President Donald Trump has a well-documented penchant for lying. Even when his lies are disproven, he continues to repeat them, thus engaging in deliberate campaigns of deception — campaigns that are often racist, xenophobic, and fear-mongering — targeting everyone from refugees to the U.S. intelligence community. When reporters, anchors, and analysts repeat Trump’s statements, when his words linger unchallenged, the U.S. media becomes complicit in spreading propaganda.

The time has come for the media to stop being an instrument of this propaganda. We the people demand that any broadcast television or cable news outlet carrying live coverage of the State of the Union address offer live, simultaneous fact checking. To fail to do so is to allow a reckless and untrustworthy person to speak for an hour, applauded and unchecked.

We demand television and cable networks that carry the State of the Union provide real-time fact checking in their lower-third graphic during the speech. This may require a brief delay during the broadcast of the President’s remarks. We believe this is the only responsible way to broadcast the State of the Union in these times.

All those who sign below are committing to only watch a State of the Union broadcast with this kind of journalistic integrity. We, the petitioners, will boycott any unchecked live feed of the 2019 State of the Union.

President Trump and his administration have outwitted the media again and again. To the Network Presidents and Affiliates: we have placed our trust in you; we have welcomed you into our living rooms for generations, but that trust is eroding. We urge you to take this simple — and crucial — step toward more responsible news coverage. 

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[photo by: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ via Wikimedia Commons]