarosa has always denied having any sexual relationship with Trump. In February, when Omarosa was on “Celebrity Big Brother,” reality star Brandi Glanville asked her if she slept with Trump. Omarosa responded with, “Hell no! Brandi! Oh my God — that is horrible!”

Brandi said, “Apparently a lot of girls do!” Omarosa deflected and added, “There’s somebody in the White House who is sleeping around with everybody.”

In March, once Brandi was booted from the house, she appeared on E! and was asked if she thought Omarosa was telling the truth, she said, “Nope! I don’t think so! Like, how would they have that relationship for so long and he just keeps bringing her back…I don’t know. I’ve heard a lot of rumors, but listen, you never know what it’s true — but I needed to know.”

In January, former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Claudia Jordan said she heard about “inappropriateness” between the two.

Nonetheless, this is the first time Omarosa has said that Trump hit on her. All of this begs the question, if you knew he was a racist and said “inappropriate things” to you, why did you continue to work for him?

Expect an avalanche of tweets from Mr. President by the morning.

Meet Jogger Joe, The Man Who Took Racist Cue From BBQ Becky In Tossing Homeless Man’s Clothes

Trump-Supporting DA Calls ‘Ghetto’ Maxine Waters A ‘Bitch,’ Can’t Believe She Hasn’t Been Shot

This Colin Kaepernick Retweet Says Everything You Need To Know About The NFL Players’ Anthem Grievance

Omarosa Claims Donald Trump Hit On Her was originally published on newsone.com</s>WASHINGTON — About 350 newspapers all have one thing in common on Thursday: A statement supporting the free press and decrying President Trump’s attacks against the media.

From The Martha’s Vineyard Times to the Dallas Morning News… from the Yankton County Observer in South Dakota to the Bangor Daily News in Maine… the papers are all running editorials as part of an effort first proposed by the Boston Globe earlier this month.

“This whole project is not anti-Trump. It’s really pro-press,” The Globe’s editorial says.

Each paper wrote its own editorial. The campaign is significant because it moves the conversation about Trump’s attacks out of Washington and New York and into communities across the country.

Some of the participants are emphasizing the local nature of most news coverage, and saying Trump’s extreme rhetoric — labeling journalists “enemies of the people,” for instance — hurts everyone, not just the political reporters who enrage him the most.

In Belen, New Mexico, the Valencia County News-Bulletin wrote that “We are not the enemy; We are the people.”

In Clinton, Arkansas, the Van Buren County Democrat said Trump’s “enemy” talk is disappointing: “Words, after all, matter — a point we prove every week. And those words, from that pulpit, are unacceptable and utterly, utterly, wrong.”

In Athens, Ohio, the Athens News pointed out that local officials inspired by Trump are increasingly going “on the attack.”

And the editorial in Benson, Minnesota’s Swift County Monitor News was titled “Attacks On Journalists Will Lead To Violence.”

A handful of radio and TV stations are also airing editorials on Thursday. But the effort mostly involves newspapers with editorial pages.

At most papers, especially big dailies, the editorial page is a separate enterprise from the newsroom. Editorials typically reflect the opinion of the publisher, not necessarily the newsroom.

But the campaign has garnered criticism from many Trump supporters, and from some media critics, because of the appearance of a coordinated attack.

“It plays into Trump’s narrative that the media are aligned against him,” San Francisco Chronicle editorial page editor John Diaz wrote.

Diaz predicted that Trump will call it “collusion” and “will attempt to cite this day of editorials to discredit critical and factual news stories in the future, even though no one involved in those pieces had anything to do with this campaign.”

On Fox News, some of Trump’s boosters have already tried to do this.

“We’re just defending the First Amendment and that shouldn’t be a controversial proposition,” Pritchard said in response to the criticism about the campaign. “This is about the media’s role as a watchdog.”

Journalists tend to be a snarky bunch, and some dismissed the chance of the editorials having much if any impact.

John Podhoretz of Commentary magazine tweeted on Thursday morning, “Can you imagine anything more boring than reading 350 coordinated editorials? Signed, a former editorial page editor.”

Perhaps. Or perhaps there is strength in numbers.

Some of the local editorials tried to differentiate between opinion hosts on TV and just-the-facts reporters in the field.

The Duluth News Tribune in Duluth, Minnesota said its editorial doubled as a “call to stop lumping together as ‘the media’ both legitimate news-gatherers and those whose practice of propaganda is meant to mislead and misinform for self-serving purposes.”

