Media: ‘We all got Rickrolled’ by Trump

[DonViejo]

Source: The Hill

Journalists lashed out at Donald Trump on Friday after the GOP presidential nominee used his “major announcement” to get more than 25 minutes of free airtime on major cable news networks. Trump had hyped a statement he would deliver Friday in Washington about whether he believes President Obama was born in the U.S.

By The Hill's count, 26 minutes elapsed as pro-Trump military members spoke on the businessman’s behalf. CNN, MSNBC and Fox News carried the event from its beginning shortly after 11 a.m. Eastern. After 20 minutes, Trump — who was on camera to the right of the podium — still hadn't spoken about the "birther" controversy as he received endorsements and praise from members of the military on hand. Around that time, the cable networks began airing audio of their anchors speaking, though they kept the video of the event onscreen.

CNN cut away first, about 21 minutes into the event, with Fox News and MSNBC following suit a minute later. About five minutes after that, Trump stepped to the podium to make a short four-line statement:

“Hillary Clinton in her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it. President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period. Now we all want to get back to making America strong and great again.”

-snip-



Read more: http://thehill.com/media/296324-media-we-all-got-rick-rolled-by-trump

---

[unblock]

1. so, the news is pissed he pulled their own "coming up next, what could kill you!" trick?

what, are they going to sue him for patent infringement?

[question everything]

2. Agree with the content, though not know what "rickrolling" means

I was watching MSNBC and wondered when they were going to cut away, coming back only when he was there.

Wished someone would comment about how those generals (generals?) were praising him while he managed to avoid the draft. Of course, no one ever went after Cheney so...

[DonViejo]

5. Here's the definition...

rick rolled
to be tricked into clicking a link of a Rick Astley video.
ZOMG!! thats the 4th time i've been rick rolled today.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=rick%20rolled

[question everything]

27. Thanks. And I am not even going to ask who this person is.. (nt)

[VMA131Marine]

28. That's an odd statement for someone with your screenname, isn't it?

[Ohioblue22]

32. Lol!.. nt

[question everything]

33. Topics, ideas, not "celebrities"

I had not idea what "Kardashian" meant until it was in my face and could not escape it. Or that there are more than one of them.

[VMA131Marine]

35. There is more than one Kardashian, but from what I can tell they are interchangeable.

[BumRushDaShow]

57. Here is Rick 30 years later!

Amazing how time flies... He has been immortalized as his younger self.

[GummyBearz]

61. I'd hardly call Rick Astley a celebrity

He was a singer of minor note in the 80s. He actually seems like a pretty decent person based on how he took the meme about his song. Sometimes it helps to learn a thing or two before acting holier than thou

[question everything]

63. Why should I "try to learn a thing or two" about a person of whom I've never heard

just because he was a "singer of minor note in the 80s?" How many other singers of minor or major notes are there? I don't know about you but I try to use my time according to my priorities. When you are getting old you realize that, as Bill Clinton said during the convention: you have more yesterdays than tomorrows so choose wisely.

[GummyBearz]

64. Then a good piece of advice to you is don't talk about things you don't know about

Better to keep your mouth shut than stick your foot in it.

[christx30]

30. It's Rick Astley. One hit wonder from the late 80's.

I think that's pretty much the one song that he did that really went big. I've seen it on several "worst pop songs ever" lists. I like to play it at Applebee's, because people actually do like it, and it gets them dancing.

But it's a fun internet trick. You have a link on Imgur or reddit or something that says something along the lines of "proof that the long form is a forgery. Call on Obama to resign today". Someone clicks on that inflammatory link, and that song plays instead. Happened to my son one time. Was looking for some Lego Batman walkthroughs and he got the song instead. He was cracking up. Good times... good times.

[DonViejo]

37. Not true. Astley has many hits and is still recording...

"Never gonna give you up" was a worldwide hit but, he's by no means a one hit wonder. Aster's big in Britain (his home)

[smirkymonkey]

58. My dirty secret?

I actually like him. I think he has a great voice. Shame, I know.

