#BusinessTomorrow: What is the future of online and social media in Africa?

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Yesterday the United Nations (UN) announced that 2020 to 2030 is declared the &#8220;Decade of Action for Global Goals&#8221;. Last year the UN Secretary General called on all sectors of society to mobilize on three levels; global action, local action and people action, the latter including civil society, the media, private sector, unions, academia and of course, Youth. Natalie Robi Tingo represents a panel of youth that&#8217;s launching today in response to this call. 12 young activists from 12 countries around the world are pledging to rally and mobilize. Kenyan Activist and only member of East Africa, Natalie Robi Tingo joins CNBC Africa for more.

Here’s how African youths are bracing themselves for UN-endorsed “Decade of Action for Global Goals”

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jacob-nyarko-783517">Jacob Nyarko</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cape-coast-2766">University of Cape Coast</a>

Between 1957 – the year Ghana won independence from British – and 1992 the country had <a href="http://ccms.ukzn.ac.za/Libraries/staff-documents/Thesis_Examination_Update_1_1.sflb.ashx">three civilian heads of state</a> interspersed with several military rulers. But that year it finally embraced democratic rule and adopted a constitution.

One of the areas of protection the new constitution offered was the independence of the media and of expression. But are these enforced? And has the media felt their positive impact? 

In my PhD <a href="http://ccms.ukzn.ac.za/Libraries/staff-documents/Thesis_Examination_Update_1_1.sflb.ashx">thesis</a> published four years ago I explored whether <a href="http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/gha129754.pdf">Ghana’s constitution </a> had lived up to the promise set out in Chapter 12, Articles 162 and 163 in relation to media freedom. I concluded that though the Ghanaian Constitution had made some positive impacts, there were still some shortfalls. These included the media’s lack of a right to information. 

I also observed that archaic laws still existed in the statute books and that the courts were imposing huge court fines which were crippling media outlets.

Two years ago <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2018.1455625">I published a study</a> that showed that the constitution had indeed marked a turning point for media liberalisation. It led to increased private ownership participation and broke the “culture of silence” around particular subjects. 

The issue of media freedom, and the ability of journalists to be able to do their jobs without fear, has been in the headlines again recently following the arrest of two <a href="https://cpj.org/2019/07/two-ghanaian-journalists-arrested-on-cybercrime-ch.php">journalists</a> by members of the national security forces. Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri and Emmanuel Britwum, who work for ModernGhana, were accused of hacking competitor emails as well as writing articles deemed offensive to the minister of national security. 

Kwaku Addi, the Publisher of private newspaper, TodayGhanaNews recently expressed <a href="https://www.modernghana.com/news/942091/arrest-of-modernghana-journalist-is-an-attack-on-ghanaian-jo.html">concern </a> about recent attacks – including this one – on the media. He listed the fact that journalists had been <a href="https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2018/december-31st/ghana-shamefully-recorded-31-media-assaults-in-2018-updn.php">assaulted</a>, <a href="https://allafrica.com/stories/201504170406.html">kidnapped</a>, <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/17-journalists-attacked-in-15-months-The-sad-story-on-safety-of-journalists-in-Ghana-642221">beaten</a> and lynched. He also mentioned the fact that many media houses had been <a href="https://www.nca.org.gh/media-and-news/news/update-on-ncas-enforcement-action-on-fm-radio-stations-operating-with-expired-frequency-authorisations/">closed down</a> . He wrote: 

<blockquote>
135 critical media houses have been closed down, including Radio Gold and Radio XZY, two journalists killed (Ahmed Suale and a lady in Ahafo Region), one investigative journalist (Manasseh Azzure Awuni) has been forced into exile, and one reporter in Upper West region (Emmanuel Adati) is in hiding to save his life.
</blockquote>

These trends show that the 1992 constitution had good intentions. Yet the state continues to capitalise on what it calls the “<a href="https://rsf.org/en/news/rsf-calls-probe-ghanaian-website-journalists-torture-claims">national interest</a>” and “national security” to justify taking steps that amount to suppression of the media. 