As a practical matter, Thursday’s editorials may be mostly preaching to the choir, reinforcing the positive feelings of already-loyal readers.

New polling by Quinnipiac shows that most Americans, 65%, regard the news media as an important part of democracy, not an “enemy.” But 26% of respondents, including 51% of Republicans, sided with Trump’s “enemy” rhetoric.

Press freedom groups have been sounding alarms about the threats posed by this dehumanizing language.

But some of Trump’s supporters have cheered him on, arguing that the press is abusively biased against his presidency.

The New York Times has a list of the participating papers and excerpts from some of the editorials.

Criticizing the news media “is entirely right,” The Times said in its own editorial. But “insisting that truths you don’t like are ‘fake news’ is dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy. And calling journalists the ‘enemy of the people’ is dangerous, period.”

In San Diego, the Union-Tribune paired its editorial with a full-page spread titled “How We Restore Faith in Journalism.”

“Distrust is not easy to dismantle,” the editorial said. “But journalists at The San Diego Union-Tribune and nationwide will keep advocating for a free and fair press. With this president. And the next. And the next. And the next. And all who follow.”

National outlets like The Atlantic also joined in the effort.

“The press is neither the enemy of the people nor its ally, but rather its possession,” The Atlantic wrote in a piece titled “The Freedom of the Press is Yours.”

In the days leading up to Thursday’s coordinated effort, Pritchard said it was key that each paper wrote its own message.

“The impact of Trump’s assault on journalism looks different in Boise than it does in Boston,” she wrote in the pitch to other papers. “Our words will differ. But at least we can agree that such attacks are alarming.”

About 350 newspapers in the United States will have editorials Thursday decrying President Donald Trump’s description of the media as the “enemy of the people.”

Here are some of the newspapers blasting Trump’s anti-press rhetoric.

Ames Tribune

 Freedom of the press, our democracy, at risk under Trump

The Altamont Enterprise

 Journalism needs a champion — you

The Atlantic City Weekly

 Joining in solidarity with the Boston Globe, others

Austin American-Statesman

 Journalists are watchdog neighbors, not enemy of the people

The Baltimore Sun

 News media won’t back down under pressure from president

Bangor Daily News

 The media is the enemy only if you don’t want it to know what your government is doing

The Berkshire Eagle

 Our Opinion: Trump’s assaults on press are assaults on democracy

The Bismark Tribune

 We aren’t the ‘enemy’ when covering news

The Boston Globe

 Journalists are not the enemy

Boise Weekly

 No, we’re not your enemy. Never have been. Never will be

Bozeman Daily Chronicle

 Journalists aren’t the enemy; we are you

Cape Cod Chronicle

 Tarring one journalist or media outlet as an “enemy of the people” tars us all, because we are all trying to do the same thing: report the facts.

The Chicago Sun-Times

 This newspaper is the ‘enemy’ of all that hurts ‘the people’

The Chicago Tribune

 Mr. President: We aren’t enemies of the people. We’re a check on government

The Chronicle-Express

 We are not the enemy of the people

The Commons

 Make no mistake: This attack on our free press — your free press — is deliberate and calculated

The Chronicle

 The media are not the enemy

The Columbian-Progress

 The ultimate friend of the people

The Daily Free Press

 Journalists are not the ‘enemy of the people,’ they are the people

Dallas Morning News

 We the people hold our elected officials accountable

Daily Herald 

 In midst of assaults, we must defend principles of First Amendment

Daily Hampshire Gazette

 Journalists performing public service are not the enemy

Deadline Detroit 

 We stand with our US colleagues against ‘Fake News’ claims

The Denver Post

 We are simply standing up for what we believe in as journalists

Des Moines Register

 Media are not the enemy of the people; a free press is critical to democracy

The Delaware County Daily Times

 President Trump, we are not the enemy of the people

The Daily Item

 This just in: We are not the enemy

The Elizabethtown Advocate

 We need Freedom of the Press, Not Freedom in Name Only

The Ellwood City Ledger

 Ledger joins nationwide call to action to defend attacks on journalists as ‘enemy of the American people’

Falls City Journal

 ‘We are not the enemy, we are your peers, friends, and neighbors.’

