Trump, the Public, and the Press
The billionaire class has proved itself a poor steward of media. Journalists must redouble their efforts to expose the threat to democracy.
The voters have spoken. A plurality preferred Donald Trump’s stream of lies to journalism’s truths about his many misdeeds.
I have covered and occasionally interacted with Trump for almost four decades and am still trying to understand why voters—and now, many business leaders and publishers—accept his record of ruthless bad behavior, chaotic management, and general incompetence and how journalists should respond.
Voters enjoyed Trump’s ability to intimidate his critics and establishment elites. And the Democrats were ineffective when responding to the grievances and promises—real and imagined—that were the basis of Trump’s campaign.
Even before taking office, the prospect of Trump’s controlling the White House, Congress, and Supreme Court frightened owners of once-proud news organizations. Some seem willing to undermine editorial independence to curry favor with the incoming president.
Billionaires, once thought to be the saviors of journalism, are proving themselves poor stewards of media companies. It is always dangerous to generalize, but several billionaires who have purchased media companies treat their acquisitions as sidelines they can run without much hands-on attention. They believe that running a media company must be easier than whatever business made them rich and that their talent and training are easily transferable from their primary business to media. They also trust their instincts more than others’ experience. They seem to favor many of Trump’s economic policies and fear he might retaliate against their primary businesses should he dislike their publications’ coverage of him.https://www.cjr.org/analysis/trump-public-press-bezos-soon-shiong-billionaire-owners-endorsements-scandal-los-angeles-times-washington-post.php?tpcc=NL_Marketing