<h2>The Constitution</h2>

Prior to the passing of the <a href="http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/gha129754.pdf">1992 constitution</a> none of the country’s laws guaranteed media freedom in such extensive terms. This freedom covers all Ghanaian and gives the legal basis to challenge efforts to curtail media freedom. The constitution <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2018.1455625">also led to dramatic changes in</a> the landscape. 

Prior to its passing, Ghana media had been dominated by well-established state-owned media houses. The constitution enabled growth in the private media sector as the newspaper licensing law was repealed, opening up the newspaper space. <a href="https://philipatawura.wordpress.com/2017/05/02/broadcasting-in-ghana/">Private radio stations</a> and television stations also sprung up. This in turn opened the door to much more critical coverage and debates. 

The private media sector gradually began to make its presence felt. 

Local radio stations and newspapers with <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2018.1455625">national coverage</a> rapidly sprang up and were accessible to almost every district of Ghana. This meant that front-page news exposing corruption in Ghana became common. And journalists began to ensure that the public was fed information about government, businesses and other state interests in a way that opened these sectors to scrutiny.

The phasing out of government monopolies ushered in a new era of free expression. Ghana’s informal environment began to expand due to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2018.1455625">press liberalisation</a> in ways that previously were unimaginable. 

These developments confirm the assertion that a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2018.1455625">symbiotic relationship</a> between media freedom and democratisation does exist. 

But the paradox of the country’s constitution is that Ghana continues to have laws that can be used to curtain media freedom. One example was the <a href="https://ifex.org/criminal-libel-law-repealed/">Criminal Libel Law</a> which remained in place for nine years before its abrogation after fierce protests. 

A another example is that it took until this year for the country to pass a <a href="http://ghana.gov.gh/index.php/media-center/news/5641-president-gives-accent-to-law-on-right-to-information">right to information law </a>. This will only come into effect in 2020. 

This goes to show that media freedom was granted with unwilling undertones. 

Other <a href="http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/gha129754.pdf">archaic laws</a> remain on the statute books. These include the Official Secrets Acts, Emergency Powers Acts 472 and the Criminal Code 1960. These laws allow the judiciary and other state agencies – like the police – to hinder a true expression of press freedom. 

Another thorny and unresolved issue is the role of <a href="http://laws.ghanalegal.com/acts/id/182/national-media-commission-act">National Media Commission</a>. One of its functions is to promote and ensure the freedom and independence of the media. Even though it’s existed since 1993, it has been <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/National-Media-Commission-too-timid-tame-and-weak-Ablakwa-619670">incapacitated</a> by a weak enforcement framework.

This leaves open the question of who fights for the fourth estate in Ghana.<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120738/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important">

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jacob-nyarko-783517">Jacob Nyarko</a>, Lecturer of Communication Studies, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cape-coast-2766">University of Cape Coast</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ghanas-constitution-is-meant-to-protect-the-media-but-does-it-120738">original article</a>.

Does Ghana’s constitution protect the media?

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Tanzanian tycoon, author and philanthropist Reginald Mengi has died at the age of 75. He is one of the richest people in Africa and was also known for his business in media, consumer goods but mostly the charity work of sending hundreds of Tanzanian children with heart diseases to India for treatments. For more on his legacy, CNBC Africa&#8217;s Head of Programming and Author of Africa&#8217;s Billionaires Chris Bishop joins for more.

Reginald Mengi Tanzania billionaire dies at 75

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South African media and e-commerce giant Naspers said on Friday it would invest 4.6 billion rand ($315 million) over the next three years in its technology businesses and to fund technology start-ups.
Naspers said in a statement ahead of an investment summit called by President Cyril Ramaphosa it would allocate 3.2 billion rand to developing its existing technology businesses including the OLX Group, Takealot, and Mr D Food. Naspers said 1.4 billion rand would be used to fund technology start-ups.
($1 = 14.5850 rand)
Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by James Macharia

This South African media giant plans to invest $315 million in technology expansion

