Could it be that President Trump's constant haranguing of the mainstream media is paying off? Newsweek, long considered a left-wing publication and certainly no friend of Trump, has taken a bold step towards salvaging its credibility by offing purveyors of fake news.

Newsweek fired reporter Jessica Kwong on Friday and demoted her editor after Kwong posted a story suggesting Trump would spend Thanksgiving "tweeting, golfing and more.” The intent of the piece was obviously to demean the chief executive. Turns out Trump was landing in Afghanistan to spend Thanksgiving with the troops and meet with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. 

“The problem with this story is that it didn’t contain reporting,” said a Newsweek spokesperson to Breitbart News in a statement. “It was published before Thanksgiving was over. We are trying to pull Newsweek away from that, and into reporting.”

The spokesperson continued: “From the start of her tenure as editor in chief of Newsweek, Nancy Cooper has moved the newsroom toward strong reporting, such as the scoop on Baghdadi’s killing, and away from knee-jerk political snarkiness. This story did not meet the standards she has set.”

Cooper has taken a giant step towards restoring the confidence of the public in the fairness and accuracy of Newsweek. No one expects the media to write only positive stories about the Trump Administration, but we certainly should expect a fair presentation of the facts.  

To be able to rely upon a free and accurate press untainted by partisanship is critical to the survival of the nation. When the national media can no longer be trusted to report the truth, the people and the nation are at risk.

Kudos to Newsweek for its decisive action in attempting to restore the trust of the people. Let Newsweek serve as an example for the rest of the mainstream media to emulate. 

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

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