THE DONALD makes news, and news makes money. Therefore, his controversial and often outrageous statements go largely unexamined. Criticisms from media spokespeople are usually met with a shoulder-shrugging 'that's Trump' attitude.
MSNBC's Chris Matthews, is about the only commentator who's broken through Trump's evasiveness and dominating personality to get a hard answer. In this instance, Trump's expressed belief that women should be punished for getting an abortion.
MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell devotes nearly all of his evening program to slamming Trump. It appears that this programming decision is made on the basis that anything about Trump will bring in viewers.
In his rare departure from Trump mania, O'Donnell asks his guests why Bernie Sanders leads Hillary Clinton against Trump in general-election poll numbers. O'Donnell neglects to mention what he and every other mildly sentient observer knows. Republican-leaning PAC's have spent tens of millions of dollars demonizing Clinton and next to nothing on Sanders in the hope that he somehow becomes their dream opponent.
Bernie Sanders as the nominee is a great story, particularly as it relates to how the Republicans would attack him. I could write the script. But since the Sanders-as-nominee prospect sells, the straight-faced media promotes his hopeless quest for the nomination as a continuing contest. Probably at the urging of his superiors, even a statistically able truth-teller like Nate Cohn of the NYTimes has eased up on his prediction of Sanders' fate and turned to other issues.
Speaking of polling, several print and broadcast outlets carried headlines announcing that Trump out-polls Clinton in several states. Then, in smaller type, they reveal that this is true among white voters.
Finally, to get more Internet readers, a disproportionate number of lead stories are on Trump. And to make sure you don't miss the stories they feature a large photo of him making a speech.
To get more eyeballs and sell more ad space, electronic and print, the media has reached far beyond reporting and is vigorously marketing Donald Trump.
No comments:
Post a Comment