[DonViejo]

59. Me too!...

I have a couple of his CD's; haven't played them in a few years but, have them I do.

Back at the end of whatever year it was, Never Gonna Give You Up was released and became a smash hit, I was watching MTV's or VH1's assessment of what were the top hits of the year. The panel doing the ratings went on and on about what a terrific love song Never Gonna Give You Up was that year. The panel then proceeded to deny Astley the #1 spot because of his looks...he wasn't some hot man professing his adoration for his partner.

[smirkymonkey]

62. Another dirty secret?

I actually think he's hot. Seriously.

[Beartracks]

51. People dance at Applebee's?

================

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

47. The video has gotten 240 million! views so far

The joke got so out of hand that they made a spoof of it:

[dbackjon]

3. Will they learn anything?

If they had any guts, they would refuse to show ANY trump event or spokesman live.

[adigal]

55. That's what my husband and I keep saying

He leaves them behind, uses them to,advertise his new hotel. Just drop the press coverage. He doesn't want the press there? Terrific! Send them to Hillary's rallies, obama's, bernies's appearances for her. They can report, "trump had a rally in NC and said that Hollary ate dead babies in 2007," and then interview Hillary's people. Don't have any of his surrogates on, at all.

Easy. He'd be kissing their asses in 2 seconds.

[Starbuck2239]

4. And here's what to do about it...

COMPLAIN. Email. Write. Call in. Post. I just sent CNN an email complaining about how they "covered" Drumpf's arrival this morning. I also sent The Guardian an email complaining about a headline they posted this morning, using the slur "Democrat candidate Clinton," and they actually wrote me back agreeing with me, and said they'd try to correct it. Both emails took me about 90 seconds.

The Rs and cons have succeeded in scaring lots of msm gatekeepers to be SO afraid of looking like they have a "liberal bias" that they now bend over backwards to do anything to avoid it. So Drumpf gets a pass. And how did they accomplish this? BY COMPLAINING. By "playing" the refs. And they've succeeded.

We need to do the same. It does not take much energy to write media and complain, especially after you've done it once. Add their addresses to your email address accounts, and they pop up in a second. Then take 20 seconds to write a couple sentences. Tip: be civil, but let them know you're watching or listening, (or not) and why.

I've complained to "Meet the Press" and received a real response from a producer. I once wrote Brian Williams a letter (years ago) about him putting Rush Limbaugh on the 6:30 news and he (or someone) actually wrote me back.

Believe me, they are listening -- but to whom?

[PatSeg]

9. You are right

They do listen. They don't always respond, but they are paying attention. Many of them also pay attention to political boards like DU. They probably do searches with key words and names.

Thank you for complaining about the misuse of the word "Democrat". It drives me insane. I want to tell these republicans that it makes THEM sound uneducated and ignorant. It is so disappointing that a newspaper would used it in their headline.

[Starbuck2239]

50. Democrat or Democratic?

Yes. Drives me crazy too. Here is what the Guardian sent me showing they get it. It's a nice little explanation to explain to others. Link to it in the "D" section of their style guide is at bottom.

Democrat, Democratic
In American politics, Democrat is a noun, Democratic an adjective: Hillary Clinton is a Democrat, and a member of the Democratic party.
The distinction is important because the Republicans use “Democrat” as an adjective, eg “Democrat party”, in a pejorative way.

https://www.theguardian.com/guardian-observer-style-guide-d

[PatSeg]

56. Ah yes

Hopefully, The Guardian won't make that mistake again. Obviously they do know better.

Recently I saw Congressman Emanuel Cleaver on MSNBC. A Trump surrogate said "Democrat party" and Cleaver responded, "First of all Democrat party is bad grammar......" and then went on to make his point. I wish more people over the years would have said the same thing. Democrat as an adjective was meant to be derogatory towards the Democratic party, but it only made republicans look ignorant. I am so tired of these political wordsmiths like Frank Luntz. I'm pretty sure he was the one who started that stupid crap.

