Trump was stopped by a Radio Station airing his live briefings about Covid-19 response

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U.S President Donald Trump’s coronavirus press briefings live will no longer broadcast by a public radio station in Washington State on the basis that they routinely relay disinformation. Seattle’s KUOW said in a statement posted online that the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force briefings feature so many false and misleading claims that it is impossible to fact-check them in real-time, meaning too many slipped through to their audience unfiltered. It says, “After airing the White House briefings live for two weeks, a pattern of false information and exaggeration increasingly had many at KUOW questioning whether these briefings were in the best service of our mission to create and serve a more informed public. Of even greater concern was the potential impact of false information on the health and safety of our community”.

The statement confirms that KUOW and NPR will continue to cover the briefings, and will review their decision to cease live broadcasts on a daily basis. It also cites the president’s announcement that the anti-malaria drug chloroquine would be available almost immediately as a treatment for Covid-19, even though there is no established medical evidence the drug is effective against the disease. The taskforce’s top health expert, Anthony Fauci had to debunk the claim himself in later TV appearances of his own.

Trump has also used the briefings to attack the media for its negative coverage of the epidemic’s progress across the country and to advance his plan to get the country open for business by Easter. It seems like public health experts say it would be a disaster. Moreover, KUOW stands out in its decision to stop broadcasting the briefings altogether, other US broadcasters have lately been backing away from the events citing similar concerns. The major TV networks with the exception of Fox News, all cut away from a recent briefing, some after as little as 20 minutes. Point to be noted that Washington was the first state to report a case of Covid-19, in late January 2020.