Nice piece. I do really fear the consequences of the media not holding Trump to account more. Even if it would not impact his behavior, it might help persuade some small fraction of folks willing to vote for him that they shouldn't be.
Republicans have decided it is safer not to try to hold Trump accountable, though obviously if enough of them did, they would be rid of him. They are cowards.
Minor correction: "And while the media largely agrees his performance was not disgraceful, they’re not calling for him to drop out." I don't think you intended the first "not" to be there.
But aren’t there other tacks that the media and investigative journalists can take? For instance, what about the concept of The Banality of Evil? Starting from that idea alone, there are all sorts of articles that could be written every day about how and why Trump’s term as president and his subsequent candidacies and the MAGA movement have slotted right into this MO.
There could be articles also about other aspects of the ways in which countries become authoritarian and comparing what’s happening here to those. Orban and Hungary are a prime example. In fact, it’s the example that the Heritage Foundation crowd is following. And they’ve written and published the 2025 playbook that proves it.
And then there’s the billionaires largely funding Trump’s run. There should be many articles about who they are and their track records in funding all sorts of right wing groups and causes and also the affiliations of many of them with Putin and his oligarchs and other right-wing plutocrats all around the world.
There are so many ways that the press could be approaching this moment and this race that they are simply ignoring. Or is it a failure of imagination or just plain ignorance? I don’t know. But the consequences have been and will continue to be disastrous for not just the US but Europe and for all who wish to breathe free.
There is an organizational principle, which says that organizational health comes from the top. In other words, if you are more healthy than the folks at the top, you will eventually be extruded as a risk they do not need to take.
That would suggest that the journalists are limited by who is at the top of their particular media.
This is a very helpful piece, Noah. Thanks very much!
I have found myself consistently flabbergasted at the media’s blatant double-standards regarding Biden and trump. But what you have written makes perfect “sense”.
I will take this opportunity to say that I appreciate the way in which the arguments in your posts seem obvious, though they often connect in ways I had not considered.
Thank you for laying this particular topic out so clearly!
This still doesn’t explain why the media doesn’t simply report on the word salad he says. Why not say his sentences are broken and incomplete, that don’t follow each other logically and sometimes don’t follow a complete thought. Indeed why not simply quote him rather than interpret them? It’s not the media’s job to get rid of a candidate but it is their job to report on him accurately. The media described Biden as he appeared and sounded in the debate. Why not do the same for Trump’ appearances?
I think that the media is reluctant to weigh in on this sort of thing if it's seen as partisan. Democrats were horrified at Biden's debate performance, so it could be reported on by referencing Dem comments. That's happened a bit with the recent debate (many Rs said Trump lost) but the extent isn't nearly as much.
So do I, but I think Harris has moved the needle from "Should Beat Trump" to "Will Kick Trump's ASS and Every Down-Ballot Race's Ass With It!"
You can already see how well she's doing by all the negative articles the Corporate Media's turning out against her record (which is...not ideal on several significant issues), to say nothing of the Left Media (what there is of it), who are warning voters she's really not all that liberal, and is likely to flip positions if she sees an advantage to it (Gee, a former state Attorney General who decided not to prosecute Bankster Steve Mnuchin for foreclosing on minority homeowners...who then showered campaign contributions on her! Think she might bend her principles a bit for a cut of the pie...?)
That gives me pause—then Donald Trump sputters something about Haitians Eating Other People's Pets and how Only He Can Save America with his Hate, and I sigh and go, "Okay, things can't get better so long as HE and his enablers aren't locked the fuck up! So I'll vote for her anyway...."
We're not saying it for HIM, we're saying it for those voters still deluded enough to think he's NOT a Fascist Pile of Shit who only cares about keeping his corrupt ass out of prison.
Nice piece. I do really fear the consequences of the media not holding Trump to account more. Even if it would not impact his behavior, it might help persuade some small fraction of folks willing to vote for him that they shouldn't be.