[kiri]

12. post the email addresses

You obviously know the contacts. Why not share them and make it easy for us?

Writing a message is not hard, but spending an hour or more going to websites, searching for "contact us", etc, is very burdensome.

Thanks

[leftynyc]

15. It took me all of 10 seconds to

find this link. Just google cnn feedback:

http://www.cnn.com/feedback/

[question everything]

22. Do you have one for MSNBC?

This was what I was watching. Usually they invite people to comment on Facebook or Twitting away and I use neither..

Thanks

[leftynyc]

24. A quick search found

this email contact for anything not directly related to one show specifically:

[e-mail]

[question everything]

26. Thanks. Done (nt)

[calimary]

41. Welcome to DU, Starbuck2239!

MAN are you ever spot-on, on this!

MAN are you ever right about this.

In the same spirit as "Don't boo, VOTE!" This one is "Don't stay silent, COMPLAIN!" Let 'em know! I've spent about an hour this morning tweeting everybody every which-a-way, on every network, every cable outlet - to ram this point home.

I think there's been a surprising turn in the press because of this, and the surprising number of print articles and op/eds, pointing out the lies, the lopsidedness, the double standard, the utter negligence of the "journalists" who've been pretending to seek the truth but just take the handouts and talking points from the RNC and limbaugh and Pox Noise & fiends and leading from that dreck. All of a sudden there were a LOT of 'em. Surprised the hell outta me! I think it was the AP story that cherry-picked some crap they misread about the Clinton Foundation and then blew it up into a huge "scandal" story. It was startling to see how that story was picked apart, thoroughly debunked, to the point where the AP finally had to cave and take their promo tweet down - that they'd defended in near-desperation, for days on end. I'm seriously wondering if THAT was the critical mass point. If THAT was what turned the tide here. Or maybe it was Joy Reid's aggressive interview style that firmly and immediately shuts down all babbling Bullshitters-for-Trump.

SOMETHING happened. Something happened to provoke a change. I don't know what, exactly, but I've noticed a definite change in the last couple of weeks or so. It's very new. Never saw it in full ferocity like I did this morning, though, when it seemed EVERYBODY was piling on the lies, and calling them exactly what they were: LIES.

AMAZING day. Just a freakin' AMAZING day. One I was pretty sure I'd never live to see.

[Starbuck2239]

68. I agree. Something's happened recently.

Yes, I've noticed it too. Seems like some in the media have finally awakened. Maybe they've seen President Drumpf in the distance and realized they might have to eventually "own" some responsibility for it if he wins. For good or bad, they're all on record.

[calimary]

69. And I think we need to KEEP them on a short leash like this.

The only way I can think of that we as individuals and civilians can express our displeasure with the shit job they've been doing - is to hound them. Keep up the pressure on their Facebook pages and Twitter pages. Write a letter, even!

I actually did one yesterday, to complain about Andrea Mitchell's non-stop anti-Hillary bias. I cc'd it to CNN, Ashleigh Banfield who for the time being has a show on opposite hers, Brian Stelter - the guy who hosts CNN's "Reliable Sources" (and is LIGHTYEARS better than Howard Kurtz - who not surprisingly left CNN for Pox Noise!), the NYTimes, and to the Hillary campaign. It carries more weight when it's harder to just shove into a drawer somewhere or dropped into the "round file." That way, the recipient KNOWS that it can't be avoided because other people have seen it, too.

[ColemanMaskell]

52. Agreed, most media actually read correspondence and react

Starbuck, Right you are. Back ten or fifteen years ago before the Internet was so big, I started writing letters to the editors of big publications and was amazed that about half of the letters got some sort of personal response, and about a third of them were actually printed (by my loose count). I was flabbergasted, having expected to be ignored. I would advise making such letters short, and each letter should cover only one topic. If you have two ideas/complaints, write two letters. Make the letters (or emails nowadays) easy to read: Short sentences, reasonably good grammar and spelling, keep focus on your topic. People really do read the mail.