George Ogola | University of Central Lancashire
The recent Kenyan elections firmly demonstrated the incursion and perhaps even gradual institutionalisation of fake news as an actor in modern politics, particularly during elections. Although the term fake news is now so liberally used to the extent it eludes precise definition, many agree it’s the deliberate dissemination of false informationexpressly intended to misinform.
The presidential election, which pitted the incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta against his political nemesis, opposition leader Raila Odinga, was fiercely fought on many fronts. One of these fronts, arguably the most significant, was the unprecedented investment in political messaging.
Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party and Odinga’s National Super Alliance (NASA) invested heavily in media and public relations consultants, communication experts and political advertising. The Jubilee Party even enlisted the services of  Cambridge Analytica, the data mining and analysis company credited with playing an influential role in the election of US President Donald Trump. The company also had a hand in the UK’s Brexit campaign.
Added to this heady mix was clandestine messaging through fake newson social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Numerous fake news stories were widely circulated on social media as unsubstantiated allegations were posted against both parties, some even through paid adverts on Google.
This was a step up from previous elections where politicians would pay backstreet newspaper publishers to tarnish the names of their opponents. Kenya has always had publishers for hire, a particularly thriving industry at election time. These publishers quite often have no known addresses, are defined by their impermanence and therefore impossible to sue even when one is legitimately aggrieved by their publications.
In 2017 the mudslinging migrated online and become much more nuanced and sophisticated. Stories that featured fake opinion polls and others that directly attacked the characters of both Kenyatta and Odinga were widely circulated online and in print. Some of these were slickly produced videos that were passed off as originating from CNN and the BBC.
In one fake CNN video Kenyatta’s popularity rating was shown to be well ahead of Odinga’s. Another fake video, this time purportedly an outtake from the BBC’s Focus on Africa  programme, also featured an opinion poll showing Kenyatta beating Odinga.
And fake newspapers bearing the plagiarised mastheads of widely circulating dailies including the Daily Nation and The Star were sold to unsuspecting readers.
This proliferation of fake news in Kenya can be explained on two grounds. The first relates to the history of the country’s media, and the second to the increasing importance of online platforms in shaping the African news agenda.
<h2>The Kenyan media</h2>
The Kenyan media has become a prisoner of its history. It remains shackled to the consequences of its role in the country’s 2007 disputed presidential elections. A section of the press were accused of actively promoting the violence that engulfed the country in the aftermath of the polls. At least 1,000 people died and more than 500,000 thousand were displaced.
This legacy has turned the media into a bystander in the political process, especially at election time. In 2013 it hardly raised any objections to electoral malpractices that led to the disputed presidential election. Instead, media houses promoted “peace” to preempt a repeat of the 2007-2008 post-election violence.
It was a decision that was supported financially by a number of local and international agencies who spent months training the local press in “peace journalism”. This peace narrative has now became normalised in election coverage in the country. The consequence has been the creation of an information vacuum which has now been filled by fake news.
<h2>Rise of social media</h2>
The circulation of fake news also seems to have benefited from the changing profile of the Kenyan voter. Nearly half of about 20 million registered voters in Kenya are aged between 18 and 35. A significant number source their news from social media where fake news circulates the most.
According to a recent consumer survey only 28% of young Kenyans read newspapers regularly. Social media is slowly but surely becoming their platform of choice for news.
And the audience for fake news is growing given that two out of three young Kenyans now either own a mobile device or have access to one, and Internet connectivity costs go down annually.
This election revealed the fact that fake news has not only become commonplace, it’s become mainstream and is evolving into a distinct news genre.
Fake news thrives on the modern news consumer’s insatiable appetite for speedy information. We are living in a news ecosystem where urgency trumps the core values of journalism such as accuracy, fact checking and objectivity.
Traditional news media, with brands built on the back of their ability to fact check or investigate stories before publication, are struggling to do so when they are simultaneously expected to publish with speed. While gate keeping is key to ensure that news outlets remain trustworthy, the speed at which audiences now expect information has seen media houses haemorrhage audiences.
That lag in providing speedy information has created a vacuum which fake news producers are exploiting. They don’t have brands or reputations to protect. Fake news is positively sustained by an online economy which prioritises sensationalism over quality. Sensational ‘news’ very quickly goes viral and this is its most effective weapon.
Fake news is slowly intruding on virtually every aspect of life. We must first understand its appeal and then make every effort to counter it. This is especially the case because it is now a genre sustained by a much larger social, economic and political infrastructure that the news media alone is incapable of dealing with.
&nbsp;
This article was first published on The Conversation.

