By Carol Benedict
On Saturday, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) voiced concern over President Donald Trump lashing out at press reporters, agencies and bureaus that reported news not to his liking, “at one point declaring it “the enemy of the American People!”, According to a report. McCain further stated on NBC News in an interview set to air Sunday, that was “how dictators get started.”
After witnessing 8 years of press coverage claiming that 2nd Amendment rights were being threatened under the Obama Administration, we saw gun and ammo sales skyrocket across the nation. After passing the first sensible gun law in decades following the horrific tragedy of Sandy Hook, the Trump Administration has already stripped that back, allowing those gains to be lost after the majority of Americans approved of those particular regulations.
We wonder where those same people are now, to defend the 1st Amendment rights that have not only been decried by a President who has sworn to uphold the Constitution to which those Rights are part and parcel.
All of which leads to the subject of this post. On Thursday, the Trump campaign put up something called the “Mainstream Media Accountability Survey,” with questions that looked as if they were left over from the runup to the election. Evidently, they didn’t like the results of that one, for they put up a new one on Friday, appearing on both the Donald Trump and main RNC websites. The spin given by the Trump organization was that “liberals had skewed the responses.”
The original survey’s source code didn’t have any collection mechanism for the survey’s answers, according to some IT pros we know. Instead, it worked as an email collection/fundraising gimmick; after you completed the survey, you had to enter your email. Once you did this, you were redirected to a donation page. The email collecting and donation page sections did have the appropriate source code needed to populate a database with that info; the survey itself didn’t. And, the fundraising’s legal; Trump filed paperwork for his 2020 run five hours after his inauguration. Hence, this comes under campaign financing laws; in other words, superPACs and unlimited anonymous donating to said entities.
In response to his second survey, we have created this survey to compare question-for-question, asking the American people from every walk of life their views on the 1st Amendment and a free press in America. We are guessing you will easily recognize which survey is which.
This survey is not collecting responses. It is intended for educational purposes.
Press Accountability polls
 |  |
|---|---|
| Do you believe that the press has reported fairly on the new Trump Administration? Yes No No opinion | Do you believe that the mainstream media has reported unfairly on our movement? Yes No No opinion |
| Do you trust the free press to report fairly on the Trump Adminitration? Yes No No opinion | Do you trust MSNBC to report fairly on Trump's presidency? Yes No No opinion |
| Do you trust the Trump Administration to report accurately on its own actions? Yes No No opinion | Do you trust CNN to report fairly on Trump's presidency? Yes No No opinion |
| Do you believe the free press is part of the accountability necessary in a democracy? Yes No No opinion | Do you trust Fox News to report fairly on Trump's presidency? Yes No No opinion |
| Do you believe the 1st Amendment's wording that "abridging" the freedom of the press means that the press must not be associated with any political party, hold bias, or report unverified information? Yes No No opinion | On which issues does the mainstream media do the worst job of representing Republicans? (Select as many that apply.) Immigration Economics Pro-life values Religion Individual liberty Conservatism Foreign policy Second Amendment rights |
| What source do you primarily get your news from? Television/Cable news Print or online news publications Online journals/blogs Other (please specify): | Which television source do you primarily get your news from? Fox News CNN MSNBC Local news |
| How do you know if the source you use is credible? | Do you use a source not listed above? |
| Do you trust the press to report accurately on the activities of the Congress? Yes No No opinion | Which online source do you use the most? |
| Do you trust the press to report accurately on the activities of the Courts? Yes No No opinion | Do you trust the mainstream media to tell the truth about the Republican Party’s positions and actions? Yes No No opinion Other, please specify: |
| Do you believe the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, and Kellyanne Conway, do due diligence fact checking before discussing stories the free press can not verify as actually having happened? Yes No No opinion | Do you believe that the mainstream media does not do their due diligence fact-checking before publishing stories on the Trump administration? Yes No No opinion Other, please specify: |
| What do you believe the executive order regarding people from Muslim countries was targeted to do? Prevent Muslims from entering the US Prevent terrorists from entering the US Punish businesses that associate with or hire Muslims Punish students and families of American Muslims Other (please specify): | Do you believe that the media unfairly reported on President Trump’s executive order temporarily restricting people entering our country from nations compromised by radical Islamic terrorism? Yes No No opinion Other, please specify: |