Republicans have decided it is safer not to try to hold Trump accountable, though obviously if enough of them did, they would be rid of him. They are cowards.
yep. it's a collective action problem.
No fucking shit, loganbacon!
HUGE cowards, who need to be punished for it.
This is a good piece, thanks for writing it.
Minor correction: "And while the media largely agrees his performance was not disgraceful, they’re not calling for him to drop out." I don't think you intended the first "not" to be there.
gah! thanks.
everyone needs a copyeditor...
But aren’t there other tacks that the media and investigative journalists can take? For instance, what about the concept of The Banality of Evil? Starting from that idea alone, there are all sorts of articles that could be written every day about how and why Trump’s term as president and his subsequent candidacies and the MAGA movement have slotted right into this MO.
There could be articles also about other aspects of the ways in which countries become authoritarian and comparing what’s happening here to those. Orban and Hungary are a prime example. In fact, it’s the example that the Heritage Foundation crowd is following. And they’ve written and published the 2025 playbook that proves it.
And then there’s the billionaires largely funding Trump’s run. There should be many articles about who they are and their track records in funding all sorts of right wing groups and causes and also the affiliations of many of them with Putin and his oligarchs and other right-wing plutocrats all around the world.
There are so many ways that the press could be approaching this moment and this race that they are simply ignoring. Or is it a failure of imagination or just plain ignorance? I don’t know. But the consequences have been and will continue to be disastrous for not just the US but Europe and for all who wish to breathe free.
There is an organizational principle, which says that organizational health comes from the top. In other words, if you are more healthy than the folks at the top, you will eventually be extruded as a risk they do not need to take.
That would suggest that the journalists are limited by who is at the top of their particular media.
This is a very helpful piece, Noah. Thanks very much!
It's not a failure of imagination or ignorance, it's malevolence.
I have found myself consistently flabbergasted at the media’s blatant double-standards regarding Biden and trump. But what you have written makes perfect “sense”.
I will take this opportunity to say that I appreciate the way in which the arguments in your posts seem obvious, though they often connect in ways I had not considered.
Thank you for laying this particular topic out so clearly!
This still doesn’t explain why the media doesn’t simply report on the word salad he says. Why not say his sentences are broken and incomplete, that don’t follow each other logically and sometimes don’t follow a complete thought. Indeed why not simply quote him rather than interpret them? It’s not the media’s job to get rid of a candidate but it is their job to report on him accurately. The media described Biden as he appeared and sounded in the debate. Why not do the same for Trump’ appearances?
I think that the media is reluctant to weigh in on this sort of thing if it's seen as partisan. Democrats were horrified at Biden's debate performance, so it could be reported on by referencing Dem comments. That's happened a bit with the recent debate (many Rs said Trump lost) but the extent isn't nearly as much.
Not condoning this, obviously! I just think that's how it works.
For the record, I for one think Biden would have beat tangeranus.
So do I, but I think Harris has moved the needle from "Should Beat Trump" to "Will Kick Trump's ASS and Every Down-Ballot Race's Ass With It!"
You can already see how well she's doing by all the negative articles the Corporate Media's turning out against her record (which is...not ideal on several significant issues), to say nothing of the Left Media (what there is of it), who are warning voters she's really not all that liberal, and is likely to flip positions if she sees an advantage to it (Gee, a former state Attorney General who decided not to prosecute Bankster Steve Mnuchin for foreclosing on minority homeowners...who then showered campaign contributions on her! Think she might bend her principles a bit for a cut of the pie...?)
That gives me pause—then Donald Trump sputters something about Haitians Eating Other People's Pets and how Only He Can Save America with his Hate, and I sigh and go, "Okay, things can't get better so long as HE and his enablers aren't locked the fuck up! So I'll vote for her anyway...."
Excellent analysis, and horribly true.
Chapter 28, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
“That’s some catch, that Catch-22”
“It’s the best there is.”
We're not saying it for HIM, we're saying it for those voters still deluded enough to think he's NOT a Fascist Pile of Shit who only cares about keeping his corrupt ass out of prison.