Shocking developments. For example, when you hear these words, are you still shocked . Have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth. That is how it began on trumps very first day waking up in the white house, he turned on the tv and he turned angry at what he saw. Journalists were pointing out that the audience for his inauguration was smaller than obamas, so trump fired backings, exaggerating his crowd size and then sending sean spicer out to defend him. Trump even described the inauguration weather inaccurate and said the skies became really sunny after his speech and it remained cloudy and started to rain a little bit. I think thats a metaphor for the year. Trump painted a picture of the american carnage and said he alone could fix it, believing his world was always sunny. When trump played loose with the facts and journalists challenged with him, he couldnt stand it. Heres an example youve probably forgotten. This is from february. The murder rate in our country is the highest its been in 47 years, did you know that, 47 years . I used to use that i would say that in a speech and everybody was surprised because the press doesnt tell it like it is. It wasnt to their advantage to say that. It wasnt to our advantage to say that because it wasnt true. Obviously Fact Checkers jumped into action trying to counter the claim that he was making about the murder rate. But, you know, trumps really cynical sinister view of journalism that we dont really want to tell the people the truth, it came through in his comments all year long. Heres another example. Radical islamic terrorists are determined to strike our homeland. Its gotten to a point where its not even being reported, and in many cases vet, very Dishonest Press doesnt want to report it. They have their reasons, and you understand that. There he is telling members of the u. S. Military that the press was intentionally downplaying, even covering up terrorist attacks. If anything, the opposite is true. All year long i heard anchors and reporters and editors reaching for new ways to say thats not true and that makes no sense, and all year long i heard the president coming up with new ways to call us the enemy. We are fighting the fake news. Its fake, phony, fake. A few days ago i called the fake news the enemy of the people, and they are. That was february. Now lets fast forward all the way to august. Truly dishonest people in the media and the fake media. They make up stories. They have no sources in many cases. They say a source says. There is no such thing, but they dont report the facts. Some people have gotten numb to this, but these are really sinister claims from a world leader and totally unsupported by the real facts. Heck, there were times this year that i used white house aides has Anonymous Sources because the aides would not speak on the record. Journalists dont go around making up sources but the onus was and is on us in the press to better explain why we do what we do, for example, why we agree to keep sources anonymous sometimes, how weve had our facts. Trumps daily media attacks have been a challenge and an opportunity so when he says Something Like this its frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write and people should look into it. Yes, yes, look in it. I think the more that you know about how newsrooms know and journalists work are the more likely you are to know that its not fake. One of the president s favorite words, fake. He will told his supporters all year long that the press was out to get him, out to take him down and many people believe it. The country is split on this question, and its an ongoing issue for newsrooms. So lets bring in an allstar panel of decisionmakers and newsroom leaders, sally busaby is the executive editor of the associated press, john avlon is daily editor of the daily beast requests as well as analyst here at known and Joanne Lipman is with the usa network and editor of usa today. And author of the upcoming back thats what she said. Lets talk about trumps attacks on the media and the responses. This is your first year as editor of the a. P. But before that you were at the a. P. For many years. Was this a challenging year to become an editor . This was a challenging year, no question. Both the extent of the interest in the trump story globally, and i think thats one thing thats very important, not just americans who pay an enormous amount of attention to this. People all over the world Pay Attention to the Trump Presidency and its difficult to get factual information out of this administration. Its provided a lot of new challenges to reporters. Yeah. But its also been such an important year, so important for the values that journalists hold dear, the importance of facts, and in some instances there have been a lot of challenges. Its been sort of an inspiring year in a sense in a way that i personally believe that consumers of news are actually seeking out Good Journalism and actually understand its values so for many our journalists theres been affirmation too as well. Joanne, are you seeing that . Were seeing there an interest in legit journalism, but i would also say, one of the most important things within the media itself is to understand, is to not internalize what were hearing. When we have attacks on the press from the president or anyone else, its so important not to internalize that and to well, lets be honest. That happened sometimes, didnt it . People took it too personally . Not just personally, but to take on the mantle of being the enemy, which the press is not. The press our job is to shine a light in dark corners and hold the powerful to account no matter who the powerful are, and thats what we have to continue to do. Marty baron, the head of the Washington Post said were not at war with the administration, were at work. John, do you believe most people believe, that that were not at war with trump. I hope so because