How social media and fake news are battering traditional media in Kenya

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Yesterday, Nigeria&#8217;s President, Muhammadu Buhari wrote to the National Assembly and informed the legislative body of his return to office after taking three months of medical leave to treat an undisclosed illness. Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to Nigeria&#8217;s President on media and publicity joins CNBC Africa to discuss the issues around the president&#8217;s return.

Nigerian president returns following extended sick leave

George Gathigi | University of Nairobi
The media has been a critical part of the Kenyan election process. But did they do a good job?
I spoke to a variety of sources including journalists, commentators and experts and a number of issues came out. Overall, the insights they gave me suggest that the mainstream media’s coverage of the 2017 general election can best be described as a mixed bag. While it played a very important role, it still has a way to go in terms of the factual, unbiased and objective coverage of elections.
During the election process the media remained at the forefront of presenting different opinions – leading newspapers, television and radio stations all presented different views, and carried opinions from political figures across the spectrum.
But one criticism that came through was that sections of radio, especially local language stations, were very often parochial. Some played extremely partisan politics that was more aligned to local audiences than to national interests.
Another criticism expressed by many of the people I spoke to was that they felt the mainstream media had been lazy in its coverage of competing candidates. The largest media outlets constantly amplified the political binary represented by the two main coalitions, the National Super Alliance (NASA) and the Jubilee Party (JP). There was limited coverage outside the two coalitions with other parties and candidates receiving little airtime.
<h2>Preaching the peace</h2>
The Kenyan media has struggled with the burden of being accused of fuelling post-election violence in 2007 and 2008. For example it was accused of failing to moderate hate messages and of passing on messages that incited violence. TV stations were accused of showing violent messages that led to retaliation between members of different communities.
Given these experiences, this time round the media was at pains to emphasise messages of peace throughout the electioneering period. It also showed restraint and self-censorship in terms of the information and images it presented.
This was evident if you compared coverage provided by the international media with the Kenyan media. While international media has alluded to imminent violence and showed images of isolated instances – before and after the polls closed – the Kenyan media has been more careful.
<h2>Assessing coverage</h2>
Journalists played a critical role in negotiating political and electoral discourse. But the people I spoke to called into question the professionalism of some of the members of the press.
Some people felt that adherence to the principles of truth and accuracy, independence, fairness and impartiality was wanting. There are examples of journalists perceived to be partisan for example Kameme FM broadcasters, some KTN and Citizen anchors and reporters. And that some journalists, including well known television anchors, revealed their political biases by seeming to favour specific candidates and parties.
Another issue that was raised was that some journalists blurred the lines between the personal and the professional. This was especially problematic on social media platforms. The impartiality expected of journalists was viewed as compromised when they openly expressed their political preferences.
The elections also come with a range of issues which demanded various levels of inquiry and analysis. The knowledge of many journalists didn’t always match these demands. At times coverage was shallow and not critically engaging.
In addition, while media houses called on dozens of “experts” and “analysts”, many couldn’t make contributions that justified their titles. Television stations paraded what they called “eminent” and “super” panels to little effect. Beyond being large in size, the panels were often thin when it came to substance.
One big gap was that mainstream media didn’t feature many women. ‘Manels’ (men-only panels) dominated television broadcasts and fewer women were used as news sources and on-air analysts. Women politicians also received significantly less coverage – and far more critical coverage – than their male counterparts.
<h2>The highs and lows</h2>
Compared with previous elections there was been an improvement in live coverage, immediacy, and updates on the campaigns, as well as the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission’s preparations. Media houses also followed the various legal challenges relating to the 2017 elections very closely.
There were also genuine attempts to encourage issue-based debating platforms and to give different contestants opportunities to argue their positions and engage with the electorate.
Media houses also deployed more resources than ever before to cover campaigns in various parts of the country. The rise of fact-checking was also a notable development.
Some of the low moments included the presidential debates that didn’t go as planned. This denied voters the opportunity to fully engage with the candidates. Nevertheless, the media must be commended for organising them.
There were also times when the mainstream media was seen to compete with bloggers to break news. The rush to publish meant that allegations and challenges weren’t verified and that assertions by politicians weren’t checked first.
There were also examples of journalists being sluggish in setting the agenda. For example, there was a general lack of inquiry into campaign financing, the use of state resources for campaigns and the conduct of party primaries.
<h2>Evolving role of social media</h2>
The role of traditional media in election coverage has come under pressure for two reasons.
The first is the emergence of digital platforms that allow political and election discourse, combined with the rise of citizen journalism. This means that the mainstream media is now just one of many news sources.
The second is that traditional media houses are under increasing financial pressure. Many have cut costs by letting experienced journalists go, in turn affecting the quality of media coverage.
But when all is said and done, the mainstream media continues to play a critical role in educating and informing the populace. The increased number of media outlets, especially local language radio and television stations, has ensured broader access to election information.
The mainstream media continues to provide a platform where the people can exchange ideas and engage with their leaders. The integration of multiple platforms including print, broadcast and digital has allowed broader interaction with audiences such that the media both speaks and listens.