| Do you believe the Court was justified in taking action and temporarily banning the order from being enforced? Yes No No Opinion | Were you aware that a poll was released revealing that a majority of Americans actually supported President Trump's temporary restriction executive order? Yes No No opinion Other, please specify: |
| Do you believe that radical terrorists acting in this country are primarily not from the seven countries named in the executive order? Yes No No Opinion | Do you believe that political correctness has created biased news coverage on both illegal immigration and radical Islamic terrorism? Yes No No opinion Other, please specify: |
| Do you believe that President Trump has substantial powers that can not be questioned? Yes No No Opinion | Do you believe that contrary to what the media says, raising taxes does not create jobs? Yes No No opinion Other, please specify: |
| Do you believe that people of non-Christian faiths have been unfairly characterized by the Trump Adminstration? Yes No No opinion Other, please specify: | Do you believe that people of faith have been unfairly characterized by the media? Yes No No opinion Other, please specify: |
| Do you believe that the 1st Amendment is as equally fundamental and important as the 2nd Amendment? Yes No No Opinion | Do you believe that the media wrongly attributes gun violence to Second Amendment rights? Yes No No opinion Other, please specify: |
| Do you support this Administration's and Congress's decisions to abolish the Endangered Species Act, The Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency and other Departments? Yes No Other (Please specify): | Do you believe that the media has been far too quick to spread false stories about our movement? Yes No No opinion Other, please specify: |
| Do you believe the press should pursue reports of Russian interference in US politics before, during and since the 2016 election? Yes No Other (please specify): | Do you believe that the media uses slurs rather than facts to attack conservative stances on issues like border control, religious liberties, and ObamaCare? Yes No No opinion Other, please specify: |
| Do you believe the US Intelligence community has a responsibility to the American people to investigate and vett officials within the Administration? Yes No Other (Please specify): | Do you believe that the media purposely tries to divide Republicans against each other in order to help elect Democrats? Yes No No opinion Other, please specify: |
| Do you believe the President was elected by the people, and therefore is accountable to them, or that the President can act without accountability after taking office? Operate with accountability to the people Operate without accountability to the people Other (Explain): | Do you believe that the media creates false feuds within our Party in order to make us seem divided? Yes No No opinion Other, please specify: |
| Are you concerned about the international community and the potential for nuclear war more of less since President Trump took office? More concerned Less concerned Was never concerned Concern did not change | Do you believe that the mainstream media has been too eager to jump to conclusions about rumored stories? Yes No No opinion Other, please specify: |
| Do you support the Administration's intention to build a wall across the border with Mexico and continue escalation of deportations of illegal immigrants without further review of the executive orders? Yes No Review is needed similar to a review of the travel ban Other (Please specify): | Do you believe that if Republicans were obstructing Obama like Democrats are doing to President Trump, the mainstream media would attack Republicans? Yes No No opinion Other, please specify: |
| Do you support the Administration being quietly run by top advisor Steve Bannon and family members of President Trump? Yes No Other (Please specify): | Do you agree with the President’s decision to break with tradition by giving lesser known reporters and bloggers the chance to ask the White House Press Secretary questions? Yes No No opinion Other, please specify: |
| Do you believe President Trump should have launched his 2020 Presidential Campaign with only 3 weeks in office? Yes No, it is too soon No, he won't last 1 term No opinion | Do you agree with President Trump’s media strategy to cut through the media’s noise and deliver our message straight to the people? Yes No No opinion Other, please specify: |
| Do you believe the American taxpayer should be footing the bill for the First Lady's separate lodging in New York, the White House weekends in Mar-a-Lago Club and the business trips of Ivanka Trump? Yes No Other (please explain): | Do you believe that our Party should spend more time and resources holding the mainstream media accountable? Yes No No opinion |
About the Author:
Carol Benedict is an indépendant researcher and human rights activist. She is also an independent Journalist and a professional member of the US Press Association.
