Trump Dishes Out Media Insults But Can't Take Them
Conditions for the news workers who cover Donald Trump's campaign have become so bad that some reporters are requesting transfers to Aleppo.
Yes, that's a joke, but not by much. Almost every politician in my experience sooner or later blames the media messengers for an unwelcome message. As the polls and various embarrassments such as the "Access Hollywood" tape of his "locker room" talk about molesting women bring more bad news, the media serve as a one-size-fits-all scapegoat for his woes.
He calls the media "biased," "dishonest," "corrupt" and "absolute scum," among other choice gems in a constantly escalating scale of invective. Always ignored, by the way, are the tons of free and favorable publicity that he has received from media.
But the public has not ignored the enormous favor Trump has received from the media he constantly beats up. Before NBC reporter Katy Tur tweeted that Donald Trump would be attending a ribbon cutting at his D.C. hotel this past week, her Twitter feed was inundated with tweets from followers asking or demanding that she boycott the event.
She didn't, but it would have been sweet justice for all the abuse that Trump heaps on "the media." What a delight it would be to say, Sorry, Donald, buy your own ads.
I, too, have been asked by readers why the news media that Trump knocks around don't get even with him by simply not covering him. I'm sure he would really miss us if we were gone. He might have to start his own TV news channel, which he is rumored to be considering, just to keep his ego fed.
Of course, media boycotts of major newsmakers don't happen, partly because the media are not the vast "conspiracy" that Trump calls us. Sure, Trump in his paranoid desperation may accuse -- always without evidence -- news media of collaborating with pollsters, "international bankers" and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign.
But it doesn't take long for media workers to realize what a hard time the folks in each medium have organizing themselves, let alone trying to organize for collective action with other media. We are competitors in today's media environment, not collaborators, and that's how we should be.
By the way, can everyone please remember that "media" is the plural of "medium," which denotes a form of mass communication, be it newspapers, magazines, books, TV, radio, the Internet or what have you? Let's get it right: Please don't say, "The media is corrupt." Say "The media are corrupt." We can argue whether that statement is true or not later.
Tur made news after Secret Service escorted her from a Trump rally in December after singling her out from the stage for what the candidate called her "dishonest" coverage. Trump also has been known to ban reporters from the Washington Post and other media from time to time. But his attitude and the angry atmosphere at his rallies has been turned up in recent weeks according to various reports.
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(c) 2016 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