[calimary]

71. Welcome to DU, ColemanMaskell!

I wrote a letter and mailed it out yesterday.

9 21 16

NBC News
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, New York 10112

To Andrew Lack et al:

Greetings.

I felt compelled to write this letter to object, in writing, on the record, to Andrea Mitchell’s never-ending negative reporting of Hillary Clinton. I guess the poor woman just must not be able to help herself. Not even a positive story goes by without a nasty little jab.

MUST she ALWAYS accentuate the negative? Has someone told her to do this? Or is this just simple, straightforward BIAS on her part?

Doesn’t matter to me anymore. I’ve learned to switch channels at 9am Pacific time, to Ashleigh Banfield – or whoever else is on CNN, if I want news coverage. I now even tune away when Mitchell is on someone else’s show as a guest talking-head. Her BIAS is a TURN-OFF.

I watch MSNBC to see liberals and liberal views treated with more respect. Guess that’s changing. Well, then, so does my channel.

I’ve finally had ENOUGH. JOY REID for 9am weekdays!

Adamantly –

calimary (I signed my name, though)

CC: CNN, Ashleigh Banfield, Brian Stelter, New York Times, Hillary Clinton 2016

I actually mailed out six letters. One to NBC, and the other five to those CC'd at the bottom.

[ColemanMaskell]

72. Good job

Keep up the good work.

[sakabatou]

6. I keep thinking his entire campaign is a Rickroll

[Kathy M]

13. This ^

[Snotcicles]

18. Trump should start

marketing Seatless Underpants and had out feel samples before his press conferences.

[awoke_in_2003]

53. I think he got in it for publicity...

then people started backing him. He has been saying crazy, off the wall shit to try to derail, but the crazier he get, the more they love him.

[leftynyc]

7. Sending an email later when I get home

basically telling them that donnie has made asses of them for over a year and they let him in the name of ratings and it's no wonder NOBODY trusts the media anymore.

[onehandle]

8. Good. Fuck you collaborators. nt

[Democat]

10. The media are not victims, they love to give Trump free advertising

This is a joke.

Clinton is the victim here, and the rest of America who doesn't want a racist reality star for president.

[Snellius]

60. Trump is crack for media whores -- Satan sells

They say they hate it but they eat it up. Trump is like a drug for the media. The more they hate him, the more they love him. Hating him is bigger news than if he were good as God.

[pnwmom]

11. So no apology. Of course not. n/t

[Brickbat]

14. Abloo bloo bloo bloo.

[rtracey]

16. ummmm

Yeah well FUCK YOU MEDIA.... you are a bunch of money grubbing, right-wing whores. You are complacent, sexist, homophobic, racist and will be part of the destruction of this country if Trump is elected. The media has allow this total narcissistic, sociopathic cretin to use their airtime as if he owned the world, and no one to blame but you media, no one is to blame but you. CNN, I hope Time -Warner goes bankrupt, and you end up wearing your ass as a hat.

[Retrograde]

17. No, you created this mess by promoting Trump in the first place

and giving him free air time disguised as "news" during the primaries. He's your monster: unfortunately the rest of us are going to have to live with the consequences.

[liberal N proud]

19. So does that mean that they will show Trump for what he is?

NO!

[progressoid]

20. 25 fucking minutes.

Jesus.

[spartan61]

21. I am so glad that I

shut off my TV (MSNBC) when trump was introducing the Medal of Honor winners and telling the audience how many "Generals" love and support him. I had decided that I really don't give a crap if trump believes that President Obama was born in Hawaii or Kenya. I know he was born in America. I couldn't figure out why this was such a big deal...what trump believes. Disgusting.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

23. Genius, he's been playing the media like a cheap violin for the beginning, it was obvious from the..

start with today's infomercial for tRump hotel and so I keep checking back to see how long he could sucker these willing dupes!!! He is called Don the Con because he is a scram artist, sometimes sneaky, usually obvious but always conniving. The media eats it up because it is good for ratings until he went over the line in again exposing himself as not only a disgustingly obvious racist but also a deplorable bully in his basic repulsive demeanor.

