The Newseum, which is broke, will no longer sell “Fake News” paraphernalia online or in its gift shop following protests from outraged members of the press.
“We made a mistake and we apologize. A free press is an essential part of our democracy and journalists are not the enemy of the people,” the Newseum announced Saturday in a blog post.
[More: Newseum apologizes for 'fake news' shirts, will continue to sell MAGA gear]
They added, “Questions have also been raised regarding other merchandise. As an organization that celebrates the rights of people from all political spectrums to express themselves freely, we’ve historically made all types of political merchandise available for our guests to purchase. That has included former and current presidential slogans and imagery and merchandise from all political parties. We continue to do so in celebration of freedom of speech.”
The move is a direct response to outcry from journalists and media commentators, nearly all of whom learned only last Friday of the t-shirt’s existence through a report published by Poynter.
“It is galling that Newseum doesn't get difference between allowing detestable speech and capitalizing on it. Selling ‘You are very fake news’ T-shirt undermines media. Makes you wonder whether they hope a museum is soon the only place to find journalism,” said NBC News’ Jonathan Allen.
BuzzFeed’s David Mack added, “so this pretty fucked up.”
It continued on like that through Saturday morning as members of the news media, many of whom appear to labor under the belief that, like police officers, each day on the job may be their last, complained the T-shirts were a direct affront (and maybe even a genuine threat) to their profession.
“Unacceptable,” said columnist Connie Schultz. “The president of the United States is calling us enemies of the people, potentially imperiling lives. It is not partisan for the [Newseum], of all places, to refuse to promote his agenda.”
The Huffington Post’s Michael Calderone meanwhile accused the Newseum of trying to “[profit] off hatred of the press.”
An amusing side note: The gift shop had reportedly been selling the shirts for quite some time prior to the Poynter report. The people who screamed the loudest this weekend likely would've known about the "Fake News" gear had they paid a visit the museum, which, again, is broke.
Following the Newseum’s announcement this weekend, several former and current journalists took a victory lap, refusing for even a moment to relinquish their scolding fingers.
CNN’s Brian Stelter, for example, said in a note of self-righteous indignation, “it's hard to argue with the bad PR strategy of selling the shirt in the first place – and then suffering through a storm of bad press before ultimately doing what could've been done immediately.”
"It blows my mind that you ever thought it was ok to make those shirts," said ABC News affiliate reporter Wesleigh Ogle.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Janelle O'Dea said, "How can companies/NPs/etc do bone-headed things and not anticipate the backlash? How much money was wasted on this merch that would be better used educating the public about what journalists do?”
Media commentator Jay Rosen, who said previously that the museum had “lost [its] bearings” and that it was “adrift,” said this weekend, “Sanity, after a long losing streak, prevails for an afternoon.”
Because nothing says “sanity” like grown adults shouting angrily at a gift shop.