Trump TV 2.0: The News Media Can't Ignore the Debut

The fantasy of the illusion of the normalization of Donald Trump David Remnick wrote in the New Yorker days after the November 2016 election should now be a distant memory an illusion shattered Remnick wasn39t the only one to spotlight the presidentelect39s pathologies four years ago Unfortunately the warnings did nothing to alter the mainstream news media39s depiction of Trump as a populist outsider prepared to shake up Washington As Trump raises the curtain on his Act Two their coverage appears ready to make the same mistake againRemnick was admonishing the press for embracing an assumption that Trump39s mendacity already had proved false in his 2016 campaign that the weight of the highest office would turn a sociopathic and profoundly uninformed partisan into a presidential figure Intentionally or not Remnick39s words weren39t only a warning about Trump They also called out journalism39s businessdriven narratives The commentary should be reread as Trump prepares to spend the next four years denying his defeat as well as his successor39s hopes to do the work of the nationWith Trump laboring to discredit this November39s election results the companies that own broadcast cable and webbased journalism need to make up their corporate as well as civic minds are their business models going to blind them once again to their role in helping him undermine the country39s democracy Their complicity isn39t debatable Having ignored for four years the political damage done in endlessly purveying Trump39s deceits as straight news the question doesn39t appear to be one they39ve pondered if even considered at allIt39s not hard to figure out why From Facebook39s amoral algorithms that post proTrump QAnon conspiracies alongside puppy pictures to controversyseeking cable news producers who feature White House toadies rather than real news putting Trump39s antics and absurdities on air since 2016 has boosted the bottom line Imagining the boardroom backandforth about the outlook for 2021 is easy enough Broadcasting baseless conspiracies tweeted tantrums kamikaze attacks on conservatives who compromise with President Biden Why stop nowJust look at the numbers Polarized politics produced a amp16014 billion campaign in 2020 broadcast digital cable and radio pocketed close to half That39s on top of the revenue from the Trump Show 10 and cable news39 quothe said she said two sides to every storyquot approach Fielding a menagerie of analysts commentators and White House stooges who endlessly debated his lies monetized Trump39s mendacity For the greeneye shade types forecasting next year39s revenue Trump39s current fabricationamp8212a stolen electionamp8212is the twobyfour in the wind The curtain is going up on the Trump Show 20 Can a bigger bottom line be far behindThat the new Trump Show will score in the ratings isn39t a sure thing A few former White House insiders suggest its star may fade away unable to accept his loser39s status in the biggest reality TV contest he ever staged Others cite his legal and business challenges It39s plausible that state and federal investigations defamation suits and a halfbillion dollars in personally guaranteed debts could take priority But so is four years of experience that suggests Trump disappearing is as likely as his own prediction that the coronavirus would do the sameFor media executives willing to acknowledge their part in Trump39s assault on the democratic process the choices are obvious To their credit their journalists finally are dismissing out of hand Trump39s latest lies about the election As for their bosses they can follow suit by dropping any professional pretense that their outlets are obliged to guarantee the expresident airtimeInstead in the wake of a presidency covered in a fabric of lies a continuing focus in Trump39s postWhite House years on his record of prevarication can put his falsehoods in context providing factchecking that would serve audiences and the country well The same holds for his entourageamp8212the fearful Republicans former Trump toadies and Proud Boys who will carry his water All deserve the same treatment as TrumpSimply turning off the cameras however isn39t enough No less than their print counterparts broadcast and cable news needs to make examining the legacy of the expresident and his administration job one From gutting the State Department to lobbyists and federal officials fattening the coffers of Trump39s resorts and hotels four years of on and offthebooks activities are ripe for investigative journalists As suburbia39s humorist the late Irma Bombeck wrote the grass is always greener over the septic tank Trump has left a fertile field indeedMainstream journalism also needs to look hard at investigating itself For journalists and their standards of accuracy and integrity it39s a worrisome picture Take cable news Fox News has held the position of market leader with its primetime model of Trumpinspired propaganda occasionally covered by a fig leaf of professional reporting Whatever Trump39s current displeasure with the networkamp8212Fox cuckolded him by broadcasting accurate election results last weekamp8212his emerging governmentinexile is seeking to create more of the sameNot surprisingly Trump himself reportedly is thinking big A news service under his control would allow the faithful to subscribe to a streaming Trump TV Trump logoed or not Newsmax and One America Network two news outlets that religiously parrot the White House also reportedly are attracting investor interest The deep pocketsamp8212conservative funders tied to the Republican Party as well as Trumpamp8212are fair game for investigation So are Newsmax and OAN As propaganda mills neither they nor Trump are going awayTrump TV 20 isn39t just a postelection story about the changing world of journalism Trump has made no bones about his desire to bring the media to heel The rise of news services that are all but officially tied to him and his political party calls for a decision by journalists as well as their organizations is their work to be treated as the product of professional colleagues or the propaganda of a political movement dressed up as the output of the working pressThe news media succumbed to the fantasy of the illusion of the normalization of Donald Trump on the eve of his presidency It would be a mistake the do the same at its twilight The country can39t afford the pricePhoto courtesy of Kent HarringtonClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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Trump TV 2.0: The News Media Can't Ignore the Debut

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Kent M. Harrington

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