So does the MSM really want Trump or just a horse race?

[redstateblues]

With the constant attacks on Hillary, it seems to me that they are really pulling for Trump. It is mind boggling to think that is possible. They did, after all, create him.

[tymorial]

1. horse race

It guarantees viewers/readers right up to the election and that means advertising and commercials. This is no different than going into overdrive and attempting to one up the competition during tragedies by releasing any information regardless of accuracy.

[NaturalHigh]

2. Horse race.

It's boring to admit that Clinton is going to win in a landslide.

[saltpoint]

3. They need the higher ratings to sell ad time at

the higher rates.

They're eager to lower their standards for said higher rates.

Real low, in this case. ("And it's deep, too.&quot

Note to the media: If the rumors are true that Trump expects to lose and only is using his presidential campaign as a tool for building a media empire, it is one that will compete with your networks for the above-referenced advertising and viewing percentages.

Careful what you wish for, mediafolk.

[cry baby]

4. I'm beginning to think they may actually want trump because

Hillary would be successful and trump would be a circus, giving them more $$ and viewers for years to come. It's all about the $$.

[meow2u3]

20. I think the MSM needs to be careful what they wish for in Trump

They might get a lot more than they bargain for, since Despicable Donald is infamous for turning on those who've bent over backwards to appease him. He has no gratitude, no loyalty, no conscience, and the MSM should know better than to cave in to his demands to have everything on his terms.

If Trump, God forbid, is installed, the MSM will be his first target; he actually strongly hinted at it.

[Ilsa]

5. Horse race for ratings, $. nt

[Koinos]

6. What the corporate-owned MSM wants to avoid is a Clinton landslide win.

A landslide for Clinton would surely give the Senate a Democratic majority, weaken the Republican majority in the House, and give Clinton a mandate for liberal reform. Most importantly, Clinton's supreme court nominations would have less opposition in a Democratic Senate. The corporate MSM does not want Citizens United to be reversed, and it does not want a shift from corporate to liberal legislation. The corporate MSM does not really like Trump, but they wish to prevent a strong Hillary Clinton with down ticket wins from implementing real change. They want another deadlocked Congress and stymied president, because they want the status quo that enriches them maintained. The MSM is playing a dangerous game: If they help Trump too much, they risked getting him elected. That catastrophe would upset their corporate gravy train much more than the election of Clinton. Trump would tank the economy, cause international peril, and subsequently threaten the media as well. The question is, are the mainstream media deplorable enough to play for-profit roulette with our national economy and standing in the world.. I think they are just that greedy and stupid to continue playing their very dangerous game. The movie "Network" was prophetic is this regard. Greed is more important than life and death for the MSM. If anyone should be called "deplorable," it is the MSM for supporting Trump 24/7.

[Hortensis]

16. Agree SOME business calculation has to be behind this.

The MSM coverage has been too egregious overall for the various top managements not to have intervened IF it was not, in fact, overall serving their purposes. I think as it is that we should assume some intervention has occurred.

Trump would be bad for business. A Democratic landslide would be bad for continuation of laissez-faire business practices. Both true enough to be an explanation.

Going farther, though, SOME may be interested in a possible Pence presidency. It is hard to imagine that Trump would not give the Republicans themselves excuse to remove him from office. Pence epitomizes the ideologic fusion of religious morality with business interests that ultraconservative manipulators like those in the Koch alliance have been working to develop for a very long time now. We know Don Jr. traveled and saw various people during the VP selection process, which resulted in Pence being pushed on his very reluctant father, but we don't know who and what was discussed.

[Koinos]

17. I agree with what you say.

But I don't think a Republican House would ever impeach a Republican president. No "high crime" would be deplorable enough for them to impeach their own "creation."

Dr. Frankenstein both feared and loved his monster.

[Hortensis]

19. President Pence would be THEIR creation. Trump is the media's

creation and the creation of a renegade, populist conservative faction that mainstream powers have every intention of getting back in harness to pull for their goals. Not impossible--the trumpsters are mostly people who can be fooled all the time, one way or another.

I think the House would impeach Trump and the Senate would convict him with great pomp and virtue. He is not one of them.

