Trump administration damages press freedom around the world: Journalists

A top US State Department official has defended President Donald Trump's characterisation of certain American media outlets as "fake news" in a Singapore conference in the face of objection from journalists around the world.

“The president has been very clear in calling out unfair or inaccurate news when he sees it as it is his right to do,” said Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Michelle Giuda during the international media conference of East West Center that ended on Wednesday.

Journalists from the US, Asia and the Pacific joined the conference.

Tom Grundy, the top editor at Hong Kong Free Press, a nonprofit news outlet known for standing up to media repression, has said nothing has done more to damage press freedom around the world than the current US administration has.

"The White House has emboldened authoritarian leaders with its fake news narrative," he told The Washington Times.

“Just Google the term 'fake news' and see how it has come into vogue in many countries,” added Cherian George, a journalism professor at Hong Kong Baptist University.

“This term has been used to target journalism and it's very widespread in Asia, including in India where the mainstream press is really defensive as a result of an assault by [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi.”

The State Department official, Giuda, said one of the “great things and most powerful things about the United States is that we can have this debate”.

"It's for the news (media) to now report on (the issue) and it's out there and we're having a conversation about it and a healthy dialogue about it."

Former USA Today Managing Editor Donna Leinwand Leger, who moderated that panel discussion, questioned whether the State Department is concerned that Trump's rhetoric "empowers other leaders to act the same way and squelch press freedom."

Giuda said US diplomats serving under Trump have not held back from "calling out for freedom of the press" in nations such as Malaysia, which made international headlines in April by passing an anti-fake news law widely criticised as a tool for authorities to clamp down on opposition media.

With a newly elected administration in Malaysia now vowing to clarify the law amid public outrage, Giuda asserted that US diplomats have also "been clear in calling out and speaking to other governments" about the need to uphold media freedoms, regardless of the debate over fake news playing out in America.

Giuda said Trump has fuelled a necessary debate on the responsibilities of the news media to report fairly and objectively.

What the president has done is spark a "great conversation," said Giuda, who was a senior vice president at the corporate communications firm Weber Shandwick before joining the State Department earlier this year.

"White House press briefings still go on, the Department of State still has press briefings," she said. "Journalists still have access to the United States government and we don't inhibit them in any way. So, it's up to the American people to decide."

But, the Washington Times said non-US reporters said they feared Americans may not appreciate the impact Trump's words have on their freedom to operate back home.

One South Asian journalist said Trump's comments and tweets on the media have made the journalist's own government less fearful of being called out by Washington for cracking down on free speech.

The reporter, who spoke to Washington Times, asked that the home country not be named, saying, “If my name appears in your article, I'll be in hot water with my government when I get home.”