thats really fundamentally whats happening here. We are a guarantor of liberty. We are the not the enemy of the American People the Founding Fathers provided a check for the power grabs. People are also being remind that had they cant take democracy for granted, that the free press isnt free, and that itself has an invigorating effect that i think is the Silver Lining we can tame from all these conflicts because this is sort of advanced civics people are experiencing in real time. A lot of old civics are democracy are being pushed back at home and around the world so this is the time for the free press to stand up and citizens to stand up and get involved because the alternative is too terrible to imagine. Trump certainly has forced conversations about profound issues, right . Yeah. Were talking the most important basic values that we all may share or not share. Theres been stories this year about race and class and gender that have affected the white house, so in a way hes enabled or or encouraged some really important soulsearching. Yeah, you know, there must be a pony in here somewhere, and and i think there are Silver Linings. I do think people are taking more civic responsibility, and i think youre seeing that in subscription rates. People subscribing to newspapers and joining membership models they hadnt before. They were taking for granted news content is free, and now they understand that they need to stand up and support independent journalism, that scoops matter and Investigative Journalism matter and thats what holds power to account and theres great controversy and were beset by social media trolls and its a bit of a novelty to be attacked by the president of the United States and journalists personally but we have to realize that we have a gift of the fact that our mission is clearer than ever right now. Thinking back to january and february versus now there was a lot more anxiety in the year among journalists, a lot more uncertainty about what a Trump Administration is going to mean. Is it fair to say, sally, the worst fears that some journalists have not actually been realized . Theres not been an explosion of libel lawsuits and the press hasnt been kicked on in the west wing and cameras are still on in the Briefing Room after a period when they were turned off. Our worst fears have not been realized. Theres been truth to this. We did not get kicked out of the white house. Do i still have some concerns about, i mean, the department of justice has said that there are a lot of leaks investigations going on, for example. We have some indication that the department of justice is still looking at some ways to sort of potentially eliminate some of the protections that have guided reporters in legal fights and things like that, and a lot that have is still up in the oh. I think theres also frankly a lot of journalists have actually kept their nose to the grindstone fairly well and chased facts, and i think that that has been the best thing thats happened this year. Every time we get distracted into sort of what i would call not terribly important fights with the white house, it takes us away from our main mission which is to go out there and find out what is actually going on. What is the impact of the policy changes that are being made . What is happening inside the white house . What is actually factually happening . And within our organization weve tried to say to not get distracted by some of these more, you know, sensational but not necessarily as important disputes that have been going on and try to keep your focus on what is really happening in this administration and your duty to report that. Thats opinion the most important thing i think this year that ive repeated again and again to our newsrooms is that weve got to keep our eye on the ball, on the issues that are important, on the president s actions, not Simple Police on the president s tweets. A researcher found that since 2015 the new president has posted about 1,000 antimedia messages on twitter so it does pile up. It does have an effect. John, think its a poisonous thing that hes constantly calling real outlets fake news but to some degree thats also a distraction. Yeah. Its absolutely our responsibility not to be distracted by things that are intended to be distractions, to focus on the facts what have actually impacts people, not just radioactive rhetoric, but, you know, the larger issue that i think we need to confront is something quite sinister and the president is an advocate, blurring the lines between fact and fiction. Fake news in the context of the 2016 campaign is something real, stories written with the intent to deceit. Sometimes for profit, sometimes for propaganda and had an impact on the election via social media. For the president to try to take that term back and direct it at credible news outlets, places filled with imperfect human beings but who do check facts, who do correct mistakes and who are pursuing truth every day what about the perception that the journalists are so sloppy and making mistakes all the time . If you watch Sean Hannitys show as often as i do you must think journalists are an evil species constantly screwing up on purpose to hurt the president . Right, and that would be false but sean hannity lives in a glass throne somewhere. In . Did have reason resign and seen errors at other major news outlets as well. Brian ross was suspended as well. Those are corrected and standards matter and when people make mistakes they take it into account. You shouldnt overcorrect because youll never please all folks. The source of the objection is an administration led by a president who lies at an uncommon rate especially compared to other president s, so this disregard for truth got to flow both ways. Its coming from the president , not from the press, and we need to remain steadfast and insisting on a factbased debate and everyone is entitled to their own opinion