"Fake News" comes in many forms. Hyperbole and playing fast and loose with words like "waged a war" plays into this. The media has NEVER been particularly friendly to the President. Even George Washington himself lamented how the press was slandering his administration with falsehoods.

What did this war look like? What actions did the government actually take to fight journalists covering POTUS unfavorably? Because I just remember an incredible amount of pearl clutching by journalists about how dangerous it is to say bad things about the press and how democracy would die in darkness if their credibility was questioned. It never actually stopped them from continuing act the same way.