Fayetteville Observer 

 Our View: ‘Fake news’ and all the president’s taunts

The Ferndale Enterprise

 Editorial: Way ahead of the curve

The Forward

 Why an independent press matters to American Jews

Fresno Bee

 The Fresno Bee is not the enemy. We are Americans, and part of the Valley, like you

The Freeman Courier

 ‘Enemy of the people’ rhetoric damaging

The Grand Forks Herald

 This is not fake news

Hartford Courant

 Editorial: The President Wants You To Think We’re The Enemy. Here’s What We Really Do

Hays Free Press

 We are the people

Hillsboro Tribune

 The news isn’t ‘fake’ just because you see things differently

Idyllwild Town Crier

 Out Loud: Fake news, American institutions, and the presidency

Journal Star

 President Trump’s attacks on the press must stop

The Kansas City Star

 President Trump, we’re not ‘enemies of the people.’ End your war on our free press

The Lakeville Journal

 Perspective on truth, lies, respect and hate

McClatchy 

 President Trump, we’re not ‘enemies of the people.’ End your war on our free press

Miami Herald

 Trump, we’re not ‘enemies of the people.’ End your war on our free press

Mercury News 

 Editorial: President Trump, we are not the nation’s enemy

The New York Times

 A Free Press Needs You

New York Post

 Hate the press all you want — we’ll keep reporting

News and Tribune

 We are defined by purpose, not the president

News Herald 

 The First Amendment is first in line for a reason

Omaha World-Herald 

 Omaha World-Herald remains committed to our community and state

Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun Sentinel

 President Trump, the press isn’t the ‘enemy’ — it’s America’s watchdog

The Orange County Register

 The president’s dangerous dubbing of media as America’s enemy

Panama City News Herald

 We are your defense

The Post-Standard 

 Journalists are not the ‘enemy of the people’

The Plymouth Review

 This dirty war against the press must end

The Philadelphia Inquirer

 Stop the war on a free press

Queens Courier and the Ridgewood Times

 Stop attacking the press! Remember the First Amendment of our Constitution

The Register-Mail 

 We believe in power of good journalism

The Ripon Commonwealth Press

 One thing worse than the ‘enemies of the American people’ …

Real Change News

 There has never been a more critical time to engage in free speech

The San Diego Union-Tribune

 How we restore faith in journalism

The Sag Harbor Express

 We Are the People

Sentinel of Gloucester County

 Call for action to protect the freedom of the press

The Sun Chronicle

 Sun Chronicle joins others in emphasizing importance of free press

Swift County Monitor-News

 Attacks on journalists will lead to violence

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

 Stand in defense of the truth. Don’t let Trump label journalists as “the enemy”

The Star Democrat

 Trump is the source, not subject, of fake news

Swift County Monitor-News

 Attacks on journalists will lead to violence

The Slo Tribune

 We’re not your enemy. We’re journalists who cover the real news of SLO County

The Star News

 Trump’s attacks on press go too far

The Star Democrat

 Your local newspaper is your neighbor

The Swellesley Report

 What’s important about this isn’t so much what we do, it’s that we can do it

Tampa Bay Times

 Journalists are friends of democracy, not the enemy

The Tribune

 We’re not your enemy. We’re journalists who cover the real news of SLO County

The Topeka Capital-Journal

 Press isn’t ‘enemy of the people’

Tri-City Herald 

 President Trump, we’re not ‘enemies of the people.’ End your war on our free press

Valencia County News Bulletin

 We are not the enemy; We are the people</s>(CNN) — About 350 newspapers in the United States had editorials Thursday decrying President Donald Trump’s description of the media as the “enemy of the people.”

Here are some of the newspapers blasting Trump’s anti-press rhetoric.

Anchorage Daily News

 Why attacks on free speech and the free press are so dangerous

The Arizona Daily Star

 The free press is not the ‘enemy of the people’

The Arizona Republic

 Journalists, don’t let Trump’s attacks on media keep us from doing our job

Fresno Bee

 The Fresno Bee is not the enemy. We are Americans, and part of the Valley, like you

Idyllwild Town Crier

 Out Loud: Fake news, American institutions, and the presidency

Mercury News 

 Editorial: President Trump, we are not the nation’s enemy

The Ferndale Enterprise

 Editorial: Way ahead of the curve

The Long Beach Post

 The media as ‘your enemy’ is perhaps Trump’s biggest lie

The Orange County Register

 The president’s dangerous dubbing of media as America’s enemy

The San Diego Union-Tribune

 How we restore faith in journalism

The San Luis Obispo Tribune

 We’re not your enemy. We’re journalists who cover the real news of SLO County

The Denver Post

 We are simply standing up for what we believe in as journalists

Hartford Courant

 Editorial: The President Wants You To Think We’re The Enemy. Here’s What We Really Do