and not their own facts. Can i just add on the concept of fake news, something thats very dangerous as a meme. Ive instituted a rule at usa today and the usa network which is 109 local noups like the Detroit Free Press and the arizona republic. We dont use that phrase because its not correct, right. Theres false information. Theres propaganda. We need to call it what it is, but, again, by internalizing that phrase and remeeting it ourselves its a real misnomer. Its not news. Quick break. Lets keep this going after a quick commercial break. On the other side, well look back at inauguration weekend. Some of the questions that we had then and whether we have any answers now. Stay with us. Were just getting started. If hed taken tylenol, hed be stopping for more pills right now. Only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. Aleve. All day strong. But when we brought our daughter home, that was it. Now i have nicoderm cq. The nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release Technology Helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. 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Welcome back to this special edition of reliable sources, the press and the president. One of the themes of this year has been the assault on truth. The end of every year i love going back and look at what we covered and how, kind of like a selfevaluation, and when i went back and looked at january, our program from the weekend of trumps inauguration was like a time capsule. I asked a bunch of questions pertaining to the Trump White House and the media. I asked will President Trump deny reality on a daily basis . Will he make up his own false facts and fake stats and if so what are the consequences . Well, given the recent reports that hes questioned the authenticity of the access hollywood tape, i would have to say yes, there is some denial of reality. Now trumps critics say a lot of this is ultimately about maybe his own insecurities, that he wants to project a winning image. Thats why i think the single most Inconvenient Truth of the trump era, the truth he cant escape is from all the way back last year. Remember 2016, losing the popular vote to hillary clinton, losing by millions of votes contradicts all of the white houses claims about how the American People spoke and chose him so strongly. So for chump, well, he opts for an alternate reality. One. Very first leaks of the year, one of the very first things sources anonymously told reporters is back on january 23rd. It was about how trump are falsely told lawmakers that millions of illegal ballots had actually cost him the popular vote. Do you remember this . This was a big scandal . He was claiming 3 Million People had voted illegally. Actual little bill oreilly of all people asked him for proof. So you think youre going to be proven correct in that statement. Well, i think i already have. A lot of people have come out and said im correct. The data has to show that 3 million illegal voted. Forgot that. Forget all of that. Forget he said and change the the subject, but i dont think we should forget it. After all, this is part of the reason why the government set up a voter fraud commission. To this day trump continues to tout his Electoral College victory, you know, during his first and only solo press conference at the white house back in february he said he had the biggest Electoral College landslide since Ronald Reagan and during the press conference nbc Peter Alexander correct and checked on the president leading to this. Why should Americans Trust you when you accuse the information they receive of being fake when youre providing information thats well, i dont know, i was given that information. Thats absolutely not a good enough answer, but nearly a year later alexanders questions still apply. Why should Americans Trust you . Of course, that same question applies to all of us, so now my question for the panel is if truth was the biggest casualty of 2017. Still here at the table sally busby, john of a von and Joanne Lipman. John, in this choose your own news environment, do fact checks and corrections really break through . They should. They should. We need for fact checks and reality checks from anchors when people come on air and starts spinning and that applies to the press secretary and the president as well. Is truth biggest casualty of 2017 . Think its the right term. Its wounded but not dead. Okay, all right. We need to keep fighting for truth because facts do matter and we need to insist on it and when were confronted with spin, what were being confronted by the president s surrogates and staffers and the president himself goes well beyond the typical kind of spin that weve seen from former president s. Theres a steady stream of the fake stats you predicted before the inauguration and we need to confront that and that can helped turn americas civic backboefnlt the press credibility is compromises as well as we need to know that. Prmp President Trump has anything accelerated this and accelerated it. Look at how the president has communicated, twitter a popular source and what about good oldfashioned press conferences. When was the last time the president said down with the a. P. . We havent seen a big sitdown interview. Theres no question that the president has south out friendly interviewers. Other president s have done that. Its been pretty intense this year, i think, and i think the public is as, john said, its very divided in the news sources that it goes to, so you can get away with, you know, quite a lot of that and of not answering sort of honest questions. When our talking about truth though, we have to talk at a much larger context. This is not just talking about the presidency or the white house. Were talking about a year in the last couple of years where weve seen social media being weaponized by russia and by other actors. I mean, facebook acknowledged that 126 million