Washington: US President Donald Trump on Monday postponed his much-talked about 'Fake News Awards' to the mainstream media for "dishonesty and bad reporting" to 17 January.
The awards ceremony was supposed to be held on Monday.
Trump upon his return from the presidential retreat of Camp David on Sunday tweeted about the new date of the "one- of-its-kind" awards to various media houses.
The Fake News Awards, those going to the most corrupt & biased of the Mainstream Media, will be presented to the losers on Wednesday, January 17th, rather than this coming Monday. The interest in, and importance of, these awards is far greater than anyone could have anticipated!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018
Trump had, on 2 January, announced that he would give away awards to media houses for "dishonesty and bad reporting".
"I will be announcing THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR on Monday at 5:00 o'clock. This would be one of its kind media award by the US president. Subjects will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media. Stay tuned!" he had tweeted.
Trump had coined the term 'Fake News' during his presidential campaign, targeting media houses for "biased" news.
He very often identifies CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post as "fake media".
In November, he tweeted about a competition among news networks for the 'Fake News Trophy', excluding the Fox News.
File image of US president Donald Trump. AP
"We should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me). They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!," he wrote on the micro-blogging site on 27 November.
In an email to supporters of the president on 28 December, the Trump campaign had sought nomination for the 'King of Fake News' trophy.
"At President Trump's request, we are holding a contest to name the 2017 KING of Fake News. And we want to hear from you," it said.
"The FAKE NEWS has utterly abandoned their duty to fairly report the news to the American people. Some journalists and liberal pundits think that Americans are too stupid to see through their amateur efforts to manipulate public opinion, but THEY'RE WRONG," it wrote the supporters.
Noting that Americans were "sick and tired of being lied to, insulted, and treated with outright condescension", the Trump Campaign said, "That's why President Trump is crowning the 2017 KING OF FAKE NEWS before the end of the year. There's no point in pretending that some journalists are anything more than peddlers of falsehoods and liberal propaganda".
As per the Trump Campaign list, the competition for 'King of Fame news' is between three news organisations.
"ABC News "MISTAKENLY" reported that candidate Trump directed Michael Flynn to make contact with Russian officials before the election," it said.
"CNN "MISTAKENLY" reported that candidate Donald Trump and his son Donald J Trump, Jr had access to hacked documents from WikiLeaks,” it wrote.
"TIME "MISTAKENLY" reported that President Trump removed a bust of Martin Luther King, Jr from the Oval Office," the Trump Campaign said, asking the participants to "let the President know if there is another story you think should be crowned as the 2017 KING of Fake News".
Published Date: Jan 08, 2018 08:17 AM | Updated Date: Jan 08, 2018 08:17 AM