The Lakeville Journal

 Perspective on truth, lies, respect and hate

Miami Herald

 Trump, we’re not ‘enemies of the people.’ End your war on our free press

News Herald 

 The First Amendment is first in line for a reason

We are your defense

Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun Sentinel

 President Trump, the press isn’t the ‘enemy’ — it’s America’s watchdog

Tampa Bay Times

 Journalists are friends of democracy, not the enemy

The Gainesville Sun

 We’re not the enemy of the people

The Palm Beach Post

 In defense of democracy’s defenders

The Telegraph

 President Trump, we’re not ‘enemies of the people.’ End your war on our free press

Valdosta Daily Times

 No fake news here, no enemy of the people

Boise Weekly

 No, we’re not your enemy. Never have been. Never will be

Daily Herald 

 In midst of assaults, we must defend principles of First Amendment

Journal Star

 President Trump’s attacks on the press must stop

The Chicago Sun-Times

 This newspaper is the ‘enemy’ of all that hurts ‘the people’

The Chicago Tribune

 Mr. President: We aren’t enemies of the people. We’re a check on government

The Register-Mail 

 We believe in power of good journalism

News and Tribune

 We are defined by purpose, not the president

South Bend Tribune

 We’re not your enemy. And there’s nothing fake about what we do

Ames Tribune

 Freedom of the press, our democracy, at risk under Trump

Des Moines Register

 Media are not the enemy of the people; a free press is critical to democracy

The Topeka Capital-Journal

 Press isn’t ‘enemy of the people’

Bangor Daily News

 The media is the enemy only if you don’t want it to know what your government is doing

The Baltimore Sun

 News media won’t back down under pressure from president

The Star Democrat

 Your local newspaper is your neighbor

Trump is the source, not subject, of fake news

The Berkshire Eagle

 Our Opinion: Trump’s assaults on press are assaults on democracy

The Boston Globe

 Journalists are not the enemy

Cape Cod Chronicle

 Tarring one journalist or media outlet as an “enemy of the people” tars us all, because we are all trying to do the same thing: report the facts.

The Daily Free Press

 Journalists are not the ‘enemy of the people,’ they are the people

The Swellesley Report

 What’s important about this isn’t so much what we do, it’s that we can do it

The Sun Chronicle

 Sun Chronicle joins others in emphasizing importance of free press

Deadline Detroit 

 We stand with our US colleagues against ‘Fake News’ claims

Detroit Free Press

 Defending my profession amid ‘enemy of the people’ rhetoric

Swift County Monitor-News

 Attacks on journalists will lead to violence

The Columbian-Progress

 The ultimate friend of the people

The Kansas City Star

 President Trump, we’re not ‘enemies of the people.’ End your war on our free press

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

 Stand in defense of the truth. Don’t let Trump label journalists as “the enemy”

Bozeman Daily Chronicle

 Journalists aren’t the enemy; we are you

Falls City Journal

 ‘We are not the enemy, we are your peers, friends, and neighbors.’

Omaha World-Herald 

 Omaha World-Herald remains committed to our community and state

Daily Hampshire Gazette

 Journalists performing public service are not the enemy

The Atlantic City Weekly

 Joining in solidarity with the Boston Globe, others

The Star-Ledger

 Think your enemy is the press? So does every tyrant and corrupt politician

Sentinel of Gloucester County

 Call for action to protect the freedom of the press

Las Cruces Sun-News

 We join effort to stand up for a free press

The Santa Fe New Mexican

 Here since the beginning — a free press

Valencia County News Bulletin

 We are not the enemy; We are the people

The Altamont Enterprise

 Journalism needs a champion — you

The Chronicle-Express

 We are not the enemy of the people

The Post-Standard 

 Journalists are not the ‘enemy of the people’

Queens Courier and the Ridgewood Times

 Stop attacking the press! Remember the First Amendment of our Constitution

New York Post

 Hate the press all you want — we’ll keep reporting

The New York Times

 A Free Press Needs You

The Sag Harbor Express

 We Are the People

Las Vegas Sun

 Take it from the Founding Fathers: Journalists are Public Ally No. 1

Fayetteville Observer 

 Our View: ‘Fake news’ and all the president’s taunts

The News & Observer

 President Trump, we’re not ‘enemies of the people.’ End your war on our free press.

