Have you ever heard of Robert Hubbell. He publishes a daily blog called Today’s Edition Newsletter and I have been reading it recently. Last week, he criticized the New York Times for its coverage of the Presidential campaign. I agree with him. The major media focus almost exclusively on the “horse race” aspects of American politics rather than on substantive issues. I also am highly critical of the way the media (for the most part) covers Donald Trump. They treat him like an “ordinary” candidate for President instead of a danger to the future of American democracy.
Trump is in fact, more than that --- he encourages violence --- he encourages woeful ignorance by urging people to believe NOTHING except what he says --- he encourages hatred particularly of immigrants. Muslims, leftists. In fact, his Thanksgiving message to the country was a study in how to gin up hatred.
Here is what Hubbell calls the gist of it:
“Happy Thanksgiving to ALL, including the Racist & Incompetent Attorney General of New York State, Letitia James, who has let Murder & Violent Crime FLOURISH, & Businesses FLEE; the Radical Left Trump Hating Judge, a “Psycho,” Arthur Engoron, [and] Crooked Joe Biden, who has WEAPONIZED his Department of Injustice against his Political Opponent, & allowed our Country to go to HELL; & all of the other Radical Left Lunatics, Communists, Fascists, Marxists, Democrats, & RINOS, who are seriously looking to DESTROY OUR COUNTRY”
[The thing that’s amazing about this is that EVERYTHING he says that is factual is a lie. The attorney general of NY is neither racist nor incompetent, the number of murders in NY City was above 500 for 9 of the first eleven years of this century before dropping to below 300 in 2017. It rose to 468 in 2020 but had fallen through 2022. – data here.
And Joe Biden has not let our country go to Hell. The recovery from the pandemic induced recession has been dramatic with record low unemployment and record economic growth. Inflation was tough for a while but it is coming down. Of course I could go on but ….]
In the oral presentation on WAMC, I cut out some of Hubbell’s discussion. Here is a much more complete version:
“Trump's Thanksgiving greeting deserved front-page treatment. His post is a sign of mental illness and fascist intent—a dangerous combination. But most media outlets did not bother to report on Trump's post. Instead, on Thanksgiving Day, Frank Bruni penned a very respectful, very supportive op-ed to the Biden family suggesting that they stage a loving intervention with Joe at the Thanksgiving table:
Does he have a plan for the pace of the next 11-plus months? When he’s brutally honest in his self-assessment, does he feel the same vim that he did in the past?
If he doesn’t, there’s no shame in that — in fact, there’s honor in the acceptance of it.
A very soft touch, but the message is unmistakable: Biden is too old to run. Would that Bruni devote his talent to describing the danger bristling in Trump's Thanksgiving greeting. Or at least give it equal time. Maybe Bruni will get around to it after the Thanksgiving weekend. We can only hope.
… I am going to take this opportunity to make a direct plea to journalists, producers, and editors in the news media who read this newsletter. I know you are out there because I hear from you when you feel that I unfairly bash the news media. … Let me start with an olive branch. There are exceptional journalists doing great work every day. I cite them every day. They can’t please everyone all the time. They deserve our support and thanks—and forbearance for the occasional mistake. So here it is: Thank you to every journalist who is doing a tough job well in a news environment that is the equivalent of a war zone of disinformation.
Ignore my whining and carping; dismiss me as a crank if you want. But please ask yourselves whether the news reporting and editorial stances at your outlet are rising to this perilous moment in American history. Everyone—including you—knows in their bones that Trump is a unique threat to democracy. He is consciously emulating the worst dictators of the last century. His aides are leaking their plans to undermine democracy. That existential threat must be in every story you write. If you must, report on polls or horse races or political infighting but do so while acknowledging that one candidate seeks to destroy democracy while the other candidate seeks to operate within its confines.
I believe that Americans will prevail against the threat of MAGA extremism with or without the support of a free press rising to the challenge of this moment. But it would be easier—and victory would be more assured—if major media outlets did not treat Trump as just another candidate after his failed coup and incitement to insurrection.
Imagine if Hitler had survived WWII and then ran for re-election as Chancellor of Germany from a prison cell. Would any story be written that merely reported on polls discussing the level of voter support for Hitler versus his opponent? Or would every story include discussion of his fascist takeover of Germany, his war on Europe, and his attempt to exterminate the Jewish people? Why does Trump get a free pass in hundreds of articles a day that treat him as the legitimate political opponent of Joe Biden? How can any story be written that asks, “Is Biden too old,” without asking the more urgent question, “Will Trump end democracy in America.”
I have slipped back into offense when I meant to invite you to reflect on the balance and editorial position of your news organization. Tens of millions of Americans are hoping that you will get it right. You don’t have to defend Democrats or Joe Biden. But defending the Constitution and democracy is not partisan. The future of our democracy is partly in your hands. It should be a part of every story you write.”
[Both the Trump quote and the Hubbel quote are available on Hubbell’s blog for November 27, 2023. Accessible here.]