of us, thats a third of the United States population, have been exposed to false reports posted by russian actors and by others, and so that also degrades trust. Its really this goes well beyond the white house. Russias effort to affect the election was classic, designed to muddy fact from fiction, designed to confuse people and demoralize people and thats why its so dangerous to democracy and thats why we have to fight back. The fight is happening on multiple fights right now. Its a good fight to defend democracy from misinformation but we should not take for granted the cy verrett of it because its happening from foreign actors . Its happening from the federal government. Its happening via social media. Joan, its almost christmas. Normally president s hold an end of the Year Press Conference. Does it matter that we havent seen President Trump use that solo format that other president s have in the past . You know, the president s protests and the rest of us hear from him very regularly so typically that end of the Year Press Conference raps up. Its a chance for president to talk about his hey chiefments. President trump talks directly with the population so i would expect, that you know, we hear from him every day as it is. Right. But were not able to answer questions every day other than shouting them to him when he walks to and from the helicopter. He views himself the way fdr used radio and jfk used tv. He uses twitter. And when he does give interviews its only on fox news . The confirmation boyce and environment were confronting in media, and thats also one of the real challenges because we need to all box our way out of that. We need to figure out as journalists i think thinking in a deeper way how to we onnize facts. He decided not to fill out a march madness bracket for espn and skipped the Correspondents Dinner and skipped the Kennedy Center honors ant hasnt gone on any late night shows and talk shows so its more than just talking to fox or avoiding press conferences. Hes not using the kinds of entertainment outlets arthur to reach the population. And yet at the same time i think weve seen late night comics get much more topical and political. And antitrump. Antitrump. The colbert shows resurgence, the year of the colbert show, rocketing to the top of late night because he didnt back away or talk down to the audience. We saw john oliver and jimmy kimmel getting very political about health care and personal about his child that reallyriesnatereallyrie resonated. And people soak up information that way. Panel, stick around. Much more after the break here. Well look at data involving polarization, involving people in their own bubbles and silos. What can be done to burst our bubbles. Resolution 1 binge more. Join the uncarrier, and get four unlimited lines for forty bucks each. With netflix included. Watch however you want. On your phone, tablet, or tv. Lets rock this joint i am totally blind. And non24 can make me show up too early. Or too late. Or make me feel like im not really there. Talk to your doctor, and call 8442342424. When it comes to travel, i sweat the details. Late checkout. Downalternative pillows. And of course, price. We saw john oliver and jimmy in their own bubbles and silos. Hotel without breaking a sweat. Because we now instantly. Search over 200 booking sites. To find you the lowest price. On the hotel you want. Dont sweat your booking. Tripadvisor. The latest reviews. The lowest prices. Ahh. The new guy. Whoa, he looks he looks exactly like me. No. Separated at birth much . We should switch name tags, and no one would know who was who. Jamie, you seriously think you look like him . Uh, im pretty good with comparisons. Like how progressive helps people save money by comparing rates, even if were not the lowest. Even if were not the lowest. Whoa wow. I mean, the outfit helps, but pretty great. Look at us. Wow. I mean, the outfit helps, but pretty great. I was wondering if an electric toothbrusthan a manual. S better and my hygienist says it does but theyre not all the same. Who knew . I had no idea. So she said, look for one thats shaped like a dental tool with a round brush head. Go pro with oralb. Oralbs rounded brush head surrounds each tooth to gently remove more plaque. And unlike sonicare, oralb is the only electric toothbrush brand accepted by the American Dental Association for its effectiveness and safety. My mouth feels so clean. Ill only use an oralb. Oralb. Brush like a pro. Wifiso if you cant live without it. T it. Why arent you using this guy . It makes your wifi awesomely fast. No. Still nope. Now were talking it gets you wifi here, here, and here. It even lets you take a time out. No no yes yes, indeed. Amazing speed, coverage and control. All with an xfi gateway. Find your awesome, and change the way you wifi. Hey, welcome back to reliable sources. What do you believe, the president or the press . Sometimes it seems things really are that bitterly divided. We were talking earlier about trumps frequent fake news slurs. This week he used a new term for tv shows to doesnt like fake news hate shows so lets analyze the effects of this rhetoric. This is gallup data. Notice the red and blue lines here. Democrats trust and confidence in the media has jumped this year from 451 in 2016 to 72 this year. But youll see the red line has fallen even further down. Now lets look at the overall percentage of trust in the media when you take those two lines and merge them together you see there has been an overall uptick in trust in the media but the number is still low and the uptick is only thanks to democrats. For more on this lets me bring in s. Ekupp, the host of unfiltered on hln. The democrats trust in the press has spiked up this year and im sure that doesnt surprise you not at all as the media has collectively taken donald trump to task and focuses often and frequently on his errors, his inaccuracies and and in some corners