The Star News

 Trump’s attacks on press go too far

The Bismarck Tribune

 We aren’t the ‘enemy’ when covering news

The Grand Forks Herald

 This is not fake news

The Chronicle

 The media are not the enemy

Hillsboro Tribune

 The news isn’t ‘fake’ just because you see things differently

The Daily Item

 This just in: We are not the enemy

The Delaware County Daily Times

 President Trump, we are not the enemy of the people

The Elizabethtown Advocate

 We need Freedom of the Press, Not Freedom in Name Only

The Ellwood City Ledger

 Ledger joins nationwide call to action to defend attacks on journalists as ‘enemy of the American people’

The Philadelphia Inquirer

 Stop the war on a free press

Journalists are hardly ‘the enemy of the people’

The Freeman Courier

 ‘Enemy of the people’ rhetoric damaging

Austin American-Statesman

 Journalists are watchdog neighbors, not enemy of the people

Dallas Morning News

 We the people hold our elected officials accountable

Hays Free Press

 We are the people

Houston Chronicle

 The real enemy of the people? It’s not the press

The Victoria Advocate

 Enemy of the people? Don’t worry, we have your back

Waco-Tribune Herald

 Facts are not fake, newspapers are not the enemy

The Salt Lake Tribune

 We are not the enemy of the people

The Commons

 Make no mistake: This attack on our free press — your free press — is deliberate and calculated

Henrico Citizen

 The press is not your enemy

Tri-City Herald 

 President Trump, we’re not ‘enemies of the people.’ End your war on our free press

Real Change News

 There has never been a more critical time to engage in free speech

The Plymouth Review

 This dirty war against the press must end

The Ripon Commonwealth Press

 One thing worse than the ‘enemies of the American people’ …

Center for Public Integrity Board of Directors condemns President Trump’s attacks on the press

McClatchy 

 President Trump, we’re not ‘enemies of the people.’ End your war on our free press

The Forward

 Why an independent press matters to American Jews</s>LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hundreds of U.S. newspapers on Thursday launched a coordinated defense of press freedom and a rebuke of President Donald Trump for denouncing some media organizations as enemies of the American people.

“A central pillar of President Trump’s politics is a sustained assault on the free press,” said the editorial by the Boston Globe, which coordinated publication among more than 350 newspapers.

“The greatness of America is dependent on the role of a free press to speak the truth to the powerful,” the Globe said. “To label the press ‘the enemy of the people’ is as un-American as it is dangerous to the civic compact we have shared for more than two centuries.”

Each of the newspapers, including some in states that Trump won during the 2016 presidential election, ran an editorial, which is usually an unsigned article that reflects the opinion of an editorial board and is separate from the news and other sections in a paper.

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of the press.

Trump has frequently criticized journalists and described news reports that contradict his opinion or policy positions as fake news.

He lashed out again on Thursday, tweeting “THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA IS THE OPPOSITION PARTY. It is very bad for our Great Country....BUT WE ARE WINNING!”

He also wrote there was nothing he would want more for the United States than true freedom of the press, but that much of what the media published was fake news, “pushing a political agenda or just plain trying to hurt people. HONESTY WINS!”

The Republican president’s comments reflect a view held by many conservatives that most newspapers and other news outlets distort, make up or omit facts because of a bias against them.

A representative for the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the editorials.

In its editorial, the New York Times said it was correct to criticize the news media for underplaying or overplaying stories or for getting something wrong.

“News reporters and editors are human, and make mistakes. Correcting them is core to our job,” the Times said. “But insisting that truths you don’t like are ‘fake news’ is dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy. And calling journalists the ‘enemy of the people’ is dangerous, period.”

Thursday’s coordinated editorials were criticized by some in the media, including a CBS News commentary that described them as a “self-defeating act of journalistic groupthink.”

“Seriously — Who’s going to be persuaded by this effort, or be impressed that a few hundred newspapers can hum the same tune? Who’s even going to notice?” CBS News’ commentary asked.

Politico’s media critic, Jack Shafer, wrote this week that the coordinated editorial response was sure to backfire.

“It will provide Trump with circumstantial evidence of the existence of a national press cabal that has been convened solely to oppose him,” Shafer said. “Trump will reap enough fresh material to whale on the media for at least a month.”

