How US Journalists Compacted Against Trump's Premature Victory Declaration

Presiden AS Donald Trump (Instagram/@RealDonaldTrump)

JAKARTA - Donald Trump's move to make a premature victory declaration has been highlighted by the mass media. They had predicted Trump would take this step. From the outset, the media - especially those that directly cover the election - were united against the method they called undermining democracy.

Launching The Guardian, Wednesday, November 4, the news of Trump's victory declaration sparked a new debate regarding journalistic principles. The news about Trump's premature declaration is considered to have the potential to damage the ongoing democratic process, even violence.

Politically, analysts view Trump's move as a way of delegitimizing the electoral process. If they lose, the assumption that the presidential election is unfair will echo throughout the US. It's not that easy, indeed. Trump needs consistency and media coverage to instill that mindset in the public.

Therefore, many mass media immediately label Trump's declaration of victory as an illusion. Washington's chief correspondent for CNN Jake Tapper said Trump's premature victory was similar to a football coach who brags a lot, even though the match is still in the first half. In that position, the coach usually forgets the second half which is actually more decisive.

"That's not how it works and it doesn't depend on it," said Tapper in a tweet.

The former CEO of National Public Radio, Vivian Schiller, who is the Chief Digital Officer of NBC News, has a different view. News organizations should be prepared for such a possibility. Therefore, it is likely that the results of the coverage will become the main weapon against the true truth.

"Headlines like: Trump declaring victory, especially on social media, can shape public opinion and become a weapon against truth and belief in the democratic process," he said.

Schiller also appealed to other mass media to adopt a planned way of reporting in response to the US election. Schiller proposed that television channels actively counter any Trump moves that could potentially delegitimize the electoral process. One technique, said Schiller, is to display text on a television screen reminding viewers that the counting of votes is still ongoing.

"If Trump continues for more than a minute or two with lies, stop the live broadcast and ask your journalists to explain that the election is not decided by the contestants. Explain why premature winning statements are wrong and dangerous," he added.

In line with Schiller, journalism professor from New York University, Jay Rosen revealed the same thing. Trump's early victory declaration he sees as the most important test facing the US today. This is because not everything the US President has said is worthy of being news.

Social media alert

The US presidential election has not only alarmed the mass media. The same is true of the world's social media giants who struggle to filter hoax information as long as the winner of the US presidential election contest has not been determined.

On Monday night, for example. Twitter and Facebook have announced that they will flag each post by a presidential candidate who has claimed victory before the final vote count is complete.

In the case of Twitter, a warning label will be attached to each tweet containing misinformation regarding the US Presidential Election, namely, with the words "Official sources call election results differently" or "Official sources may not mention current results being tweeted."

Even so, Twitter users can still quote the tweet. But people can't like or retweet it. Because of that Twitter will only consider the official results of the US presidential election after the announcement of the winner is officially submitted by state election officials. Another option, it could be when the presidential election results have been confirmed by two or more lists of official media channels that hold live counts, such as Fox, CNN, and the Associated Press.

Facebook and Instagram are also taking the same steps. To eliminate news that does not match facts related to the election, Facebook will mark it with the sentence: Votes are being counted. The winner of the 2020 US presidential election is yet to be projected. Or "Some election results may not be available for days or weeks. This means things happened as expected."

“Election officials will get the correct vote count, and slower reporting of results does not mean false or fraudulent results. All Americans need to give election officials time to do their job properly, "read the official statement from Facebook.