WAPO "The traditional way of reporting on a president is dead.And Trumps press secretary killed it"

[NRaleighLiberal]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-traditional-way-of-reporting-on-a-president-is-dead-and-trumps-press-secretary-killed-it/2017/01/22/75403a00-e0bf-11e6-a453-19ec4b3d09ba_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_sullivan-514pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.da32f28b4c64



By Margaret Sullivan Media Columnist January 22 at 4:35 PM

The presidency is not a reality show, but President Trump on his first full day in office made clear that he’s still obsessed with being what he once proudly called “a ratings machine.”

He cares enough about it to send his press secretary, Sean Spicer, out to brazenly lie to the media in his first official briefing.

“This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration — period — both in person and around the globe,” Spicer said. And he added a scolding about widespread reports that differ from his evidence-free assessment: “These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong.”

Crowd size experts estimate Trump’s audience at far fewer than the million or more that Trump is claiming, and at far less than the size of the following day’s women’s march, which the new president has said little about. And side-by-side photographs showed the contrast between the comparatively thin gathering for Trump’s inauguration and the record-setting one in 2009 for former president Barack Obama’s first.

snip

Lots of good stuff in this article - read it!

[Sunny05]

1. k and r! nt

[Cha]

2. Exactly.. it looks good! I and I'm sure others were thinking

on this morning.. there's going to be a new way of reporting on the asshole admin.

First off the bat.. it kills blotus that President Obama had such an amazing turnout for his Inauguration and his was puny in comparison. so LOSE!

As Jessica Huseman of ProPublica put it: “Journalists aren’t going to get answers from Spicer. We are going to get answers by digging. By getting our hands dirty. So let’s all do that.”

No more stenographers.. spicer killed that at his own peril.

Journalists should respond by doing their jobs responsibly, fairly and fearlessly, in service of the public good.

Somebody has to be the grown-up in the room. We’ve just been reminded of who it won’t be.

That's what we were always asking for.. it was President Obama who was the adult in the room.

[Doreen]

3. The transparency has been turned into a big black soundless wall.

I have been saying for a long time that this is going to be the most closed presidency ever.

[KittyWampus]

4. Quote:

As Jessica Huseman of ProPublica put it: “Journalists aren’t going to get answers from Spicer. We are going to get answers by digging. By getting our hands dirty. So let’s all do that.”

[Takket]

6. In the old days they called that "Journalism"

instead of just parroting back whatever narrative the GOP wants out there to the people.

you want facts, go find them!!!!!!!!!!! start with the IRS

[regnaD kciN]

5. Well, WaPo, if "the traditional way of reporting on a president is dead"...

...what ways do you propose to replace it?

[Jim Beard]

7. I think Preibus is going to be the spokesperson for a while. Just a guess.

[Cha]

9. Sit spicer facts on the bench for a rest?

[Jim Beard]

11. Yes, both of them.

[dalton99a]

8. Great article.

[Cha]

10. Really! I find it encouraging.. trump getting our m$m

finally off their steno asses?

[keithbvadu2]

12. Alternate facts, alternate truths, original lies

[creeksneakers2]

13. Its going to be hard to fight back with just digging

I expect the Trump regime to cut off access to reporters who tell the truth.

[Crash2Parties]

15. Easy access is not the same as digging

Last edited Tue Jan 24, 2017, 12:04 AM - Edit history (2)

The mainstream media are going to have to actually restructure from being little more than news feed reformatters to actual diggers.

[creeksneakers2]

18. The regime can do more than just cut off White House access.

Which reporters need to get thing like the presidents schedule and lists of what he's signed and what he's said. The regime can also cut off access throughout the government. Things like unemployment reports can be only given to Trump defenders.

I think this is going to be much worse than its taken to be now. I don't think just "digging" is going to solve it.

[justiceischeap]

19. The problem with your argument is that

someone is always willing to talk.

By digging, they will get sources and those sources will share information.

[maddiemom]

14. Trump: only obsessed with being "the biggest," "the most" or whatever superlative he can claim.

So unimportant in this case, but a good way to drive him crazy. I can't believe that this is actually being discussed on the "Sunday Shows." I was able to cast my first presidential vote against Nixon in 1968, but boy, would I rather see him in the White House than Donald Trump! I've worked locally for Democratic candidates from way before I was old enough to vote (recruited "Kennedy Girls"---and saw JFK speak in my hometown---when I was fifteen). I can actually remember when there were some admirable Republicans. I've voted for some on the local and state level in the past Those days are gone. One of our local state congressman actually "shopped" the Democrats, who felt he was too inexperienced, before running as a Republican. He's now making big strides in state government. Times ARE hard for many of us, but how anyone could actually see Trump as a savior is insane. He's stuck his middle finger up to all of us with his cabinet picks.

[Eyeball_Kid]

16. Fact #1: The Trump Administration will ALWAYS lead with a lie.

There can be no presumption of trust from anything the Trumpy Administration says or does. They will lie with impunity.

[Hamlette]

17. my favorite part:

"White House press briefings are “access journalism,” in which official statements — achieved by closeness to the source — are taken at face value and breathlessly reported as news. And that is over. Dead.

Spicer’s statement should be seen for what it is: Remarks made over the casket at the funeral of access journalism."

WaPo has been excellent of late. Remember, if you have an .edu or .gov email address you can get it for free online. I have both the times and WaPo and WaPo is MILES ahead of the Times. We need to support them.

[ginnyinWI]

21. for those who don't want to/ can't pay for full access:

go to WaPo's site and sign up for opinion articles to arrive in your inbox. You will get editorials written the day before by columnists.

[MADem]

20. The internet IS having fun with Spicer and Conway--and they deserve it.

My favorite Spicer "fake news quote" was as follows:


Trump's milkshake brings all the boys to the yard--PERIOD!!!!!!!

I also thought "The bass lines for 'Ice Ice Baby' and 'Under Pressure' are completely different. Period." #SpicerFactspic.twitter.com/Sg4uY3OHgA