In January, U.S. Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican from Arizona, said Trump had embraced the despotic language of former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.</s>NEW YORK (AP) — Newspapers from Maine to Hawaii pushed back against President Donald Trump’s attacks on “fake news” with a coordinated series of editorials in defense of a free press on Thursday — and, not surprisingly, Trump didn’t take it silently.

The campaign was set in motion by an editor at the Boston Globe, which argued in its own editorial that Trump’s label of the media as the enemy of the people “is as un-American as it is dangerous to the civic compact we have shared for more than two centuries.”

Trump denounced the effort on Twitter, saying the Globe was in collusion with other newspapers.

“There is nothing that I would want more for our country than true FREEDOM OF THE PRESS,” the president typed. “The fact is that the press is FREE to write and say anything it wants, but much of what it says is FAKE NEWS, pushing a political agenda or just plain trying to hurt people.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a resolution with no objections stating that “the press is not the enemy of the people.”

Cognizant of heated feelings on the issue, the Globe hired extra security on Thursday, said Jane Bowman, newspaper spokeswoman. “Journalistic outlets have had threats throughout time but it’s the president’s rhetoric that gives us the most concern,” Bowman said.

It was not clear how many newspapers participated. Marjorie Pritchard, the editor who launched the campaign, said earlier in the week that some 350 news organizations indicated they would, but she did not immediately return messages on Thursday. Even with the coordinated effort, there was some significant blowback from newspapers that wrote to say they would not participate.

The Radio Television Digital News Association called on broadcasters and web sites to express support. Since Monday, there have been 2,240 mentions of either “First Amendment” or “free press” by broadcasters across the country, said Dan Shelley, the group’s executive director. One TV station, WPSD in Paducah, Kentucky, showed a copy of the First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of the press on its screen before every commercial during newscasts, he said.

“It has been a big source of conversation all across the country,” Shelley said. “Just because people are talking about it, it’s a victory in my book.”

Editorial boards at the Portland (Maine) Press-Herald and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and many places in between weighed in to support the effort.

“The true enemies of the people — and democracy — are those who try to suffocate truth by vilifying and demonizing the messenger,” wrote the Des Moines Register in Iowa.

In St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch called journalists “the truest of patriots.” The Chicago Sun-Times said it believed most Americans know that Trump is talking nonsense. The Fayetteville (North Carolina) Observer said it hoped Trump would stop, “but we’re not holding our breath.”

The Morning News of Savannah, Georgia, said it was a confidant of the people.

“Like any true friend, we don’t always tell you what you want to hear,” the Morning News said. “Our news team presents the happenings and issues in this community through the lens of objectivity. And like any true friend, we refuse to mislead you. Our reporters and editors strive for fairness.”

The New York Times encouraged readers to subscribe to a local newspaper. “We’re all in this together,” the Times said.

That last sentiment made some journalists skittish. Some newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Times-Picayune in New Orleans, the Rome (N.Y.) Daily Sentinel and the Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch, contained editorials or columns explaining why they weren’t joining the Globe’s effort. Some worried that it played into the hands of Trump and his supporters who think the media is out to get him. The idea of a coordinated campaign simply left others cold, with one newspaper referencing a longtime rivalry.

“We prize our independence, both from government and from other media outlets,” the New York Daily News wrote. “Coordination, especially with Boston, isn’t in our nature.”

There was also some scolding of the press — from the press — for letting distaste for Trump show up where it shouldn’t in news stories.

“Just as his lack of restraint has often been the president’s self-inflicted wound, the bias of some of the press has hurt journalism, at the very moment when it is most needed to save itself,” said the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It is time for a truce.”

It remains unclear how much sway the effort will have. Newspaper editorial boards overwhelmingly opposed Trump’s election in 2016. Polls show Republicans have grown more negative toward the news media in recent years: Pew Research Center said 85 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said in June 2017 that the news media has a negative effect on the country, up from 68 percent in 2010.

At the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, where five staff members were killed by a gunman in June, editors said Thursday they were not participating in the effort because they care more about what the community thinks than the president. But Trump can do some good by giving a Presidential Medal of Freedom to one of the slain employees, Wendi Winters, who had tried to stop the gunman by charging at him before being killed, they said.

