WASHINGTON – A new report says President Donald Trump and his administration's attack on the press "dangerously undermined truth and consensus in a deeply divided country."

The study from the Committee to Protect Journalists was authored by Leonard Downie Jr., former executive editor of The Washington Post.

The report is based on interviews with nearly 40 journalists, academics, media lawyers, and press freedom advocates. It also included comments from Michael Dubke, who served briefly as Trump's White House communications director.

Dubke largely defended Trump's disdain for the press in the report, saying the president was surprised by negative coverage as he began his political career because he felt he had a good relationship with the press as a New York real estate developer. Dubke also argued that Trump has been the most accessible president in decades.

However, Dubke conceded that, "What concerns me is that authoritarian leaders who had already placed restrictions on their press are using President Trump's words to justify what they are doing. It's convenient for them to do so."

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The CPJ report cited a long list of examples of Trump demeaning the press. These include Trump belittling reporter's questions the Justice Department investigating journalists’ sources, calls for changes in libel laws to punish reporting he dislikes, and ending the White House daily press briefings for more than a year.

“We now have some of the best news organizations that the world has known,” Paul Steiger, former editor of The Wall Street Journal and founder of nonprofit news organization ProPublica, said in the report. “But Trump has created a climate in which the best news, most fact-checked news is not being believed by many people.”

The report cites two major Pew Research Center studies to further highlight it's findings. One says that a plurality of Republicans consistently distrusted most of the news media, with exceptions for outlets Trump supports, like Fox News and radio-host Rush Limbaugh.

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"Trump devoted increasing amounts of time to angrily denouncing the press at his large rallies of ardent supporters around the country, encouraging the boisterous crowds to react. He regularly pointed to the mass of reporters, photographers, and videographers penned up in the raised press section behind the crowd, prompting people to turn around, boo, and shout things like, 'CNN sucks,'" the report reads.

It additionally highlights journalists and news organizations he dislikes receiving threats, like when CNN was sent a package-bomb by a supporter.

The second poll, conducted in mid-March, found that 62% of all respondents said the news media exaggerated the risks from the coronavirus.

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Downie writes that he believes the press has risen to the challenges of covering the pandemic, in spite of the hardships that they face.

“Despite early public skepticism about the performance of the press, the audiences for broadcast network and cable news and newspaper websites have grown immensely,” Downie wrote. “That may well increase both Trump’s preoccupation with coverage of him and the intensity of his attacks on the press as the election nears.”

The report concludes with recommendations for the Trump administration, such as recognizing the importance of a free press, and to stop retaliating against and demeaning reporters and outlets.