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posted by Snow on Thursday December 01 2016, @06:34AM   Printer-friendly
from the head-in-the-sand dept.

Just before the dawn of the Trump administration, journalism in Washington, DC, faces an existential crisis -- but virtually no one in the profession is willing to diagnose it.

Here it is: For the first time, words don't matter. In August, as a guest on MSNBC's Meet the Press Daily, I noted that voters take Donald Trump seriously but not literally, while journalists take him literally, but not seriously.

[...] And journalists keep falling for it because they, like politicians, over-value words -- and they are now covering a politician who does not. President-elect Trump still takes the same cavalier approach to verbal description as he would in hawking a condo tower that's yet to be designed. And more than enough voters don't seem to mind. Trump has spent a career interacting with journalists, but as the first president never to serve in the military, the cabinet, or another public office before his election to the White House, he's never been immersed in the word culture that drives political journalism. [...] Most recently, when Trump announced he had chosen South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to be his ambassador to the United Nations, journalists raced to re-tweet a March rant from Trump in which he said the people of South Carolina should be embarrassed by her.

[...] Writing endless columns on this or that flip-flop based on Trump's conflicting rhetoric is wasting the time of the readers and viewers who have decided that's not what matters with this particular President-elect. [...] If the press covers Trump the way it covered prior presidents -- too literally -- it may find its own customers take journalism itself a lot less seriously.

Source: CNN


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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 01 2016, @07:09AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 01 2016, @07:09AM (#435316)

    Long version: none of the rhetoric matters until there are some policies on the table.

    Its called "demagoguery" and it does matter [washingtonpost.com].

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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 01 2016, @07:17AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 01 2016, @07:17AM (#435318)

    You'll excuse me if after miscalling the last election by such an inconceivable margin of error that putting a gerbil in a blender and practicing haruspicy had more credibility if I fail to take seriously any other prognostications from the media about what the future foretells.

    I'm perfectly capable of reading the situation myself thankyouverymuch, and besides isn't every Republican basically Hitler to the left?

    • (Score: 2, Informative) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Thursday December 01 2016, @07:37AM

      by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Thursday December 01 2016, @07:37AM (#435327)

      I'm perfectly capable of reading the situation myself thankyouverymuch, and besides isn't every Republican basically Hitler to the left?

      Yes, that is one of the dangers of over-using one of the starkest cautionary tales in recent history.

      You should also compare with Putin, Mao, Stalin, and Mussolini as well.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 01 2016, @07:50AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 01 2016, @07:50AM (#435330)

        When I see arbeit macht frei over the wall Trump is building/not building ("see! You can't trust what he says! Nevermind I was opposed to the wall anyway..."), I will completely recant and beg forgiveness.

        But at the moment his evil index is slightly lower than the flighty server trying to push appetizers on me.

        Although, you know, it is possible that Hitler will be compared to Trump in the future! Or maybe a Hitler/Bush Cyborg hybrid if the hysterics from the left are to be believed.

      • (Score: 5, Informative) by bd on Thursday December 01 2016, @10:23AM

        by bd (2773) on Thursday December 01 2016, @10:23AM (#435366)

        The guy is nothing like Hitler, but his election campaign rethoric was.

        The reason Hitler got as many votes as he got:
        * He was leading a very modern campaign, using an airplane (in a place as small as Germany) to move around quickly and speak in as many venues as possible. Very similar to American election campaigns and new to Germany at the time.
        * Extreme dissatisfaction about the political establishment, regardless of left-wing or right-wing. After 1929, Germany was headed in an extremist direction, either communist or right wing.
        * Even though people thought of him to be exaggerating and boasting, he had a public image of "he says things that are not politically correct".
        * Even though he ran on a right-wing platform, he also had taken over some left-wing positions, providing an alternative to disaffected working-class voters.
        * The influence of investment banking and stock exchanges (Wall Street was mentioned) needs to be reigned in.

        I would say, there are some parallels there.

        Why Trump is not Hitler:
        * Hitler did not lie with most of what he said and was not exaggerating and boasting, even though everyone thought he was. Trump has been proven to exaggerate.
        * Hitler had a plan. Published 10 years in advance. Trump has not said how exactly he is going to act.
        * Trump is not in an actual position of power, as he does not have a loyal party behind him.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 01 2016, @08:54AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 01 2016, @08:54AM (#435344)

      Except rather than guessing what the future may hold, we have the past, actual, real history telling us what happens when demagogues [wikipedia.org], like Drumpf, get power. Ignore history at your own peril.

      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 01 2016, @02:17PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 01 2016, @02:17PM (#435426)

        like Drumpf

        Ah, another keyword that immediately tells one that they don't need to keep reading what someone is writing. It's up there now with the likes of "nobama", "rethuglican", "libtard", etc.

        If you want to be taken seriously outside of your echo chamber then leave the childish words at home when you go out to argue.

        • (Score: 3, Informative) by tangomargarine on Thursday December 01 2016, @02:49PM

          by tangomargarine (667) on Thursday December 01 2016, @02:49PM (#435438)

          It was his actual family name. We're not allowed to be irreverent anymore?

          --
          "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
          • (Score: 2) by requerdanos on Thursday December 01 2016, @03:37PM

            by requerdanos (5997) Subscriber Badge on Thursday December 01 2016, @03:37PM (#435463) Journal

            It was his actual family name. We're not allowed to be irreverent anymore?

            Of course we are allowed to be irreverent in such a manner! Likewise, we would benefit from being cognizant of the fact that many intelligent people will note that we are likely opinionated morons if we choose 'calling Trump "Drumpf" [snopes.com]' as our vehicle for irreverence.

            Tit for tat. No one's disallowing anything here!

            • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday December 01 2016, @03:49PM

              by tangomargarine (667) on Thursday December 01 2016, @03:49PM (#435475)

              opinionated morons

              Welcome to the human race.

              --
              "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
          • (Score: 2) by turgid on Thursday December 01 2016, @11:30PM

            by turgid (4318) Subscriber Badge on Thursday December 01 2016, @11:30PM (#435735) Journal

            The special snowflakes of the fine upstanding right get a bit upset if you're irreverent. Just as well Monty Python gave retired really, or there'd be trouble.