Politics/Opinions

Major News Networks and Trump

 

 

 

 

 

Major News Networks and Trump

As President Donald Trump continues his attack on the media, the ones that are not Fox News of course, CNN and MSNBC, who played a role in getting him elected, continuously report about the verbal attacks on their journalists by Trump and his loyal supporters. The atmosphere appears to be worsening and becoming possibly even dangerous to the reporters attending these rallies. For those reporters on the ground simply doing their jobs, the anger and bitterness towards them is building, thanks to the president with his consistent and aggressive attacks. To call members of the media the “enemy of the American people” is certainly to instigate the crowd and create another common enemy to unite and keep his base angry and united behind him. These tactics are not the creation of Donald Trump, this is the standard model that any dictator has followed throughout history. Regarding politics, the media exists to provide the public of the goings on in government, to inform the public of what their elected officials are doing on their behalf and that of the nation. However, when the media reports on compromising information or activities regarding these government officials, they are being labeled as the “enemy” when in fact it’s those that are being reported on and their inappropriate and sometimes illegal acts that are in fact the “enemy of the people.” To watch these reporters being yelled at and called names is difficult to watch at times, but this is ‘Donald Trump’ time, he won the election and therefore has also acquired the massive power of the ‘bully pulpit’ which allows him to set a tone for the nation. Presidents usually attempt to unite, Donald Trump has chosen to divide. As President Trump stated at his Rally in Ohio, “I only destroy their career because they said bad things about me” regarding members of his own party, the GOP. This is Democracy? So to say he has chosen division is quite accurate, division not only between his followers and the press, the opposition party and the nation as a whole, but division within his own party. It’s this tactic of ‘Trump first’ not nation or even political party that has created such division in the nation, the press is simply one of those targets on the dart board, some days they are the bulls eye, some days it’s another person or group.

Sympathy? Yes and No: To have sympathy for the reporters working on the ground in the line of fire from these angry, aggressive Trump supporters is comprehensible, but let’s not let the leaders of these news agencies off the hook that easily. I’m talking about those decision makers at CNN for example. During the campaign, CNN provided coverage on candidate Trump to a degree that went beyond absurd. The constant “BREAKING NEWS” banner across the viewing screen was ridiculous to such a degree that many comedians even used it for material in their acts. For those that watched during the campaign, we can recall CNN showing an empty podium where Donald Trump was to speak long before he was due, often times a half hour or more before the scheduled time, yet viewers had to stare at that empty podium in anticipation of what he was going to say. Also the constant airing of his plane just simply taxiing slowly on the tarmac, again in that side screen as if this were news. These decisions actually gave candidate Trump free air time, estimates are nearly 2 billion dollars worth. And let’s not forget the Trump lackeys who were regular fixtures on CNN. They were not there to show balance, they simply lied and made ridiculous statements defending Trump regarding his inaccurate, divisive remarks and tweets. But why? Ratings! Though they covered Trump the candidate to the point of ad nauseam, he has spent much of his time targeting CNN specifically, which in turn helps CNN as well. It appeared that the network wanted Donald Trump to win the nomination. It certainly went above and beyond when it came to coverage of Trump. Why not, this person creates constant daily news with his controversial remarks and tweets, great for ratings. By that we can say that Fox News would be licking their chops had Hillary Clinton won instead. Why? Ratings. Fox to this day still mentions Hillary Clinton as if the campaign is still running, why? To fire up their viewers and keep them tuned in. But Hillary Clinton lost, so Fox has focused on being the ‘State Run News’ agency for this administration, not reporting news about Trump, but praising his every move and comment. With every controversial comment, tweet or lie by Trump, they go to their old favorite, Hillary as a diversion. Had Hillary won, the intensity and simple numbers of viewers and viewer time would most likely have increased. Viewers love the drama, they enjoy getting fired up and angry, and had Hillary won you can imagine how intense those daily attacks would be. If they still attack her as the loosing candidate, imagine the attacks on her as president.

As citizens, the ones that want information on what our elected officials are saying, doing or planning, good or bad, that want truth and accuracy, we should be grateful for having the media outlets providing information we would not have. There are reporters out there that are simply phenomenal, doing an unbelievable job in digging for facts to provide the American public information. We should show those ‘true’ reporters respect for the hard work they do for us, because it’s us they are working for, the public, not the politicians. For the network executives, that would be a different story. They are about ratings, and of course money. News is a business. For those that want to be and stay informed about ‘world news and events’ we find ourselves leaving the major television networks and searching for other sources of information to discover that so much is happening around the globe that these networks barely touch on. The world is not all about Trump tweets, Trump lies and the entire soap opera connected to this man. As they continued to provide ridiculous amounts of air time to candidate Trump, it continues the same as President Trump. Of course as president, coverage is a must, we should be informed as to what is happening in the White and House and what decisions and policies are being made, however the over coverage of these Trump rallies should be cut back. These networks should stop putting their reporters in situations that may some day turn violent towards them. There are many attending these rallies that do not appear to be ‘stable’ individuals, they seem brainwashed, angry, aggressive and full of hatred, a dangerous combination. We can look at the White House press briefings. What are they about? Sarah Sanders standing at the podium spewing prepared lies to defend Trump tweets or comments. It would be beneficial for the nation if these networks would report news, cut Trump off from using them to acquire constant air time with ridiculous comments and speeches. Some enjoy mocking Trump, claiming he’s not intelligent or he’s a racist etc. What Trump does know is he want’s his name mentioned 24 hours a day seven days a week. He want’s his face, his words and his tweets being discussed at all times. And he has accomplished that to perfection. When things quiet down, what does President Trump do? He stirs up the pot to get his name mentioned again constantly with a new controversy. Why would he go and criticize Lebron James as he recently did? Lebron is a basketball player, not a political adversary. Because his tweet about Lebron was all that was talked and tweeted about that day. Again, this is his goal and the media networks need to find balance between news and Trump using them to promote himself, because a sensible person can realize, these tactics are not only for Donald Trump the President to succeed, but for Donald Trump the businessman to succeed, whether while still in office and or after leaving the White House.

Lou Dos Santos

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