The U.S. Media Are Making A Deadly Mistake With Trump

[appalachiablue]

Link to tweet

- Daily Kos, Feb. 1, 2022. - They don’t read the NYT or the Wash. Post. They don’t watch CNN. His exhortations to those supporters comes through, clear and unfiltered, in social media and the right-wing “news” sites that feed it. Then they are spread and absorbed by those supporters until they become, by default, official doctrine for the Republican party -

The U.S. media are still flummoxed by the question of how to cover Donald Trump’s actions, even a full year after his ejection from the Oval Office. That ambivalence is understandable; never before in the history of this country has someone so thoroughly brazen and insouciant in his raw criminality occupied a position now enjoyed by Trump, whose every utterance now smacks of outright, seditious intent. Trump is indeed an anomaly they have never dealt with, with his millions of supporters comprising an imposing swath of the American electorate.

There seems to be a consensus among major media outlets that Trump continues to represent a lethal threat to our democracy, but the magnitude of that threat is seen as blunted by the fact that Trump is out of office and therefore unable to inflict immediate harm. So rather than risk telling Americans the truth about what is actually occurring because of this man, they have deliberately ceded that responsibility, rationalizing that “amplifying” Trump’s words will only provide him with more of the attention he obviously craves (many, no doubt, harboring the hope that the country’s institutions will find a way to permanently remove him from the public sphere).

But when a former president—previously impeached for deliberately inciting a mob of violent, white supremacist thugs to ransack the U.S. Capitol—now (in essence) orders his followers to commit further violence should he be investigated or prosecuted for his criminal activities, that is news that the American people need to hear, and hear loudly, whether they want to or not. The real implications of that should be front-page fodder, not something relegated to the Editorial and Op-Ed section where it will mostly be read and digested by those who already have an opinion, or left for days before MSNBC finally takes it up as news “analysis.”

It should be a story blared out on the evening news by ABC, NBC, and CBS. It should be the lead story from the AP, Reuters, and other services where local newscasts and newspapers derive much of their content, on NPR and regional news radio.

The speech that Trump delivered in Conroe, Texas, on Saturday to thousands of his braying, rabid supporters on was, in fact, as described by Will Bunch for the Philadelphia Inquirer, “one of the most incendiary and most dangerous speeches in America’s 246-year history.” It was probably more venal, corrupt, and self-serving as anything that has ever come out of Trump’s mouth, because it directed his mob of supporters at our justice system and law enforcement, specifically those involved in investigating his personal criminal activity...

More + Comments,
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/2/1/2077675/-The-U-S-media-are-making-a-deadly-mistake-with-Trump

[sop]

1. How much longer before the various media outlets resume covering Trump's Nuremberg Rallies?

The more violent and seditious Trump's rhetoric, the greater the allure will be. They just can't help themselves, they won't be able to resist. There's too much money to be made covering this spectacle.

[Me.]

2. Not Long

THey too are addicted to the vulgarian

[appalachiablue]

3. Correct, the profits. How about the present danger to democracy,

not so much. And drum banging on inflation, is it more important than democracy? For major media it looks that way.

[CousinIT]

4. It WOULD be blared out and front page news if a DEMOCRAT did it! n/t

[appalachiablue]

5. Yep, that would be blasting, non stop. MSM get it together, now.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

7. Truth...maybe the majors have a slightly biased lean to the right...even the far right?

[Alexander Of Assyria]

6. The major Alphabet News outlets are not flummoxed or mistaken...deflecting from the

insurrection staring them in their narrow eyes is the plan.

If one party is seen as supporting a coup, which it is clearly…what happens to making both sides equal by Election Day? A runaway win dor any of only two sides in America would be a revenue and power-wielding disaster.

Biden objectively deserves a runaway win and reflection….how to make that stop!?

Objectively compared to TFG? No contest…cant have no contest elections!

[appalachiablue]

9. Tension filled horserace drama, gladiator style as long as poss, $$

[ificandream]

8. Yes, he should be covered, but ...

There are good ways to cover it and bad ways. The bad way is to run (or print) his full speech texts. The other is to highlight them. If I was editing a story for a newspaper (something I've done in my past), I'd print the most newsworthy texts. There is a difference, I concede, among what's newsworthy for some (Fake Fox, for example) and the legit media. What is needed is editing. Not censorship, but editing.

As far as covering it for profit, that's not the motivation of the legit media. That's not what covering the news is about, despite what social media likes to think. As No. 2 used to tell No. 6 (Patrick McGoohan), it's information. Strictly that.

[cutroot]

10. The media profits from a horse wrestling circus match race.

Always keep the remote handy..Vote With Your Remote.

[ificandream]

11. I was talking about newspapers, but ...

.... I admit TV is a different medium. But still, news is news. The responsible news outlets (not the one with the F) don't pander to the crowds when strictly reporting news. But also keep news and entertainment separate. They're two different animals. Good Morning America and the like aren't strictly news. They're more variety shows. And subject to profits needs. But the bottom line, unfortunately, is how many watch.

[pnloyd]

12. OOO

At least he's out of office finally!

[gopiscrap]

13. welcome to DU