UNFORTUNATELY, the reason the news media report on Trump the way they do is because such coverage SELLS.
To give an example, the NY Daily News sends teasers about articles to my in box regularly. I get to see the headline, start to read it and then am informed that I need to pay to read the entire article.
On any given day, 90-95% of the articles are about a murder, an accident, a fire --- very rarely is it about any other kind of news. The paper knows these articles will entice people to subscribe to read the rest of the article.
Here are some examples just from Thursday, November 30:
- “Teen suspect Jayden Rivera charged with murder of dad, 5-year-old half-brother, tot’s mom in Bronx stabbings"
- "Bigoted trio beats up 3 Jewish strangers, including 15-year-old boy, in 40-minute Brooklyn hate crime spree"
- "DNA found on Gilgo Beach murder victims matches suspect’s wife: reports"
- "Three-year-old boy killed in Queens hit and run, driver being sought"
- “Rand Paul uses Heimlich maneuver on choking GOP senator" "The Pogues frontman, ‘Fairytale of New York’ singer Shane MacGowan dead at 65.”
Now, it is understandable that newspapers, desperate for circulation in the age of the internet, want to emphasize what they know will cause readers to buy the paper.
But the result is a terribly skewed product. The press gives Donald Trump a pass --- treating him as if he were an ordinary candidate for public office. Why, because he’s good copy. It’s sort of like what happens when there is a car wreck – everyone slows down to get a good look!
But Donald Trump is NOT an ordinary candidate. He is an insurrectionist who has PROMISED to end American Democracy as we know it if re-elected. The media have a responsibility not just to cover Trump as “news” but to remind readers what he promises to do and what that would mean for all of us.
Meanwhile, the mini-Trumps of the country ---De Santis in Florida, Abbot
in Texas -- have already --- in their states --- given us a taste what a second Trump term will do to our country.
In Florida, DeSantis put an entirely new Board of Trustees in control of New College, a small liberal arts college (where I once was offered a job over 50 years ago) with an outstanding academic reputation. The new Board made immediate and drastic changes – hoping to turn New College into a model of an extremely right-wing Christian College in Illinois (Hillsdale). Details here.
And let’s not forget Florida’s disgusting “Don’t say gay” law and the large amount of book bannings going on. I had the pleasure of seeing “The ABCs of Book Banning” recently. It is an outstanding short documentary which allows children forbidden to find all sorts of outstanding books in their school and public libraries to speak about what such bans mean to them. The film is available here.
Governor DeSantis signed a ban on abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy. He was so embarrassed by it, he signed it in the dead of night with no publicity.
In Texas, even before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Legislature passed and Abbott signed a law promising monetary rewards for people who turned in anyone seeking an abortion out of state. Here is how it was described: “The Texas law that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy includes an unusual measure designed to ensure the law is enforced: Residents of the state can sue clinics, doctors, nurses and even people who drive a woman to get the procedure, for at least $10,000.” [Here]. In June of this year, the State Legislature passed a law designed to forbid local governments from enacting laws that go further in terms of regulations than state laws. Details here.
Both states have made great strides towards voter suppression as well. The Texas law is in court being challenged by the Brennan Center for Justice. Details here. Florida citizens voted overwhelmingly to permit felons who have paid their debts to society by completing their sentences to vote. The Legislature promptly thwarted the will of the voters by requiring payments from these felons before they could have their voting rights restored. Details here.
Perhaps the most frightening promise of a Trump second term will be his plan to invoke the insurrection act to “protect” Washington from demonstrators --
Remember the women’s march the day after inauguration in 2017?--- It was part of the largest set of demonstrations in American history --- it was 100% peaceful.
Should (God forbid) Trump get re-elected, there will be even bigger demonstrations --- Trump will try to use the troops to confront the protesters with potentially fearful consequences.
We should all fear a second Trump term. Meanwhile, the major news media with few exceptions continue to cover him as if he were just an ordinary politician. In fact, it is clear from all the recommendations his think tanks (particularly the Heritage Foundation) are making that if he is re-elected, the will emerge very quickly as a dictator and over the next few years, the ability of the rest of us to really have an impact through our votes will be eroded so that our rights will be so curtailed as become meaningless.
We have to believe Trump when he promises to go after news organizations and his political opponents and to purge the civil service and federal law enforcement. We have to believe Trump supporters when they promise to appoint “yes men” rather than risking that the people he does appoint will take their oaths to the Constitution seriously (as did Attorney General Barr and Vice President Pence and General Milley).
If the news media does not remind us every day of how dangerous Trump is, they are violating the sacred trust that we the people place in them by buying and utilizing their products. They will be complicit in the death of American democracy.
Michael Meeropol is professor emeritus of Economics at Western New England University. He is the author with Howard and Paul Sherman of the recently published second edition of Principles of Macroeconomics: Activist vs. Austerity Policies.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.