Op-Ed: How the media covered Kenya’s general election

Malawian President Peter Mutharika has apparently made good on threats made in 2016 to act against elements of the media that he accused of anti-government agendas after a clearly politically motivated crackdown on a leading media house for the old, overused excuse of tax arrears.
Last Friday, January13, Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) officials and police forced the closure of the Times Media Group – a major Malawian media house with a reputation for poking the government bear – on the clearly trumped-up charges of tax arrears &#8211; a lesson apparently learnt from Zambian authorities who used a similar tactic to silence their critics last year.
The government continues to have a chilly relationship with elements of the country’s civil society, specifically the media, and there has been an apparent hardening of attitude on the part of the ruling party under Mr Mutharika.
Last November, Mr Mutharika suggested key elements of the country’s media were stepping out of line and our sources at the time said the most likely targets were radio stations and the Times Media Group, publishers of Malawi News, The Daily Times, Sunday Times and operators of Times Radio and Times TV.
Fast forward to January 2017 and the Times Media Group was indeed targeted by an increasingly frustrated regime unhappy with the group’s coverage of what has become known as ‘MaizeGate’ – a reference to a shady deal to purchase maize from Zambia.
The ins and outs of the deal are complicated and often disputed, but what seems clear and was pursued by the Times Media Group, among others, in a series of articles was that the state-owned Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) was to purchase 100,000 tonnes of maize from Zambia in a so-called government-to-government deal.
However, local media began to report that in fact the deal was signed with a private Zambian company called Kaloswe Commuter and Courier Ltd and was not an inter-government contract.
Government denied this, but continuing reports of high-level corruption and a “stinky deal” plunged the transaction into ever-deepening controversy.
While Admarc continues to insist it was buying grain from the Zambia Cooperative Federation (ZCF), Malawian media have reported that Admarc was in fact using Kaloswe Commuter and Courier Limited. There are additional allegations of over-payment, enriched middlemen and over-pricing in order to repay loans: all leading to a media storm that the Mutharika regime has decided to repress.
On Monday, January 16, the Journalists Union of Malawi (Juma) slammed what it called the “invisible political machinations” behind the action by the MRA to seal the headquarters of the Times Media Group because of alleged outstanding tax payments.
Juma President Mtheto Lungu and Secretary General Charles Nkula said they saw the action as a desperate regime attempt to protect the battered image of the government.
“The authorities are using the state machinery in trying to muzzle the media group from further providing the local and international community with information regarding the belligerent purchase of maize from Zambia,“ Juma said.
The Nyasa Times reported that the Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) Director John Kapito called the procurement process “stinky” and “humiliating” to the political leadership for its suspected corruption.
The Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), meanwhile, said the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) should institute an investigation into reports of corruption in the purchase of maize from Zambia “as a matter of urgency.”
We do not believe for a moment that the reasons provided for the action against the Times Media Group are legitimate or credible and agree with most civil society voices in the country that the action is political.
There are two major issues of concern here and several adjunct ones. Firstly, there remains a clear reluctance on the part of the Mutharika government to act against corruption and, more specifically, to act against his allies in the cabinet who appear to have a case to answer as seems to be the situation here with the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water George Chaponda.
Secondly, the reaction of the regime is damaging its relationship with civil society, specifically the media, and its attempts to intimidate and harass critical voices are political risk negative.
The combination of those developments spells trouble for Malawi in regard to its overall political risk profile that has already slid backward under the Mutharika presidency.
The media crackdown and refusal to act decisively against corruption in government and state ranks is a recipe for disaster as it leads to increased repression and deteriorating governance – both of which are moving in the wrong direction.﻿

