Media, Don’t Play Trump’s Game of Divide and Conquer

Media, Don’t Play Trump’s Game of Divide and Conquer

Media, Don’t Play Trump’s Game of Divide and Conquer

Journalists should remember that we all face a common threat from an administration that is hostile to the very notion of freedom of the press.

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Nineteen years ago Tuesday, The Drudge Report introduced the world to Monica Lewinsky and changed journalism forever. Now, at a time when sensationalism and salacious headlines are again dominating the news, the media industry is confronting one of the toughest challenges it has faced at any time since: how to cover President Trump.

Clearly emboldened by the media malpractice that defined much of 2016, Trump has been testing journalists on a near-daily basis since winning the election. He has attempted to manipulate press coverage through early-morning Twitter rampages, trumped up job-creation announcements, and, most recently, the farcical news conference he convened last week, the ostensible purpose of which was to discuss how he’ll avoid conflicts of interest in his business dealings. (Spoiler: He won’t.) Taking questions from reporters for the first time since July, Trump marked the occasion by berating news organizations for running stories he didn’t like about his campaign’s purported coordination with Russia.

In fairness, BuzzFeed’s decision to publish the unverified contents of a sensationalistic dossier compiled by a former British intelligence official detailing Trump’s alleged Russian contacts was a matter of legitimate disagreement among journalists. But the whole spectacle was also a timely reminder that the media, like the rest of the country, are entering uncharted territory as Trump assumes the presidency. And in this brave new world, if we hope to succeed in holding power to account, we’re going to have to step up our game.

Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.

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With the midterm elections now firmly upon us, the question is whether Democratic candidates will do more than merely occupy ballot lines as mild alternatives to the red-hot crisis that is Donald Trump.

As Trump spends over $1 billion a day on a globally destabilizing war on Iran and admits that he doesn’t “think about Americans’ financial situation,” millions across the country are struggling with the surging costs of essentials. Democrats must seize this moment and advance bold, small-“d” populist ideas—not settle for cynical caution that once again snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.

The Nation elevates progressive ideas, movements, and elected officials achieving real change across the country into the national conversation. At the same time, our journalists are exposing how crypto and AI-funded super PACs are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to knock out candidates they oppose, reporting on the devastating impact of the Supreme Court’s evisceration of the Voting Rights Act, and sounding the alarm on attempts by red states to quickly redraw electoral maps, disenfranchising Southern Black voters.

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Onward,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editor and Publisher, The Nation

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