With Trump unbound, the news media need to change. Yes, radically. The stakes are too high not to

[dajoki]

We have entered the Trump Unbound era — and journalists need to step it up.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/we-have-entered-the-trump-unbound-era--and-journalists-need-to-step-it-up/2020/02/21/66a3fc48-5425-11ea-9e47-59804be1dcfb_story.html?

When Donald Trump was elected, the media spent months figuring out how to cover a far-from-ordinary presidency.

Some will argue that many journalists never rose to that challenge — that they normalized Trump at every turn and never successfully conveyed to the public a clear and vivid picture of how he has toppled democratic norms and marched the country toward autocracy.

<<snip>>

Take the story of Trump’s angry reaction to the warning that Russia is interfering in the 2020 election to help his reelection. After hearing this, he reportedly moved to dump the acting director of national intelligence.

That’s big news that ought to be told with real urgency, right?

But not all of mainstream journalism saw it that way. On Friday morning, I searched and scrolled the home page of ABC News, whose evening news show attracts millions every night, the most-watched program of its kind. There were stories about the coronavirus, about the “mom of Idaho kids arrested in Hawaii,” and even a breathless in-case-you-missed-it piece about new fish sandwiches at Arby’s and Bojangles as Lent approaches. I could find the story in question only after a search for the term “Russia.”

And even those news organizations that did emphasize the story were using words that failed to get the importance across — headline after headline used the word “meddling” to describe the reported Russian intrusions into America democracy.

Meddling sounds like your nosy neighbor getting involved, over the backyard fence, in your family’s squabble.

The Daily Beast was more straightforward: “Russia Is Helping Elect Trump Again, Intel Official Says.”

There are dozens of examples every day. Too often, news organizations are cautious to a fault, afraid of their own shadows, and worried about being labeled anti-Trump or biased.

In this new era, my prescription is less false equivalence, more high-impact language and more willingness to take a stand for democracy.

With Trump unbound, the news media need to change. Yes, radically. The stakes are too high not to.

[Mister Ed]

1. But they'll only do that if it makes them more money.

If it don't, then they won't.

[Midnight Writer]

3. Exactly. I see them covering Trump rallies live again. I don't see them covering Dem rallies live.

[Magoo48]

2. Corporate Media will not change as long as it is Corporate Media.

Journalists, especially investigative journalists, are kept to a bare minimum and vetted for any tendencies toward digging for truth no matter who or what is revealed.