Critique of the Los Angeles Times Scathing Review of Trump — Part Four

Trump’s War on Journalism

In Donald Trump’s America, the mere act of reporting news unflattering to the president is held up as evidence of bias. Journalists are slandered as “enemies of the people.”

Well, there we go! Starting out on a high note. I’d swear Trump was literally Hitler.

What have I found here?

Facts that contradict Trump’s version of reality are dismissed as “fake news.” Reporters and their news organizations are “pathetic,” “very dishonest,” “failing,” and even, in one memorable turn of phrase, “a pile of garbage.”

Well, you say that but here are some easy cases for you to all look at. The problem is that many of these news organizations, take the phrase “fake news” literally. A lot of fake news comes from journalists not really doing their job. They don’t verify their facts, their anonymous “sources” are citing information that is literally too good to be true, and they purposely cherry pick information and take it out of context. Taking items out of context has got to be one of the most overused issues in this entire election. Here is a short list of some actual fake news stories where stuff was just made up. You don’t like Breitbart? Too bad. It lists 12 fake stories where the media purposely lied.

President Obama’s press operation tried to exclude Fox News reporters from interviews, blocked many officials from talking to journalists and, most troubling, prosecuted more national security whistle-blowers and leakers than all previous presidents combined.

And then:

But Trump being Trump, he has escalated the traditionally adversarial relationship in demagogic and potentially dangerous ways.

But Trump is totally worse because he’s said stuff! Not what he’s actually done, but that he hurt our feelings!

…that an independent press plays an essential role in American democracy.

Funny you should say that. About 32% of people say they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media. Then when you add in the fact that 64% of people think the media is biased towards the left, how exactly is our press independent again?

By branding reporters as liars, he apparently hopes to discredit, disrupt or bully into silence anyone who challenges his version of reality.

This comes right back to the trust in the media and the blatant biases they have. Trump doesn’t really have to do a whole lot here, the media is doing it on their own to themselves just fine.

It’s a cynical strategy, with some creepy overtones. For instance, when he calls journalists “enemies of the people,” Trump (whether he knows it or not) echoes Josef Stalin and other despots.

Once again, trust in the media has been dropping year after year. These journalists who choose to not do their job, put their own bias and spin on every issue they touch, try and score political points, do things solely for the sake of clickbait and ad revenue; Trump really doesn’t have to do a whole lot. Sure, he helps push it over the edge, but they were 80% of the way off as it is.

But it’s an effective strategy. Such attacks are politically expedient at a moment when trust in the news media is as low as it’s ever been, according to Gallup. And they’re especially resonant with Trump’s supporters, many of whom see journalists as part of the swamp that needs to be drained.

Oh, look there! They ended up linking to the same poll I mentioned above. Like I just said, trust in the media has been steadily dropping for years. Trump wasn’t the catalyst or even close to the reason for this. Those in the mainstream media are their own worst enemies when it comes to this and they continue to look to blame someone. Trump is just their scapegoat.

Of course, we’re not perfect. Some readers find news organizations too cynical; others say we’re too elitist. Some say we downplay important stories, or miss them altogether. Conservatives often perceive an unshakable liberal bias in the media (while critics on the left see big, corporate-owned media institutions like The Times as hopelessly centrist).

To do the best possible job, and to hold the confidence of the public in turbulent times, requires constant self-examination and evolution.

Something the mainstream media never seems to do. New media and independent media seems to always be looking at self-examination and evolution. The old guard still does things like dinosaurs.

Even if we are not faultless, the news media remain an essential component in the democratic process and should not be undermined by the president.

Then maybe you shouldn’t undermine the president? I don’t know, maybe if you just objectively criticize him, it wouldn’t be an issue? Gasp!

Some critics have argued that if Trump is going to treat the news media like the “opposition party” (a phrase his senior aide Steve Bannon has used), then journalists should start acting like opponents too.

Wait, you haven’t been doing that all along?

But that would be a mistake.

Like I said, you’ve been doing it this entire time. Don’t try and pretend you’re not.

The role of an institution like the Los Angeles Times (or the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal or CNN) is to be independent and aggressive in pursuit of the truth — not to take sides.

Then why do they always take sides? You say one thing and then do another. You all over at the editorial board seem to be pretty disingenuous here.

But the news pages, which operate separately, should report intensively without prejudice, partiality or partisanship.

They didn’t get the memo.

…but shouldn’t let his bullying attitude persuade us to be anything other than objective, fair, open-minded and dogged.

Pretty sure they are trolling me right now.

That is the end of my critique of the fourth part in this series about how fake news is just fake news.