Donald Trump attacks the ‘biased’ media

United States Presidential hopeful Donald Trump has never been one to mince words, but has he finally gone too far?

In a speech yesterday, Trump went on a personal verbal attack on some members of the media for what he perceives as biassed media coverage.

“I think the political press is among the most dishonest people that I have ever met,” Trump stated before pointing out a journalist Tom Llamas and adding, “You’re a sleaze because you know the facts, and you know the facts well.”

Llamas took to Twitter to say:

Trump just called me a “sleaze.” Should be an interesting week.

— Tom Llamas (@TomLlamasABC) May 31, 2016

Donald Trump then went on to call other members of the press by name and call then “losers”.

It’s not the first time a politician has accused the media for swaying the public’s opinion and creating a negative campaign against them.

In Australia, former prime minister Tony Abbott took a swipe at the media attacks against him following his demise saying, “We have more polls and more commentary than ever before; mostly sour, bitter, character assassination.”

In an era of social media and 24-hour news cycles, it appears that media agencies are turning more towards unsourced information thereby rewarding deceitful behaviour and negativity.

Have journalistic standards weakened over time? Is this an acceptable way for a politician to speak to the media?