SHAME, SHAME, SHAME on the MSM for creating and allowing this evil person to masquerade as credible presidential candidate!

[Friend or Foe]

25. Adept Media

A media that is adept enough to get 3 million people to watch an episode of Honey Boo Boo is certainly creative enough to keep a presidential race "close" in the name of profits and ratings.

This is sickening.

When all is said and done, this election won't be close. It is being manipulated by a media conglamerate/monopoly controlled by 5 or 5 corporations. They know what they're doing. And in the end, they'll prefer a candidate they can hopefully control (Hillary) as opposed to a bloviating freak show, and so will go their "reporting".

[calimary]

44. Welcome to DU, Friend or Foe!

They sure cling to their horse race, don't they. As CBS corporate chief Les Moonves recently observed - "it's bad for the country, but it's great for business!" Or as Samantha Bee has said - they've traded their balls for ratings. Maybe THAT'S ending? I'd like to think so, but I sure wouldn't bet on it (at least not yet). For example, where's the obsession on that Newsweek story earlier this week - about Trump's funky international business dealings? If it were Clinton, they'd be crawling all over it for the next year. But it's disappeared. Lazy reporters. Lazy newsrooms. Nobody wants to do the really hard work to check all this out, like the reporter of that story, or the Washington Post reporter who spent ages digging painstakingly through Trump Foundation "charitable" efforts. Nobody wants to bother with that. After all, they have to be in make-up...

[LiberalLovinLug]

29. And then how many minutes more did they discuss how they were played for Trump chumps?

This is gold for his supporters. Not only airtime on him and not Hillary, but then watching the librul media whine about how the amazing Don made them all look like fools.

[kysrsoze]

31. Dickrolled is more appropriate

[Farmgirl1961]

34. Examples of emails sent to the media?

I would love to see some great examples of emails sent tot the media. I haven't watched but am mad as hell and want to write a "constructive " email voicing my concerns.

[calimary]

48. I'm using Twitter, but letters and emails are EXCELLENT too!

Paul Begala once said 100 paper letters can change the course of a newsroom. TRULY: If they think you don't care, they won't, either!!!

I'd say keep it short but accurate, and to the point. Proper spelling, usage, and punctuation too. Old-fashioned, yeah. But true. Otherwise they'll think you're some idiot not to be taken seriously. Having been at the receiving end of this, I personally know this is true.

It's ALSO strategically helpful to CC: somebody else. Copy somebody else. Competitors, other media people in the same organization, and so forth. Because it's more effective and less easy to ignore or blow off - if you know others have seen this, too. I read about this awhile ago about a woman who wrote a letter correcting the New York Times on some factual inaccuracy. She addressed it to the writer, but also a number of other people at the Times including editors, AND the Times' main competitor, The Washington Post. BIG-TIME EXCELLENCE!!!! You see that you're not only being corrected, but you're being dressed down in front of a bunch of other people you'd rather not have involved. Carries FAR more impact. And sure enough, the Times ran a correction.