“The president could use the occasion of presenting the medal to Wendi’s family as a moment of change in his approach toward those whose job it is to question his presidency,” the newspaper’s editorial board wrote. “He could honor her work by expressing his belief in the importance of journalism to our country — even when he feels unfairly treated.”</s>Hundreds Of Newspapers Denounce Trump's Attacks On Media In Coordinated Editorials

More than 300 news publications across the country are joining together to defend the role of a free press and denounce President Trump's ongoing attacks on the news media in coordinated editorials publishing Thursday, according a tally by The Boston Globe.

The project was spearheaded by editorial staff at the Globe, who write, "This relentless assault on the free press has dangerous consequences. We asked editorial boards from around the country – liberal and conservative, large and small – to join us today to address this fundamental threat in their own words."

Editorials are typically written by opinion writers and are considered separate from organizations' news coverage. NPR, for example, has a separate "opinion" category.

Trump made bashing the news media — "horrible, horrendous people" — a staple of his candidacy and a constant throughout his presidency.

He's tweeted at least seven times since June referring to the news media in some way as the "enemy of the people."

A slim majority of Republican respondents, 51 percent, consider the news media the "enemy of the people" in a poll released Tuesday by Quinnipiac University. Thirty-six percent of Republicans thought the media were "an important part of democracy."

The question asked, "Which comes closer to your point of view: the news media is the enemy of the people, or the news media is an important part of democracy?" Overall, 65 percent of U.S. voters say the media are an important part of democracy, according to Quinnipiac.

The poll asked respondents if they were concerned that the president's attacks would lead to violence against people who work in media. Fifty-two percent of respondents said they were not concerned, while 44 percent said they were.

Reporters themselves feel increasingly at risk of violence — in addition to receiving threatening messages.

"'I hope you get raped and killed,' one person wrote to me just this week," MSNBC's Katy Tur said on air recently. "'Raped and killed.' Not just me, but a couple of my female colleagues as well." She added that the letter ended with "MAGA," short for Trump's slogan, "Make America Great Again."

Earlier this month, CNN's Jim Acosta pressed White House press secretary Sarah Sanders to say the news media are not the enemy, which she would not do.

Acosta tweeted a video on July 31 he said was from a Trump rally, featuring Trump supporters giving the middle finger to the camera and one person yelling, "stop lying."

Some reporters say they're receiving heightened security measures when covering Trump rallies, according to Politico, though many outlets don't comment publicly about such matters.

Thirty-one journalists have been attacked so far in 2018, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. In June, five employees were killed in the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis by a man with a longstanding grudge.

In a column called "A Free Press Needs You," The New York Times' editorial board writes that "Criticizing the news media — for underplaying or overplaying stories, for getting something wrong — is entirely right. News reporters and editors are human, and make mistakes. Correcting them is core to our job. But insisting that truths you don't like are 'fake news' is dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy. And calling journalists the 'enemy of the people' is dangerous, period."

Small publications across the country participated as well.

Charlie Smith of The Columbian-Progress of Columbia, Miss., wrote that newspapers "are the ultimate friend of the people. To attack them is to attack our own selves."

"Americans may not like the news they see or hear but they should not hold that against those who report it," TriCorner News from The Lakeville Journal Company in Lakeville, Conn., writes. "In short, don't shoot the messenger."

Editorial pages have criticized Trump before. The current effort "is sure to backfire," writes Jack Shafer in Politico. "It will provide Trump with circumstantial evidence of the existence of a national press cabal that has been convened solely to oppose him. When the editorials roll off the press on Thursday, all singing from the same script, Trump will reap enough fresh material to [wail] on the media for at least a month."</s>LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hundreds of U.S. newspapers devoted print space on Thursday to a coordinated defense of press freedom and a rebuke of President Donald Trump for saying some media organizations are enemies of the American people.

The Boston Globe and the New York Times took part in the push along with more than 350 other newspapers of all sizes including some in states that Trump won during the 2016 presidential election.

The Globe said it coordinated publication among the newspapers and carried details of it on a database on its website.

Each paper ran an editorial, which is usually an unsigned article that reflects the opinion of an editorial board on a particular subject and is separate from the news and other sections in a paper.

The Globe’s editorial accused Trump of carrying out a “sustained assault on the free press.”

“The greatness of America is dependent on the role of a free press to speak the truth to the powerful,” the Globe’s editorial said. “To label the press ‘the enemy of the people’ is as un-American as it is dangerous to the civic compact we have shared for more than two centuries.”

Trump has frequently criticized journalists and described news reports that contradict his opinion or policy positions as fake news.

In February 2017, for example, he tweeted that “The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American people!”

