As much as Trump
criticizes the press, there's no doubt that they made him what he is.
They made him president.
He spent very little money during primary season. The reason: the mainstream
news gave him 24/7 coverage. I remember working out at the gym in front
of a bank of TVs and all the news channels were waiting breathlessly as his plane pulled up to
some rally. It didn’t seem to matter that he was last in the polls and no one
thought much of him as a candidate, they still gave him unprecedented coverage.
I don’t remember any previous election in which a person got so much free
attention. As he got more coverage, his name became better known with voters
and he garnered more attention. This helped move him up against a big bunch of
other pols who didn’t get anywhere near the coverage. We now live with the end
result of this unrelenting coverage.
And the media continues this assault on viewers mental faculties by endlessly
reporting on his tweets. It doesn't matter that they are inane, have many
misspellings or defame someone, the media happily reports them as if they were
bona fide news.
They are not.
They are also not official policy.
They are not legal documents nor government announcements.
However, they are often inflammatory. They more often than not are lies.
They also are misogynistic and racist on many occasions. They give him an
outlet to make outrageous statements. They allow him to blow off steam in
a public manner. They provide him another avenue to disparage the very media
who report on the tweets. And worse of all, these tweets promote him but not
policy.
So the media need to stop covering these tweets. Don't mention them,
allude to them, nor give them any coverage at all.
Oh sure, the Republican news network, also called Fox News, would still report
them, but that network broadcasts to his hardcore followers anyway.
People who want real news filled with facts do not watch the American
version of Pravda.
If the media stopped covering these infantile musings they might actually force
him to begin to make official statements like normal presidents have in the
past. He might have to actually hold news conferences in which it would
be harder (but not impossible) for him to get away with untruths.
A bigger incentive might be to not give him an outlet to blast the media that
he criticizes but desperately craves. Don't give in to his addiction for
attention.
It would be a start. A start for maybe getting him to behave like an
adult, er, President.
The next logical step would be to stop covering his pep rallies disguised as
campaign events. He's going to attack the press while there anyway, why cover
it? He always says the same things. So just send an intern to listen
to see if he says anything new, and if he does, don't roll the tape, just
briefly mention it.
There is no reason to keep giving him all this free publicity when he's not
saying anything of importance.
So media, stop feeding this narcissistic man's ego and giving him free PR.
The majority of Americans (remember, he lost the popular vote by the largest margin of anyone who claimed the White House) will thank you for the silence.
The Thurber Brigade once again apologizes for taking another sidestep and straying from the ongoing War Between Men and Women (relationships). However, this incessant tweeting by The Orange One and the media coverage has driven us crazy. So although the concept of the news media ignoring him is not new, we hope that if enough voices complain, maybe we'll stop getting deluged by this crazy and useless bilge emanating from the guy. Sadly, we also know that the media loves attention just as much as him. Sigh.