really demonized him and some of his policies. Its no surprise that democrats are trusting the press more than they had in the past and equally no surprise that republicans are increasingly skeptical. Now, republicans have always been skeptical of the media writ large, the Mainstream Media as they like to say and for good reason. The Mainstream Media has been largely liberal for a long time. Now, of course, you and i know the rise of fox news has sort of put a dent in that argument because conservatives certainly have a huge platform and position and a big microphone through fox news and and conservative radio, conservative digit a. Digital. Conservatives get heard, is and they are compensated well for their media appearances and their media jobs, but there still is an overall impression that the media is a liberal place and frankly i dont think i think that the Trump Presidency has really sort of sharpened that into focus for a lot of conservatives ten years ago it was sarah palin calling the press the lame stream media, the liberal lame stream media and trump has all these various insults that he used against the media. Do you think it has had a corrosive effect this year . I do. Look, you know, i was talking to cokie roberts, a veteran journalist, about this recently, and she said, look, the media doesnt need to be popular. Thats not our job, and so we shouldnt necessarily worry about popularity or our approval in the polls, but the poll that you talked about is trust, and that should matter to the media. So when donald trump villainizes the press writ large, thats dangerous. Not because it hurts our feelings, not dangerous because people dislike us. Its dangerous because it undermines the real importance of this pillar of democracy, a strong, credible free press, and he does it with lots of different institutions to try to undermine the trust in them so that he is the only entity that is that is trusted by the public. The popular dictator tactic frankly, not to sound, you know, overly dramatic. It is what people do, but with particular with particular attention to the press. He is really trying to erolled trust, and it seems to be working. He used the d. Word. Ive been thinking about the a words. Autocrassy. There were a lot of concerns earlier in the year about whether we were seeing an authoritarian drift led by trump. Frankly, i dont know, the end of the year how much i agree with that or not. Whats your take . Certainly when it comes to some in the media. I have watched a lot meaning people talk about it. When you watch fox news, for example, one of the hallmarks of, you know, an autocracy, of authoritarians is having a press thats very friendly and a press that celebrating the dear leader. Yeah. That the ruler can go to knowing hell have a friendly audience, knowing he wont be challenge the, and its not just fox news that has become a very too comfortable home for donald trump. I have plenty i know plenty of conservative journalists who i enjoy and respected who have really decided to sort of cover for the president. Thats dangerous, too. Thats just as dangerous as liberal bias. Its just as dangerous as fake news. So, you know, the hallmarks of autocracy and authoritarian regimes are not just on the side of the president of donald trump, but you see that sometimes in the press as well. Now when programs like this one talk about authoritarianism or question the president s mental fitness, does that just cause further distrust in the press and make the pohlization even worse and worse and worse . Well, look, you know. We all have to shy away from the kind of hyperbole of the kind that the president himself uses. Its not simmon when he does it, buff definitely not responsible when we do it. I think thats completely fair to have an analytical conversation about some of the normalizing of the way the president treats the press and vice versa and how dangerous that might be. To point out where we see, you know, hallmarks of authoritarianism, i think thats honest and fair. We dont have to, you know, we dont have to fret that america is going to become a dictatorship. We have checks and balances and we are one of those checks and balances but its fair to pretend all of this is normal, to pretend that we can just sort of lay this administration, an overlay over the last and trace around the subtle differences, no. Theres theres no what i to do that, so i think we have to have honest, fair, challenging conversations without getting crazy and hysterical and hyperventilate about it. Youre a conservative columnist and you told me offline you even have members of your own family who is what, a traitor to the movement, not pro trump enough . Yeah, but im fake news. Yeah. So what happens around the table when youre at home for the holidays . You know, i mean, none of them mean it maliciously, but we have spirited debates. Look, i can handle it. You dont always want, you know, the twitter trolling to continue at home around the dinner table but i can handle it. Ive got thick skin. Frankly, you know, its nice to check in with people who dont think like i do this on because you know as well as i do in this building, a lot of people tend to see things in a certain way, both because were in the media and in new york city, et cetera, so its you know, i im actually its nice to interest a reminder of the way that i think a lot of people in the country are looking at the news, not necessarily the way that we do. Its fun to go home. By the way in, january i saw you booked sean spitzer what, for january 4th on your show . For an hour. How can you book him . He hasnt been on tv much since leaving the white house. Its really organic. He tuned in to se kupp unfiltered and he texted me and said your show is great. I love the format, the spirit. Its friendly, polite and civil and its interesting, and i said, great, come on. You know, ill clear the decks, you can come on for an hour and well talk about your last year, of course, and, you know, probably ask him some tough questions but then lets move on where you do that show and get to ask some Fun Questions of some interesting guests and we kind of get to, you know, do our own little thing for an hour. I think thats going to be really fun. January 4th, 5 00 p. M. Tune in. Ill be watching. S. E. , thanks for being here. Thanks. Up next, standing by in washington politifact editor spending all year Fact Checking so she could reveal the lie of the year, when we come back. avo when you have type 2 diabetes, you manage your a1c, but you also have a higher risk of heart attack or stroke. Noninsulin victoza® lowers a1c, and now reduces cardiovascular risk. 