His comments reflect a view held by many conservatives that most newspapers and other news outlets distort, make up or omit facts because of a bias against them.

The New York Times editorial said it is right to criticize the news media for underplaying or overplaying stories or for getting something wrong in a story.

“News reporters and editors are human, and make mistakes. Correcting them is core to our job,” it said. “But insisting that truths you don’t like are ‘fake news’ is dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy. And calling journalists the ‘enemy of the people’ is dangerous, period.”

A representative for the White House could not immediately be reached for comment on the editorials.

In January, U.S. Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican from Arizona, said Trump had embraced the despotic language of former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.</s>NEW YORK, Aug 16 (APP):Hundreds of US newspapers devoted space on Thursday to a coordinated defence of press freedom and a rebuke of President Donald Trump for saying some media organizations are enemies of the American people.

 The Boston Globe and The New York Times took part in the push along with more than 350 other newspapers of all sizes including some in states that Trump won during the 2016 presidential election.

 The Boston Globe, which led and coordinated the media campaign, wrote that “today in the United States we have a president who has created a mantra that members of the media who do not blatantly support the policies of the current US administration are the ‘enemy of the people’.”

 “This is one of the many lies that have been thrown out by this president, much like an old-time charlatan threw out ‘magic’ dust or water on a hopeful crowd,” its editorial, entitled “Journalists are not the Enemy,” said.

 In July, President Trump blasted The New York Times and The Washington Post as “anti-Trump haters” who “do nothing but write bad stories even on very positive achievements” they will never change.”

 The terms “fake news” and “enemy of the people” have often been used by Trump in connection any critical news reports. The president even admitted in a tweet in May 2018 that he considered any negative news regarding his person or administration “fake news.”

 In another tweet on Thursday, he denounced the “fake news” media as the “opposition party.”

 The Globe also argued that Trump’s treatment of the press was encouraging the world’s authoritarian leaders to suppress free journalism.

 “Replacing a free media with a state-run media has always been a first order of business for any corrupt regime taking over a country,” the Globe wrote.

 The New York Times, one of the newspapers most targeted by Trump, pointed out the dangers of blanket criticism of the press both to democracy and to journalists themselves.

 “[I]nsisting that truths you don’t like are ‘fake news’ is dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy. And calling journalists the ‘enemy of the people’ is dangerous, period,” the Times wrote.

 The outgoing UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, said in an interview with the Guardian newspaper this month that Trump’s classing of journalists as enemies was “getting very close to incitement to violence.”

 Here is a sampling of what the newspapers said:

 The New York Times chose the headline A Free Press Needs You, calling Mr Trump’s attacks “dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy”. It published excerpts from dozens more publications beneath

 The New York Post – a pro-Trump tabloid – answered the Globe’s call by saying “Who are we to disagree?” adding: “It may be frustrating to argue that just because we print inconvenient truths doesn’t mean that we’re fake news, but being a journalist isn’t a popularity contest. All we can do is to keep reporting.” But it also said: “Will this make a difference? Not one whit”

 The Philadelphia Inquirer said its city was the birthplace of US democracy, writing: “If the press is not free from reprisal, punishment or suspicion for unpopular views or information, neither is the country. Neither are its people”

 Opinion writers at McClatchy put out an editorial for the 30 daily newspapers it runs, including the Miami Herald, saying they hardly ever spoke with one voice but were doing so now. It said, “It’s how Joseph Stalin’s critics were marked for execution.”

 Another paper to join the campaign was the Topeka Capital-Journal which said of Trump’s attack on the media: “It’s sinister. It’s destructive. And it must end now.” The paper was one of the few to endorse Trump in 2016.

 Trump’s supporters said the fact that he won without such media endorsements may cast doubt on whether the Globe’s campaign would actually dent his support.

 There have been some dissenting voices to the Globe’s campaign.

 Tom Tradup at the conservative website Townhall.com panned the Globe’s “pathetic bid to pretend it is still relevant”, writing: “I would not presume to tell anyone else what to think or what to do. But as for me – and I suspect many others – I won’t be putting any coins in any newspaper box August 16th.”

 The Wall Street Journal declined to take part. An earlier piece by James Freeman argued Trump was entitled to free speech and the Globe’s drive ran counter to the very independence it was seeking.
In coordinated editorials defending press freedom, hundreds of U.S. newspapers rebuke President Donald Trump's repeated accusations that the news media reports "fake news" and that journalists are "enemies of the people".