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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDear Morning Joe:
I watch or listen to you every morning and over the years have enjoyed it. But during the rise of Trump, you infuriated me. You took pride in seeing Trumps potential to capture the nomination while everyone else did not. But you could not see then what so many others of us could see: that your friend (your word) Donald is uninformed, demagogic, bigoted, mean, unstable, possibly insane, and certainly unfit to serve in the highest office in the land.
I am glad, very glad that on this mornings show, you recognized all this about Trump and said so and that you all went further, trying to get Republican leaders, including at least one at your table, to repudiate their candidate for President.
But what if you had seen Trumps potential not just for votes but also for danger from the beginning?Would the Republican Party and the United States be in this precarious position today? This isnt funny anymore. Its not show biz anymore. It never was. You said as much this morning when you questioned Ret. Gen. Michael Hayden about how easy it would be for President Trump to launch a nuclear missile out of pique hearing only answers that gave no comfort. Worse, you revealed that in a one-hour briefing with a foreign affairs expert (when was that, Joe?), Trump asked three times why we (he) cant use nuclear weapons. This is serious. It always has been.
Now Im not trying to blame you for Trump and his rise. But because I watch you in the morning over the other guys, I need to use you to spark a discussion about what we must rethink in political coverage in American journalism and media.
For years, media natterers like me have lamented the horserace coverage of elections particularly presidential elections with journalists taking pride in predicting winners. This year, Ive been frustrated to hear journalists (often on Morning Joe) taking it upon themselves to tell candidates what they need to do to win that is, acting more as campaign consultants than correspondents. In both cases, this is a matter of journalists wanting to appear savvy, a syndrome NYU Prof. Jay Rosen diagnosed two presidential races ago. But that is the least of our problems now.
When it mattered most, journalism failed utterly to inform the public about the clear and present danger of a demagogue and an unstable, unfit candidate getting to within a step of the White House. Friend Rosen has argued that we in news media must bring new worldviews to this new situation. Yes, and new tools.
I often hear complaints about the ignorance and bile that characterize the public discourse in politics today. We blame the public for that. OK. But the fault for an uninformed public also lies at the feet of those whose job it is to inform the public. We in news and media are doing a terrible job.
Rather than predicting who will win and calling the day done journalists must concentrate on revealing the qualifications, experience, policies, assets, and deficits of those running so the public can judge: the profound job interview. In any rational equation, it should have been easy to question every such aspect of Donald Trumps candidacy. Back to you, Morning Joe: Trump called in constantly. How often did you demand full and cogent answers about his policies: How will you do everything you promise to do. How? was the most under-asked question of this campaign. You say you know him. Surely you could have revealed his obvious narcissism if not his instability to the nation. That you did not and that media as a whole did not can only be a measure of our failure. Yes, sure, youll put Hillary Clinton through a job interview as well. But dont even think of trying to talk balance: a few minutes on Khan and a few minutes on email. There is no such thing as balanced coverage of an unbalanced candidate. Because you know Trump so well, Morning Joe, you could have led our field in asking him the toughest and most revealing questions. That is our job.
Falling to these frightening depths and remembering that were not saved from it yet is an opportunity to rethink how we do journalism, conduct elections, run political parties, and govern. Let us get at least that much out of this fiasco.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-jarvis/dear-morning-joe_b_11316252.html
underpants
(182,834 posts)K&R
SummerSnow
(12,608 posts)I watch morning Joe sometimes. Both Joe and Mika whine that they can't vote for Trump cause Trump is "uninformed, demagogic, bigoted, mean, unstable, possibly insane, and certainly unfit to serve in the highest office in the land". But have no problem being friends with such a person. They repeatedly say they are friends with him.
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)Color me not surprised. These mfers knew.
SummerSnow
(12,608 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Joe's smart, educated, sophisticated, and very well wired. It's been well known for decades in NY and other circles that Trump is seriously mentally disordered. Joe had to know long ago too. He's undoubtedly laughed at many Trump stories over the years.
auntpurl
(4,311 posts)The media is responsible for both lowballing expectations of Trump ("after all, he's not a politician" - yeah no shit, THIS is why we don't elect people who've NEVER held elected office to the highest office in the land!) and legitimizing his candidacy by treating him the same as the other candidates and all other candidates who've vied for the presidency ("Off-beat, colorful, dynamic, maverick" being used many times to describe him and his campaign - instead of the truth: erratic and dangerous).
GeorgeGist
(25,321 posts)because you found it entertaining.
librechik
(30,674 posts)They are never as smart as they think, and they think blood will trump politics. Beware.
CrispyQ
(36,478 posts)They let Sarah Palin rant her bigotry without calling her out on it, back in '08. With our first black man in office, they were silent while people trumpeted their bigotry on the airwaves. It became acceptable, nationwide, for white people to display their racism. It's disgusting & the media is in it up to their fucking guilty necks. Fuck you Joe Schmoe. You made your fucking bed, now lie in it, you complicit piece of shit.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)raven mad
(4,940 posts)What's a Morning Joe?
Egnever
(21,506 posts)Gabi Hayes
(28,795 posts)Egnever
(21,506 posts)That show is barely better than fox news
raven mad
(4,940 posts)We're in Interior Alaska and don't have cable.
Egnever
(21,506 posts)Sorry if my post made you feel like you did.
Morning Joe is offensive not you
raven mad
(4,940 posts)but I get along with most of 'em. Have to!
Gabi Hayes
(28,795 posts)trying to kick it myself
easier said than done
raven mad
(4,940 posts)Except from now on, I'll see a photo and think of exploded ferrets................