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Gallbladder problems have happened in some people. Tell your doctor right away if you get symptoms. Taking victoza® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Common side effects are nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, decreased appetite, indigestion, and constipation. Side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. Ask your doctor about victoza®. Its fake news, a hoax, just a lie perpetuated by losers. Thats what President Trump said all year long when it came to questions about russian interference in the u. S. Election hand whether any members of his campaign had a hand in it. But guess what . Politifact says thats the lie of the year. Yes, the claim that trump has made over and over again, that russian interference is a madeup story. Politifact says that was the biggest whopper of them all. Joining me now from washington to discuss this is the editor of politifact. Angie, great to see you. Thanks for having me. You had so many options to choose from this year so why this one on the list of shame . Well, it was repeated over and over again by president donald trump. He would say it as a defense of charges against collusion, which i should emphasize were not saying there was collusion. Thats unproven. What were saying this russian interference definitely happened, and President Trump has said several times that it hasnt. Well, it has, and it really goings to the heart of american democracy and our elections and how we decide who to pick to be our leaders in congress and in the white house. And his reputation. Repeating it over and over again calling it a hoax does have an impact. I want to talk to you about that in a minute, but, first, for the runners up, a couple rirps up that we can put on screen. In second place, a rope can congressman Raul Labrador saying nobody dies because they dont have access to health care. Tell me about this one. This is one were very dubious about. There have been studies whether people have great he can air outcomes on certain types of insurance but the idea that nobody dies because they dont have access to he can sayre wrong and we talked to numerous researchers who said yeah, no. Angie, you went on a trip in several different states talking to voters about how they perceive fact checks, tulsa, mobile. What did you learn on these trips . Well, we wanted to talk to voters who voted for donald trump and might be open to learning more about Fact Checking because weve seen survey data that says that trump voters are very suspicious of the media generally, and they are also suspicious of Fact Checking so we thought if we met them hand listened to their concerns we might learn better ways to do our job. They could hear about how we do our jobs and maybe be more openminded to our reports. And the interactions were very positive. Its like when we get out from behind our computers and sit down face to face with people and have a conversation, it works really well. We just have to figure out how to scale that up. So many people were receptive. At the same time, i dont mean to be a pessimist here on christmas eve, but i sometimes wonder if theres a, poverty country that is unreachable by Fact Checkers, that theres a portion of the country that does not want to hear any of the real news thats negative about the Trump Administration. Has that been your experience as well . Has that been your finding . I think there is a portion of partisans who do not want to listen to independent journalism. They see their political identification as part of who they are, and so, no, they are not open, and i dont think Fact Checkers are going to reach those people, but our reports might reach their friends, their family, people who could influence them and what were hoping to do as Fact Checkers is just get accurate, credible, vet the information into the hands of voters so that they can make better decisions about who they want to support and how they want to see the country governed. People spreading misinformation or ignoring fact checks, its not exclusive to one side. Your site reminded me about that video of trump greeting a disabled boy at the white house. There were claims that trump had snubbed the boy and ignored the boy because he had a disability and i remember j. K. Rowling shared that video with millions of followers and lots of liberals shared it and thought it was real. You all had to publish a fact check about that one as well. We fact checked that and rated it pants on fire because when you looked at the whole video you would see when President Trump came in, he greeted the boy and gave him special attention. He didnt ignore him at all, but i think that goes to the Political Polarization and for the people who have the strongest politically held opinions, they are not willing to give the other side the benefit of the doubt at all. Yeah. And thats definitely a problem Going Forward as we head into the Midterm Election season. Age i, thanks so much for being here. Thanks for having me. Up next on this special edition of reliable sources, the press and the president. What were the biggest Lessons Learned in the first year of the Trump Presidency . Our super panelist of tough editors is back in a moment. If hed taken tylenol, hed be stopping for more pills right now. Only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. Aleve. All day strong. You give us comfort. 