It’s dangerous for public officials to cry ‘fake news’ during the COVID-19 pandemic

The cries of “fake news” were always alarming. This time, they were flat-out dangerous.

As journalists tracked the spread of COVID-19 from China to the rest of the world, the president of the United States and other government leaders dismissed and disparaged legitimate news reporting about the growing international crisis.

Whether the attacks on the media were intended to score political points or deflect blame for their failure to control the spread of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, their impact was the same: They eroded the public’s trust in vital journalism and potentially delayed Americans’ preparations for the pandemic.

That’s extremely troubling news as the world confronts a pandemic that is beginning to upend people’s lives, strain our health care systems and roil global markets in a way that we have never seen before.

At times like this, the public depends on the news media to provide reliable information to help them understand what’s going on and what government leaders are doing to keep them safe.

President Donald Trump only recently acknowledged the seriousness of the coronavirus threat, declaring a national emergency just over two weeks ago. But in the days and weeks leading up to that decision, Trump attacked the news media and its reporting on the virus as “fake” multiple times. He even accused news organizations of amplifying the severity of the disease’s spread to make his administration look bad.

“Fake News is the Enemy of the people!” he tweeted to his 73.7 million followers on March 8. The next day, as stories critical of his administration’s response to the crisis mounted, he took another shot at the press: “The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant,” Trump wrote.

Trump used a similar attack line during a Cabinet Room meeting on March 11. In response to a question from CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta, the president dismissed the reporter as “fake news.” Two days later, Trump scolded PBS White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor for asking what he said was a “nasty question” about his administration’s decision in 2018 to disband a team of officials dedicated to responding to pandemics.

The president’s comments came as public health officials, including the U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert, warned that the spread of the virus was worsening and posed a serious threat to the lives of the elderly and the sick.

Since the coronavirus outbreak started a few months ago, journalists all over the world have been working hard to accurately and extensively report about its effects on every aspect of public life. News organizations at the local, national and international level have deployed reporters to cover its impact on everything from schools and workplaces to the economy and religious sites. They have kept people updated on where the disease has spread and what they can do to help protect themselves and their loved ones from infection.

Journalists have also fact-checked the Trump administration’s many misleading statements about the coronavirus, including the president’s repeated baseless claim that “anyone who wants a test can get a test.”

News organizations have done exceptional reporting on the crisis, even despite government efforts to shield information from the public.

For example, White House officials prevented news organizations from recording audio or video of a March 3 press conference about the outbreak.

And as Reuters reported on March 11, the White House classified high-level government meetings about the coronavirus, complicating the government’s response to the crisis and preventing administration officials from describing to journalists what happens in important meetings. The administration’s response: “This story is fake news,” National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot wrote in an email to Reuters.

When reporters are prevented from covering major crises, or when their reporting is dismissed by government leaders as fake, misinformation festers. And that’s exactly what’s been happening on a global level.

Conspiracy theories about the coronavirus have exploded online, so much so that tech companies’ efforts to combat the misinformation are struggling to keep up.

If we’re going to counter misinformation and truly confront this crisis, we need to stand up for journalists. The public can’t make responsible decisions in the midst of a pandemic without reliable facts. The reporters covering every angle of this crisis are telling consequential stories that help communities protect the vulnerable, employers support their workers and government leaders contain thevirus.

They’re an ally in this fight — not the enemy.