Abstract

Digital press criticism, or the use of non-journalistic platforms as a means for critiquing journalism, is made possible by digital technologies that circumvent traditional media channels. This form of criticism is not marginal, but indeed is increasingly central within the political communication environment. This can be seen in President Donald Trump’s persistent attacks on U.S. journalists. This article examines how journalists responded to two episodes of digital press criticism, in 2017 and 2019, when Trump used Twitter to affix the incendiary label of “enemy of the people” to journalists. This article explores the propensity of the journalistic community to use frames that individualize Trump by promoting his agency as paramount. We argue that this framing obscures and downplays, if not outright ignores, how far-right politicians utilize emergent channels of digital press criticism to undermine journalism’s epistemic legitimacy and raise questions about its social role.

摘要

绕过传统媒体渠道的数字技术使数字媒体批评或使用非新闻平台作为批评新闻的手段成为可能。这种批评形式并非边缘化，而是在政治传播环境中越来越重要。这可以从唐纳德特朗普总统对美国记者的持续攻击中看出。本文研究了记者如何回应 2017 年和 2019 年两集数字媒体批评，当时特朗普使用 Twitter 给记者贴上“人民公敌”的煽动性标签。这篇文章探讨了新闻界通过宣传特朗普的机构至高无上来使用使特朗普个性化的框架的倾向。我们认为这种框架模糊和淡化，如果不是完全忽视，