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This is humira at work. President trump in the media. Some say President Trump versus the media. Before we go here this morning, what are some of the lessons that each of our editors on the panel have learned over the past year. Im sure theres quite a few, so lets bring back Joanne Lipman, john avalon, and sally buzzby. What are you telling your journalists at the end of this year . Its a great question. Washington reporting and what is happening in the Trump Administration is really the most important thing thats happening in the world at this moment. What we try to constantly talk to our journalists about is make sure you are not just focusing on that. There are things that are happening in the world, the rise of chinas influence, what russia is doing, what people outside of washington in america actually think about what is going on in their country. And dont become obsessed with that just that one story. Go out and say whats the impact of the policy decisions that are being made . Cover the world and make sure that people arent losing sight of all these things. The accountability journalism in washington is has been and is likely to continue being the most important thing that we do in the coming year. It is what is of interest to the globe. But make sure youre talking to real people too. Make sure youre showing your work and youre trying to engage your audiences, and if we are worried about Building Trust for news organizations, make sure that they know how you report out a story so that they can have firsthand information about whether the facts that youre telling them are real or not. Be transparent. Joanne, what about you . I would agree with this. We really have to think about the audience first, right . What is the information that people need to act on and that they care about every day . And while, you know, we in the press do have something of an obsession with washington, that the rest of the world and the rest of this country have many, many other incredibly important issues that have to do with their own lives, with employment, with health care. You know, Usa Today Network today as i mentioned, usa today is the flagship. We also have 109 local news organizations. And these local news organizations, half our audience is red. Half is blue. They have different political viewpoints, but they share a real interest in a lot of these issues that affect their lives, and they dont want to read a front page every day that is all trump all the time. They want to understand what they should be looking for. How are they going to pay for college for their kids, you know, what is the quality of the education . What is the quality of their health care . How will they get access to it . These are so many other issues that we need to focus on. John, whats been underreported . Whats been missed in all these conversations . We really do need to focus on original reporting and investigations, and you have to do it in a way that makes important stories interesting to people. You have to educate, and thats fine, but we need to keep in mind that Larger Mission right now. Its not just a mission to the United States. You know, we talked about fake news earlier, that term that the president s proliferated. By some counts, there are 24 journalists in jail around the world today on charges of fake news. So on a christmas eve, with he need to keep them in mind and recognize that what were fighting for when were standing up for facts, its not a partisan concern. This is something deeper, and its the fight worth having. Thank you so much for being here. Happy holidays, and thank you all for tuning in today. For christmas, im taking my 7monthold on a road trip home to see family, so wish me luck. Ill see you right back here next week for a special new years eve edition. State of the union indication starts right now. You earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, everywhere, every day. Not just airline purchases. Seriously. Double miles. Everywhere whats in your wallet . But when we brought our daughter home, that was it. Now i have nicoderm cq. The nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release Technology Helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. Its the best thing that ever happened to me. Every great why needs a great how. Resolution 1 binge more. Join the uncarrier, and get four unlimited lines for only forty bucks each. Plus, netflix for the whole family. On us. So, they get their shows. Lets go, girl youre gonna love this bit and you get yours. Watch however you want. On your phone, tablet, or tv. For just forty bucks per line. With no extra charges. Lets rock this joint all on americas best unlimited network, tmobile. Or a little internet machine . It makes you wonder shouldnt we get our phones and internet from the same company . Thats why Xfinity Mobile comes with your internet. You get up to 5 lines of talk and text at no extra cost. So all you pay for is data. See how much you can save. Choose by the gig or unlimited. Xfinity mobile. A new kind of network designed to save you money. Call, visit, or go to xfinitymobile. Com. Sweeping tax bill. President trump celebrates his first major legislative victory. Its the largest tax cut in the history of our country. Its always a lot of fun when you win. But democrats are hoping voters wont buy what the republicans are selling. It is a victory for billionaires like donald trump. This is a disaster for the American People. One of the biggest critics of the new tax law, senator bernie sanders, is here next. Plus, another swipe. President trump taking aim at his predecessors. We have done