President Buhari has likened himself to Donald Trump saying that both of them suffered the same media harassment.
Recall that on the run up to 2015 presidential elections, Media houses unleashed a barrage of attacks on the President.
“I was attacked. Trump was attacked. I was hated. Trump was hated. We’re kind of like brothers,” President Buhari said.
Trump’s ability to by-pass the main news channels became a key factor in his victory, analysts say.
The same onslaught was unleashed against President Muhamadu Buhari during the 2015 presidential campaigns.
All major news channels pummeled the airwaves with anti-buhari news: both fake and real.
“Trump had a way of taking to Twitter and could literally change the narrative because he had such a large following,” Alan Rosenblatt said.
Trump maintained his poise as major news organizations unearthed embarrassing episodes about his past.
A network of social media supporters amplified the Trump message.
They did not only reinforce his vision, they actively sought to counter and quash messages from anti-Trump forces.
“It’s organized digital bullying,” Rosenblatt said.
“In this way, you have untruths and falsehoods that transit through our media ecosystem and become a tidal wave.
“The health of democracy depends on people being exposed to both sides of an issue.
“These ‘filter bubbles’ and the idea of customized home pages and news feeds I think hurts democracy.
“It means people are not debating ideas to arrive at a consensus,” Rosenblatt said.
One local official shared news on Facebook with headlines such as “Hillary Clinton Calling for Civil War If Trump Is Elected.”
“The most obvious way in which Facebook enabled a Trump victory has been its refusal to address the problem of fake news.”
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