The other day Trump Tweeted: “If the disgusting and corrupt media covered me honestly and didn’t put false meaning into the words I say, I would be beating Hillary by 20%."
No, if reporters had done substantive reporting on Trump the way they should have, Trump would have been eliminated after the initial primaries. Trump owes his nomination to the failure of the media.
It's been easy for Donald Trump to control the media for one reason: the media allow it.
As CBS CEO Les Moonves said back in February, Trump may not be good for America but he's "damn good for CBS." Why should CBS care one toot about the country; it cares about ratings and profit. Journalists doing their job might get in the way with that.
It's time for political reporters to do what political reporters are supposed to do: question each candidate on specific issues confronting the country.
What is the candidate's position on climate change? What evidence does the candidate have to support his/her position? Viewers heard more about climate change by watching Leo DiCaprio at the Academy Awards than from watching reporter-moderated presidential debates.
What is the candidate's position on economic growth? What is the candidate's position on paid maternity leave? What is the candidate's position on healthcare? Why is healthcare more expensive in the United States than any other country and what can be done about it?
What is the candidate's position on substantive issue after substantive issue?
News organizations have to make a decision. Are they going to question the candidates on substantive issues and hold them accountable for what they say? They can cover the outlandish statements and the name calling in a single short story. There's no need to spend endless minutes reporting on political rally after political rally. What is needed is to ask specific questions on specific issues and get specific answers and to hold the candidate accountable for those answers (that means fact-checking and verification).
Will news organizations decide to be in charge of questioning the candidates, or will one candidate, Donald Trump, be in charge of setting the news coverage? Are we going to have another three months of "did you hear what Donald said?" That may be good for CBS and Les Moonves, but it's not good for anyone who cares about the country. What a shame Les Moonves doesn't recognize that.
When journalism fails, Donald Trump gets the Republican nomination. If journalism continues to fail, you know the result. It will be bigly bad.
No, if reporters had done substantive reporting on Trump the way they should have, Trump would have been eliminated after the initial primaries. Trump owes his nomination to the failure of the media.
It's been easy for Donald Trump to control the media for one reason: the media allow it.
As CBS CEO Les Moonves said back in February, Trump may not be good for America but he's "damn good for CBS." Why should CBS care one toot about the country; it cares about ratings and profit. Journalists doing their job might get in the way with that.
It's time for political reporters to do what political reporters are supposed to do: question each candidate on specific issues confronting the country.
What is the candidate's position on climate change? What evidence does the candidate have to support his/her position? Viewers heard more about climate change by watching Leo DiCaprio at the Academy Awards than from watching reporter-moderated presidential debates.
What is the candidate's position on economic growth? What is the candidate's position on paid maternity leave? What is the candidate's position on healthcare? Why is healthcare more expensive in the United States than any other country and what can be done about it?
What is the candidate's position on substantive issue after substantive issue?
News organizations have to make a decision. Are they going to question the candidates on substantive issues and hold them accountable for what they say? They can cover the outlandish statements and the name calling in a single short story. There's no need to spend endless minutes reporting on political rally after political rally. What is needed is to ask specific questions on specific issues and get specific answers and to hold the candidate accountable for those answers (that means fact-checking and verification).
Will news organizations decide to be in charge of questioning the candidates, or will one candidate, Donald Trump, be in charge of setting the news coverage? Are we going to have another three months of "did you hear what Donald said?" That may be good for CBS and Les Moonves, but it's not good for anyone who cares about the country. What a shame Les Moonves doesn't recognize that.
When journalism fails, Donald Trump gets the Republican nomination. If journalism continues to fail, you know the result. It will be bigly bad.
###