[Koinos]

33. Ah, those Republicans. So many monsters to choose from.

[MohRokTah]

7. Both, actually.

The Horse Race is what they need right now. The come from behind win story can be milked for a few weeks, then four years of Trump antics are an infotainment gold mine. It's like they get a free "Reality TV Show" to endlessly report for four years should he win.

[Cracklin Charlie]

8. They just want you to watch them as much as possible.

That's their payoff. More eyes watching = higher ad revenue.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

9. I think CNN and MSNBC want a horse race.

For ratings.

I think Fox wants Trump. (Although 4-8 years of another Democratic President might help their ratings).

[Yavin4]

11. More like ad buys, not ratings.

They want the campaigns and Super Pacs to buy time.

[Yavin4]

10. Horse Race - MSM want the campaigns and Super Pacs to keep buying ads

If they reported the truth which is that Hillary's lead has remained persistent since the spring. Trump has to win EVERY swing state in order to win, and that's not going to happen.

[Ernesto]

12. duh............

[Proud Liberal Dem]

13. Both

I feel like this is essentially 2000 redux. They're bored with wonky, sane, stable, intelligent Hillary Clinton, so they are trashing her however and whenever they can. The MSM seems to want somebody new, fresh, exciting like the Donald as POTUS. He would be a disaster for the country like George W. Bush was to be sure, but Trump's disasters and endless shenanigans would be able to be covered 'round the clock and most of the MSM pundits, unlike the rest of us, would not really suffer any serious consequences of a Trump Presidency for the next 4-8 years (short of Trump inviting nuclear retaliation on us from another country).

[Paladin]

14. The MSM want easy money from easy stories.

Hence the Lauer-ization of the coverage of Trump. Shameful.

[VMA131Marine]

15. They should remember what Hitler did to the German press

after he came to power. Trump has already promised to rewrite the libel laws. Who knows where he could go next with a complicit Supreme Court.

[Blue_Tires]

18. I know for a fact that some MSM stooges like Greenwald truly want Trump

Because their hatred of Hillary is that strong.

[George the Retiree]

21. Ratings

And in their pursuit of profits, the risk the very freedom that allows them to promulgate their bullshit.

[MineralMan]

22. I don't think that is the set of choices, really.

The news media wants one thing: to continue to get paid to do what they do. Controversy attracts audiences, so it is the highest good. If there is no controversy, controversy must be created.

The actual election and its consequences are not an issue. Only the audience is the issue, since their incomes derive from assembling an audience.

Do not mistake monetary greed for actual ethical positions. Money trumps ethics for many, many people.

[Koinos]

34. Absolutely true. The media would expect big bonuses for covering the extinction of the human race.

We are dealing with the unholy trinity of greed, hatred, and ignorance. Some people try to prevent disasters; other people profit from them. Some people see what is coming; other people are as dumb as rocks.

[GeorgeGist]

23. They want a horse race ...

but they're not smart enough to realize the danger to them if Trump wins.

[rufus dog]

24. When was the last time you saw the media do this for a Democrat?

The week before Barbara Boxer's last Senate run I was flipping channels and caught a tease on CBS or NBC news. They were getting ready to discuss a tight Senate race. Now there were a half dozen close races that year, Boxer's was not one of them. But that was the race they chose to focus on as a potential flip.

To answer my own question, I have never seen them prop up a Dem candidate.

[Cosmocat]

29. Correct

This is standard bad news for dems, prop up the R bullshit.

If an R was in the advantage it would be breathless talk of a "permanent republican majority" and "mandate."

[Puzzledtraveller]

25. They want Trump

I would not underestimate his ability to convince even large media corporations that they could make out handsomely in a Trump presidency. His win would also guarantee more civil unrest that they will make billions covering as such a outcome would embroil the whole country.

[oasis]

26. M$M.

[jalan48]

27. Horse race-I still think Hillary by double digits.

[The_Casual_Observer]

28. Trump has entertainment value, like LA car chases

Terorist mass killings and dancing with the stars.

[liberal N proud]

30. Mostly they want a close race

But it remains unclear if the want him to win or not.

[molova]

31. Trump (Rooting against Hillary = Rooting for Trump)

Pro-Trump.

[BlueStateLib]

32. Media is greasing the skids for a Trump victory

[lame54]

35. Wrong animal...

They are playing chicken

[AngryAmish]

36. Why not both?