August 16, 2018
A Gazette Editorial
The Boston Globe’s editorial page is proposing a coordinated editorial response from publications across the United States to President Trump’s frequent attacks on the news media.
‘‘We are not the enemy of the people,’’ said Marjorie Pritchard, a deputy managing editor of the Globe, referring to a characterization of journalists that Trump has used in the past. The president, who contends he has largely been covered unfairly by the press, also employs the term ‘‘fake news’’ often when describing the media.
The Globe has reached out to editorial boards nationwide to write and publish editorials on Aug. 16 denouncing what the newspaper called a ‘‘dirty war against the free press.’’
Never ones to miss an opportunity to jump on a bandwagon or to pile on, the Gazette cheerfully accepts The Globe‘s invitation. We’ve actually touched on this very topic in several earlier posts: “Fake News,” “Enemy of the People,” and in the Gazette’s very first editorial, “Respect.”
Donald Trump’s Presidency strikes many a New Yorker as the height of absurdity. Since the bygone era of long lines of B&Ts waiting outside Studio 54, he’s been known locally as a character, to put it mildly. His face was a familiar one in the tabloid gossip pages. Legend has it that tipsters John Barron and John Miller were his alter egos, providing self-serving “items” to credulous media outlets. Repeat appearances on Howard Stern’s radio show further developed his persona. He managed to redirect the City’s horrified attention from a brutal crime in Central Park onto himself by placing a full paged ad in several dailies. Overnight the story line morphed into one about his controversial ad.
During the several decades before January 2017, Trump had made a name for himself around here, largely for making a name for himself. He ceaselessly flogged his brand and honed his considerable skill as a media manipulator. Whether it was vodka, casinos, steaks or airlines, he hyped the dickens out of all of them, often to great effect. They were always the (insert superlative) in history. It didn’t splash as much when those ventures crashed and burned, and they often did, because he wasn’t pushing that story at all. The resulting name recognition led to a long running TV series in which he fleshed out the persona: a bold risk taker and savvy businessman of nearly immeasurable wealth. By the time he tossed his hat down the escalator into the 2016 Presidential ring, he was already household name known to millions as the brash bazillionaire from The Apprentice.
His campaign was the culmination of years of practice as a media manipulator. He knew, better than practically anyone, which stories would sell and how to package them. In short, without the press or the media generally, there would be no Trump. There are many super rich New York real estate magnates that most people never even heard of. For the most part that’s exactly how they want it to be. But Trump’s different. He wants the spotlight, the fame, the notoriety. He chased it and still chases it. So the media made him what he is and now he hates it. Huh, what?
We don’t buy it. As he often points out, he’s ratings gold. If you’re the “MSM” you’re a big corporation with a lot of shareholders demanding max returns on their investment. The MSM is in business to make money, period. If funny home videos make money for them, that’s what they’ll program. If reality shows get great ratings, and are cheaper to make than dramatic series to boot, we’ll drown in them. News isn’t normally a big money maker. Normally people check in now and then to be somewhat aware of what’s happening beyond their immediate environment. But since Trump’s been President news has been a money maker. Before him, nobody was glued to cable news for hours every day. And when he’s gone nobody will be either. Trump knows this. The MSM knows this. If he goes down so will the ratings and so will the ad revenues. Some might even go under. They want him to never end.
So the pitched battle between the Fake Media and Trump is about as real as a WWF Grudge Match. Those guys weren’t really enemies. They were professional colleagues ginning up ratings by pretending to viscerally hate each other. Sure, they got physically rough, but so do the pros in the NFL and NHL and nobody thinks they’re real enemies. You can see them being friendly toward each other even during the game because it’s unnecessary for them to pretend otherwise. They’re competitors, but they need the other team or there’s no game. Same thing with Trump vs MSM. They need each other. It’s all an act and that’s the #Fake News nobody talks about. When he says the fake news media is the enemy of the People, and they respond by saying no he is, it’s an act.
Want proof? He rages regularly about phony anonymous sources. Let the press name those sources and see what happens. Do you think he’d give up that propaganda channel? How does he get his message out without them? He doesn’t. Or what if they all said, “Enough!” to the falsehoods and insults at the daily White House briefing and all just stopped going? They won’t. Because their ratings would tank if they did. It’s all an act. Watch: today when all the papers publish their “Enemy of the People” editorials to show solidarity, guess who’s gonna be on Page One again? Here’s a hint: President Trump, the MSM’s best friend.
