Monday, November 7, 2022
Topic: Politics
Content Type: Opinion
Keywords:
Trump, media
Trump's Kryptonite
Main Takeaways:
- Free media is Trump's superpower
- Stop sharing the non-substantive things he says!
- Continuing to serve as Trump's conduit is evidence you want him to win
Over the decades, politics and entertainment have become harder and harder to disentangle. Since the 1930s, presidents have gradually adopted more and more of a celebrity personality. This culminated in a celebrity-president that had mastered the shock jock-driven nature of social media. A significant reason that Trump was elected and remained relatively popular with his base throughout the years was his penchant for making outrageous claims that won him free media attention. These statements impassioned both his biggest critics in the media and his strongest proponents in the electorate.
Everyone in America wanted to know what Trump was saying. They wanted to hate him for being offensive, racist, sexist, bigoted, crazy or they wanted to love him for poking the bear, being funny, saying things they were thinking. And because the public wanted to know, the media wanted to get in on that action (not to mention many in the media were also outraged and hoped to spread their own distaste).
Most people now recognize that the media erred by providing so much free press to Trump back in 2016. At the time, there were many reasons they did this, not just to cash in on the public's demand for all things Trump, and to tell the world how crazy he was, but also because they were convinced he would lose. All gain, no loss. But then he did the unthinkable.
Even while he was President, he would issue tweets that would dominate the news cycle for the day. They were very rarely substantive tweets; most of the time, they were only meant to be provocative. Provoke they did. As someone who wasn't on Twitter at the time, I could look at these controversies in a more detached way. I think there is much more detachment that is needed today, especially from the media.
This is why I want to propose that all journalists take a vow to no longer support Trump as they have in the past. I'm sure they believe they're doing their jobs by reporting on the things Trump says everyday, and to some extent, that's true. That's definitely not the only motivation though, and it's not the only effect. In fact, their reporting is probably counter-productive. The more they try to prove to Trump's supporters (and even to those on the fence) that Trump is bad, the more they solidify his support.
To really hurt Trump, what they need to do is stop playing his game. Stop sharing video of him doing crazy things. Suppress the urge to retweet and quote retweet.
Obviously journalists still need to report the news, so I suggest the following: think of Trump as two people--the shock jock provocateur and a politician running for office. If the politician says something important and substantive, report on that. If he calls a fellow Republican by a nickname, don't report on that. Don't even comment on it. It's really not important.
Every journalist should take this vow: I promise not to promulgate non-substantive stories pertaining to Donald Trump. If I encounter a tweet from him or others or an article about an outrageous claim he made, I will move on without comment. I will also criticize anyone who purports to be anti-Trump who does provide him with free coverage.
Many, many people both in the media and outside of it claim that they don't want Trump to ever be president again, that it is a danger to the country. It's time for them to start going beyond just saying so. It's time for them to start behaving that way as well. To me, the best way to prevent this eventuality is to use the one thing that saps his power: apathy. We must assume that anyone who continues to repeat Trump's comments wants him to win.