Op-Ed: Malawi – Corruption and repression pose growing stability threats

A South African police watchdog has recommended that suspended national commissioner Riah Phiyega be deemed unfit to hold office and dismissed, the City Press weekly newspaper reported on Sunday.
Phiyega was the country&#8217;s top-ranking police official when police killed 34 striking workers near Lonmin&#8217;s Marikana mine in 2012.
She was suspended by South African President Jacob Zuma last year pending an inquiry into allegations of misconduct.
Reuters was not able to contact Phiyega for immediate comment but her lawyer, Sandile July, told the eNCA channel: &#8220;We have no idea what is in the report&#8221;, declining to make further comment.
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The police shootings were South Africa&#8217;s worst since the end of apartheid and have become known as the &#8220;Marikana massacre&#8221;.
The Democratic Alliance, the official opposition party, said in a statement that the report recommending Phiyega&#8217;s dismissal should be produced in parliament, adding that reports indicated that it has been ready since November 13.
Zuma appointed Phiyega in June 2012, after sacking her predecessor Bheki Cele over the irregular signing of a lease for a new police headquarters worth nearly $100 million.
Cele&#8217;s predecessor, Jackie Selebi, also did not complete his term after he was convicted of corruption and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He died last year while on medical parole.﻿

S.Africa watchdog says police commissioner should be dismissed

Welcome to 2016 in the Divided States of America.
Who would have ever thought that Donald Trump would be elected president when all this first began back in March of last year? Well, at 2:32AM on November 9, 2016, hell officially froze over and America elected Donald Trump the 45th President of the United States.
But, every so often, things need to be turned upside down to put them right-side up. So the voters did the political equivalent of using an ideological 2-by-4 to get the country’s attention. And make no mistake, Donald Trump’s victory was a sharp, populist kick to the groin of the liberal establishment that has dominated American mindshare, media and politics for most of the last decade.
For the purposes of full disclosure, I voted for Hillary Clinton &#8211; albeit reluctantly. I think she would’ve made a decent president but would have likely been under political artillery fire around the clock from the Republicans &#8211; which would have compromised her effectiveness in office as it did Barack Obama’s.
But, in hindsight, it really doesn’t surprise me that Donald Trump won the election. Over the months, as I watched the news coverage, it seemed to me that the media was starting to get a little too nervous about him. Could he actually win? Trump was rogue and unpredictable. He was in your face. He was a New Yorker. And he had 15,000,000 Twitter followers. All the while, Hillary was slipping, then recovering and then slipping again in the polls.
So to help her seal the deal, the media stopped reporting on Hillary &#8211; and started selling her to us. But there’s an old adage in sales that goes something like this: “people buy from people they like.” Although Trump, like Clinton, had extremely low favorability ratings, the voters saw her moral deficit as just too large to overcome. And as the campaign dragged on, the never-ending email scandals plaguing her made it very clear that something wasn’t quite right on the Left. No pun intended.
In the end, thanks to Julian Assange, Hillary Clinton was Wiki-Leaked into political extinction.
But try the media did. “Just look at the numbers. Trump can’t possibly win” one pundit said a few days before Election Day. “His path to victory is improbable, if not impossible” he continued. And many prominent voices in the media kept implying that the election basically belonged to Hillary anyway. “It’s her turn,” I would hear every day.
Well, it wasn’t. And when the voting was over, the silent majority had spoken. Actually, the silent majority had screamed. It was Donald J. Trump’s turn.
So now, a rainbow coalition of young millennials &#8211; still lost in an ideological fog &#8211; are angrily protesting the election results across the country – both in the streets and all over social media as well. And while many of the cell phone videos being released make it seem like there is a never ending flow of enraged demonstrators, it is probably less than 1/20 of 1% of the population – at most.
Of course, the real irony here is they’re demonstrating because the democratic system actually worked – not because it failed. They just didn’t like the outcome.
