David Corn: The Media Still Doesn't Know How to Cover Trump's Extremism

[babylonsister]

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/12/the-media-still-doesnt-know-how-to-cover-trumps-extremism/

12 mins ago
The Media Still Doesn’t Know How to Cover Trump’s Extremism
His call for the “termination” of the US Constitution is the latest example.
David Corn



The day after Donald Trump, a former president and the leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, called for the “termination” of provisions of the US Constitution governing elections and essentially demanded that he be declared the “rightful winner” of the 2020 election, neither the New York Times nor the Washington Post ran a front-page story reporting Trump’s call for ripping up portions of the nation’s founding document. No mention of this even appeared in the Times that day. Trump’s unprecedented and dangerous statement was not deemed a big deal. This raised a question: Have major media players still not figured out how to cover Trump’s extremism?

snip//

The predictable had occurred. Trump made a preposterous remark. Democrats soundly excoriated him, and Republicans mealy-mouthed the matter. The media reported the fuss, and we all move on. But is there another way to cover this? Could news organizations better frame this development as a controversy of profound and lasting significance? A leading contender for the presidency—a job in which the top priority is to “protect and defend the Constitution”—had said screw that and displayed a desire to gain power as an autocrat. Trump reaffirmed that he is a threat to the nation’s constitutional order. (See January 6.) Might that warrant more oh-shit notice?

snip//

His statement regarding the Constitution was an episode of Trumpism that deserved more elaborate and sustained treatment. Even against the steady stream of Trump excesses over the past seven years, a demand to burn the Constitution stood out—especially with Trump’s recent and deeper forays into the realm of authoritarianism. If he is beginning his latest White House chase with a call to abolish the Constitution—while hailing the January 6 rioters and hobnobbing with antisemites and a white nationalist—imagine where might be heading. Armed resistance?

The media have often had a difficult time fully contextualizing and conveying Trump’s extremism. That’s understandable. His brand of demagogic politics undermines deeply held assumptions within the media. The national press long has been guided by the fundamental belief that both sides of the country’s political debate are generally morally equivalent—or, at least, that it’s not up to journalists to judge—and each deserve the same reporting approach. Yet Trump, with his continuing assault on democracy, is different and challenges this model. That is, he breaks it. As he heads further down this perilous (for the nation) path, conventional political coverage will not be sufficient. Like climate change, a pandemic, or a financial crisis, Trump, a would-be, Constitution-defying autocrat, and those enabling and supporting him jeopardize the nation. He and his movement ought to be covered not as yet another subject for the politics section but as a direct danger to American democracy. 

[The Roux Comes First]

1. Now, How Do We Get the MSM Editorial Boards or Other Media Decisionmakers

To actually read and give serious consideration to this idea?

I wholly agree that TFG and his unhinged followers are a criminal, traitorous threat to our country and system of governance. A large portion of his base and a significant number of elected republicans are not worthy of any delicate hands-off standard treatment by the media. They are propagandizing supporters of terrorism and insurrection and should be addressed appropriately by the press.

[gratuitous]

2. The former guy says something stupid; the media normalize it

When the media are assailed for normalizing some mouth fart that fell out of the former guy's pie hole, they demure that nobody could really mean what the former guy just said. Later, when the former guy does what he said he'd do, the media give a collective shrug and say the former guy told us he would do that, so what's everybody's problem?

In any event, they're not going to call the former guy out, his clueless blather is too good for business (cf. Les Moonves when he was running CBS). But woe betide you if you call these august personages of the Fourth Estate entertainers or beholden to the bottom line at the expense of the truth. How dare you?!

[onecaliberal]

3. Substitute any democratic lawmaker for trump and watch the difference in coverage. They know

exactly what they're doing.

In edit: We heard about the emails a million times a day everyday for years, yet when ivanka and jarrod are doing the very same thing and much much worse, the fascist loving media yawns.

[ananda]

4. They know how.

...