On Twitter, you also have to keep it short, and because of the 140-character thing, spelling rules kinda go out the window. Here are some samples of mine, along those lines:

@KatyTurNBC THANK YOU for pointing out Trump's LIES about Hillary starting the birther movement. @donlemon @GovHowardDean @joshtpm @markos

@KatyTurNBC THANK YOU for pointing out Trump's LIES about Hillary starting the birther movement. @HardballChris @Eugene_Robinson @RawStory

and

@morningmika Hillary lies? Didn't want you to miss this: http://www.attn.com/stories/10483/chart-compares-presidential-candidates-honesty @jonathanalter @CapehartJ @JoyAnnReid @JoyVBehar @CBSNews

@JoeNBC Hillary lies? Didn't want you to miss this: http://www.attn.com/stories/10483/chart-compares-presidential-candidates-honesty @MorningEdition @CBSThisMorning @CBSEveningNews @Thom_Hartmann

and - earlier this week when Wolf Blitzer sat on his ass and let Georgia CON mouth breather Jack Kingston carry on about that AP hatchet job on the Clinton Foundation - LONG after it had been roundly and broadly debunked:

@JackKingston4GA @JackKingston4GA @wolfblitzer won't bother correcting your LIES. I will, though! http://www.factcheck.org/2015/06/where-does-clinton-foundation-money-go/

@JackKingston @wolfblitzer won't bother correcting your LIES. I will, though!
http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/29/opinions/ap-gets-it-wrong-on-clinton-reyes/

@wolfblitzer You didn't bother to correct @JackKingston on his LIES about Clinton Foundation. So I will:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/29/opinions/ap-gets-it-wrong-on-clinton-reyes/

@wolfblitzer You didn't bother to correct @JackKingston on his Clinton Foundation LIES. So I will! http://www.vox.com/2016/8/24/12618446/ap-clinton-foundation-meeting

HERE - seems to me (although I'm no long-running expert on Twitter), the same principle is true. And the more people see it, the greater and broader the impact.

THEY NEED TO KNOW WE'RE WATCHING AND KEEPING SCORE. They need to know that they can't get away with their lazy, negligent journalistic malpractice anymore.

[SHRED]

36. And here's what they are going to do about it..

Zip, nada, nothing.

Oh they will feign "outrage" then back to the "false equivalency" meme.


...

[HAB911]

40. They should have boycotted him

the first time the campaign blacklisted a new agency. They should have all walked and starved him of attention.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/06/14/media/donald-trump-media-blacklist/

[calimary]

49. Welcome to DU, AB9111!

Yes. Agreed! When the Washington Post had their credentials yanked, ALL THE REST OF THEM should have reacted in solidarity with WaPo. Otherwise, they're just like negligent parents with a naughty kid, not doing anything about it. And thereby condoning it. You DO NOT reward OR reinforce bad behavior! Would you raise your kid that way?

[SansACause]

38. No, they got suckered.

Rickrolling has a specific meaning. Trump might as well have farted into the microphone and left the stage laughing.

[dgibby]

39. And in other news,

Charlie Brown once again trusts Lucy to hold the football for him to kick. The 4th Estate in this country is one hot mess.

[RobinA]

42. Well, The Fact That They Gave

him 25 minutes to opine about Obama's birth country tells us about all we need to know.

[Laser102]

43. Integrity. Look up the word Jake. It has nothing to do with the orange tick.

[sinkingfeeling]

45. Lying Republicans!

[Fiendish Thingy]

46. I bet this will be topic #1 on the next Full Frontal

I can't wait to see Samantha Bee blast the media for being suckered yet again!

[world wide wally]

54. I never heard Trump use the word "wrong" in his faux apology

[Orsino]

65. Willing tools willingly acted as tools.

Funny how the media never minded doing empty puff pieces before. If they're pissed now, it's because they suddenly looked as stupid as they think we are.

Or they're afraid they might have to do a little work?

[JHB]

66. You knew what he was...

Pro tip: You can't call it "rickrolling" when you click on the big banner for Rick Astley's Greatest Hits

[Homer Wells]

67. Honestly,

In regards to Trump versus Rick Astley, I think the new term should be "Trumprolled".
From what I have read, (this coming from a 68 year old man), Astley at least has a reasonably decent talent, and has not gone after
anyone in a Truly Evil way, seems to me to associate Rick with such a deplorable man as Hair Drumpf is doing Rick a great disservice.

[BainsBane]

70. They created Trump

and it is they who bear responsibility for him.