Others are now calling for the complete gutting of the Electoral College &#8211; which was established as part of America’s Constitution in 1787. Yes, Hillary won the popular vote but she lost the Electoral College. That’s how it works. Those are the rules. It’s like saying that one team beat the other in football because they ran up and down the field more often even though the other team scored more goals. Sorry, you lost. The number of goals you score determines the winner of the game. Nothing else.
Of course, had Clinton won the election, the Left would be extolling the virtues of the system and marveling at how well it performed. So, come on kids, get over it. You can’t just change the rules to get the result you want.
So now it’s time for the U.S. to start to heal itself. I’m hopeful we can but, frankly, I’m not convinced we have the national will. We are so divided it’s almost as if we are two countries right now. There’s anger everywhere. I walk all over New York every day and the vibe on the streets reminds me of an angry America in the late 1960’s. The main difference is that Donald Trump is now the new Richard Nixon.
So Trump needs to lead the country and act decisively to reunite America. He needs to reassure the voters that he is the President of all the people irrespective of gender, religion, race or ideological leaning.
But as the recent protests and unrestrained fury on Facebook and Twitter demonstrate, the liberal establishment doesn’t react well to losing. They don’t play well with the other kids in the sandbox especially if they disagree with them. So here’s the bottom line. The results are final and the American people have spoken. President Obama said exactly this in his post-election press conference.
We now need to give Trump a chance to govern.
But watch what he does, not what he says. Campaigns are about words. Presidencies are about actions. Yes, he will attempt to reverse many of Obama’s policies as well as most of his executive orders. Let’s face it, much of it hasn’t worked. That’s why the voters chose another path and put Trump in office. And if he fails, he’ll be out too. That’s the beauty of democracy. If the president doesn’t do a good job, you can fire him.
Trump’s mandate from the American people is to fix what ails us. I hope he focuses on creating jobs first. Putting people back to work always acts as a salve on the wound and will spark the economy. He’s claiming he will spend USD 1 trillion on infrastructure projects across the country &#8211; although it will likely take a few years for that to have an impact. He will push to reduce taxes which is long overdue. And with a Republican controlled Congress, he could get this done early on in his presidency. He will look to rebuild the military to its former levels just like Ronald Regan did back in the 1980’s. What he does with it, however, is anybody’s guess. My sense is he will also start to move away from the incendiary rhetoric against Muslims and Mexicans &#8211; and he should. He has to. But I don’t think he is anti-Muslim. He is anti-terrorism. And he is not anti-Mexican. He is anti-illegal immigration. There’s a big difference. He is already softening his position on the mass deportation of illegal immigrants saying now that only those with criminal records will be deported. But he will also secure the borders and make it very tough to get into this country illegally – wherever you’re from.
Perhaps the best illustration of how he might approach the presidency is this. Back in 1986, real estate developer Donald Trump watched New York City try &#8211; and repeatedly fail &#8211; to build a public skating rink in Central Park. It had already been under construction for 12 years at that point. Legendary New York City mayor, Ed Koch, told Trump he’d give him the project but he needed it finished in 18 months. Trump said he could do it in four. And he finished in three. I think this is the kind of President we could very well get.
Donald Trump and I are both New Yorkers – actually, we each grew up in Queens which is one of the city’s five boroughs. So here’s one thing I know for sure. He’ll work harder than anyone on the planet. And that’s a trait you want in your president.
So I’ll leave you with this. Stop whining. It benefits all of us to give Donald Trump the opportunity to do his job and allow for the peaceful transition of power to a new administration with different ideas. This is our history and how we have always done it. We gave Barack Obama the chance to govern. We gave George W. Bush the chance to govern. And every president before them too. If Hillary had won, I’d have gotten behind her and cheered her on as well.
But now it’s Trump’s turn. If we render his efforts ineffective through endless protests and violence, blatantly biased media coverage, social media smear campaigns and partisan political obstruction, I am not sure we will ever find our way back to being the United States of America again.
Rather, we will unfortunately remain as we are today. The Divided States of America.
So give him a chance.﻿

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