So, Who Are The Big Winners Of Donald Trump's 'Fake News Awards'?

Washington: From the very start, Donald Trump never had a good relationship with the media. In a bid to escalate his attack on media, he announced the 'Fake News Awards' for "very corrupt and dishonest" coverage, with a report in The New York Times topping the list. Trump had coined the term 'Fake News' during his presidential campaign, targeting media houses for "biased" news.  The president used Twitter on Wednesday to announce "the winners" of the unique awards. The list of "winners" was also displayed on the Republican National Committee's website, which crashed soon after the awards were announced.

And the FAKE NEWS winners are...https://t.co/59G6x2f7fD

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018

Much of the list centered around coverage of stories on the investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. "2017 was a year of unrelenting bias, unfair news coverage, and even downright fake news. Studies have shown that over 90 per cent of the media's coverage of President Trump is negative," the list said. The "awards" were presented in list form and specified particular stories about his presidency

1. Topping the list was The New York Times' story which claimed on the day of Trump's historic, landslide victory that the economy would never recover
2. ABC News' story by Brian Ross that Trump directed former national Security Adviser Michael Flynn to make contact with Russia during the election was positioned second.
3. A story by 'CNN' that Donald Trump and his son had access to hacked documents from WikiLeaks was given third position
4. The 'Time' magazine was placed fourth for "FALSELY" reporting that Trump removed a bust of Martin Luther King, Jr from the Oval Office.
5. The Washington Post's story was placed last for "FALSELY" reporting the president's massive sold-out rally in Pensacola, Florida was empty

Trump alleged that "the dishonest media" was not reporting about "the true story" under his administration.

ISIS is in retreat, our economy is booming, investments and jobs are pouring back into the country, and so much more! Together there is nothing we can’t overcome--even a very biased media. We ARE Making America Great Again! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018

Despite some very corrupt and dishonest media coverage, there are many great reporters I respect and lots of GOOD NEWS for the American people to be proud of!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018

What do critics say? Critics have seen the "awards" as another attempt by Trump to undermine the free press. Two Republican lawmakers -- John McCain and Jeff Flake -- rebuked Trump's treatment of the media McCain said Trump' s attacks on the media "provided cover for repressive regimes to follow suit" "It is a testament to the condition of our democracy that our own president uses words infamously spoken by Josef Stalin to describe his enemies." (With PTI inputs)