FAKE NEWS Brand: American journalists oppose Trump
American President Trump uses the expression "fake news" very frequently (more than 1200 times since his election). The expression is mainly used to discredit the media. The president uses it whenever he doesn't like what the press says about him. The irony is that Mr. Trump is one of the first to announce unverified information, and to maintain untruths....
This practice is not without danger. Indeed, since the election of Donald Trump, Americans' confidence in the media is at an all-time low. A study by the Knight Foundation/Gallup revealed that "40 % Republicans believe that verified information that gives a negative image of a politician or political group should "always" be considered fake news. »
To combat this practice, the Florida Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) has decided to register the trademark FAKE NEWS.
A repository to fight against "FAKE NEWS".
The SPJ is a former journalism advocacy organization in the United States. In October 2019, it announced that it had registered the trademark FAKE NEWS. The aim is to prevent the president from using the term at random. For the occasion, the SPJ has produced a video in which a reporter explains the reasons for the filing. The video ends with a link to the site FakeNewsTM.com which provides tips on how to spot misinformation. The site also explains the verification work done by journalists.
In addition, for each misuse of the term "FAKE NEWS", the organization will send Trump a letter of formal notice. The letter states that "referring to factual stories that are critical of your administration as FAKE NEWS (pending mark) is a trademark infringement". The letter also adds, "The misuse of the term FAKE NEWS has greatly disoriented the American people and shaken their confidence in the journalism that is so vital to our democracy.
FAKE NEWS brand: a satirical deposition in the face of real danger
The SPJ is aware that this deposit is unlikely to succeed. The organization also considers that the term "FAKE NEWS" is generic and cannot be appropriated by a given person through a trademark registration. However, as long as the FAKE NEWS trademark is under review, the SPJ will continue to send letters of formal notice to sanction abusive language.
The main objective of this repository is to get the public to react. As the representative of the SPJ indicated that: "What we hope is that this idea will be outrageous enough to make people stop and think about what false news is and what it means to them.
At this stage, it is unclear how the US Trademark Office (USPTO) will react. But it is essentially a new defensive tactic on the part of a profession under attack. The White House did not want to react to this news. Moreover, this is not the first time that the American president has been confronted with a satirical brand: GRABBA THE TRUMP case.