Opinion: Why we still pay attention to Donald Trump – Poynter

Posted: July 16, 2021 at 1:02 pm

Earlier this week, the lead item of my newsletter was about three books looking at the final year and days of Donald Trumps presidency. In fact, Ive written many times about Trump since he left the White House.

After my recent newsletter about Trump, I received several emails from Poynter Report readers just like I do every time I mention Trump.

Enough! one reader wrote to me.

Will you please stop writing about Trump? Hes not the president any longer, another one said.

And another wrote: No more Trump! Im begging you.

The pushback is valid, or at least worth considering. Many see his false claims about the 2020 election and his combative rhetoric to be dangerous to the country.

Why give his words and ideas oxygen? After all, its true, he is not the president.

But that doesnt mean he no longer has power.

He still has millions of devoted supporters. He still wields clout over those serving in the House and Senate, including some of the countrys most powerful lawmakers. He remains the most influential figure in the Republican Party. He will have a heavy hand over the 2022 midterm elections.

And, most of all, he could run again for president in 2024.

His past behavior as president needs to be dissected. His current commentary on politics needs to be scrutinized. His future role needs to be considered.

Maybe much of what he says and much of who he is might, indeed, be dangerous. But ignoring him might even be more dangerous.

Many ignored Trump or didnt take him seriously before the 2016 election. Many dismissed the idea that he might become president. Many believed that he would never gain the support needed to actually win the election.

And what happened?

It would seem that using the same tactic this time around ignoring him, dismissing him, not taking him seriously might produce the same results as 2016. And he clearly has not gone away.

But covering Trump does come with a caveat: It needs to be newsworthy. It cant be the same old repeated and untrue complaints of a stolen election and revisionist history about COVID-19 and Jan. 6 and so forth.

PolitiFacts Miriam Valverde has a new piece out: Suspended from social media, Donald Trump turns to traditional media avenues to push falsehoods.

Trump has been kicked off Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms, mostly because of the events of Jan. 6. Valverde writes, Since his exit from the White House, Trump has headlined political conferences, hosted rallies, held a press conference, given media interviews, made appearances with political allies, and issued written statements (often several a day).

So, how should Trump be covered? Well, it all comes down to news value.

Aly Coln, a media ethics professor at Washington and Lee University and a former Poynter faculty member, told PolitiFacts Valverde, If there is not a news value, they see no reason to be a megaphone for someone who may not be advancing anything or advancing things that are not accurate, possibly untrue.

When covering Trump, its critical that the media calls out Trump when he lies.

Jane E. Kirtley, a professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota, told Valverde, Being complicit in lies is not the proper role of the news media, and journalists should push back against falsehoods and unsubstantiated statements.

This isnt to suggest that every Trump rally be broadcast, or that everything he says gets amplified. But the media cant just act as if the past four years didnt happen and that Trump is gone for good just because he lost in 2020.

These new books are important history lessons on Trumps presidency, and perhaps insight into what the future might hold. Keeping tabs on what Trump is saying now and how its impacting his supporters, his party and conservative lawmakers is essential.

TV networks, newspapers, websites and all other forms of media should not just hand Trump a megaphone. But they shouldnt completely turn their back on him either. The answer is somewhere in between.

Noah Shachtman, the top editor at The Daily Beast, is moving over to Rolling Stone to become its editor-in-chief. Shachtman told The New York Times Marc Tracy that hes going to bring his approach from The Daily Beast (news and emphasis on the web) to his new job at Rolling Stone.

Its got to be faster, louder, harder, he told Tracy. Weve got to be out getting scoops, taking people backstage, showing them parts of the world they dont get to see every day.

Shachtman will start his new job in September. He takes over for Jason Fine, who is now overseeing Rolling Stones podcasts and documentaries after being editor-in-chief for five years. Shachtman has been The Daily Beasts top editor since 2018.

Tracy reported that Tracy Connor, The Daily Beasts executive editor, will be interim editor-in-chief after Shachtman departs next month.

On Twitter, Shachtman wrote, Rolling Stone changed my life. Its music journalism helped push me to play in bands for real. Its conflict reporting gave me a north star to aim for when I was a national security reporter. I cant (expletive) wait to help this incredible team write its next chapter.

He added, Yall know how much I love The Beast. Ive never had a job so fulfilling, so fun, and that delivered such an impact. Ive never had colleagues more dedicated to their mission. Tracy Connor is the best journalist I know. Shes going to do an amazing job with this crew.

CBSs The Talk has finally replaced Sharon Osbourne and her replacement is a bit of a surprise. Actor Jerry OConnell has permanently joined the show, becoming the first male co-host in the shows 11-year history.

Then again, it shouldnt be too much of a surprise. OConnell has been guest hosting for the past few months.

OConnell told his fellow panelists, First of all, I want to say, you ladies have been so welcoming to me. I mean, I came here as a guest months ago, and just from the moment I walked in, youre just gracious, youre kind, youre fun, and it worked. And here we are. Were going to have a lot of fun, we really are.

Osbourne left the show in March after an on-air spat with co-host Sheryl Underwood and subsequent reports that Osbourne had made other insensitive, racist and homophobic comments in the past. The exchange with Underwood started when Osbourne defended British TV host Piers Morgan, who was critical of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Especially Meghan.

OConnell first became widely known as a child actor when he played Vern Tessio in the 1986 film Stand by Me. He went to play roles in movies such as Jerry Maguire and Kangaroo Jack, as well as the TV show Crossing Jordan.

OConnell said on air, Its something new, you know, I dont want to say its scary, but its new so its a change. And change is good. You have to do things that scare you, that shake it up a bit, and this is definitely shaking it up.

Tucker Carlson. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Another day, another Tucker Carlson piece. Time Magazines Charlotte Alter has Talking With Tucker Carlson, the Most Powerful Conservative in America.

Some of Carlsons comments:

Theres plenty more if youre interested. Alter writes, he sanitizes and legitimizes right-wing conspiratorial thinking, dodges when you try to nail him down on the specifics, then wraps it all in an argument about censorship and free speech. He has a way of talking about culture and politics that is rooted in defiance: defiance of elites, defiance of the federal government, defiance of scientific consensus. And it has won him the loyalty of millions of Americans who are already suspicious of everything he questions.

For this item, I turn it over to my Poynter colleague Angela Fu.

Starting today, stories and photos produced by union members at The Buffalo News will run without bylines. Workers are participating in this open-ended byline strike to protest the companys attempts to outsource jobs and eliminate layoff protections.

The journalists union, the Buffalo Newspaper Guild, has been bargaining its first contract with Lee Enterprises since February. Lee bought the paper from Berkshire Hathaway in January 2020, along with BH Media Groups publications.

At stake are three key contract proposals that the union says will hurt workers. The first aims to outsource work done by page designers, copy editors, customer service representatives and members of the accounting department to out-of-state Lee hubs. The second makes it easier for the company to lay off workers. The third gives Lee the right to freeze union members pension plans.

In addition to launching a byline strike a method journalists sometimes use to signal to readers dissatisfaction with their managements conduct the union is circulating a petition, which has already garnered more than 1,100 signatures.

We are united in our voice to the company and to this community that were going to stand up for whats right, Buffalo Newspaper Guild president Sandra Tan said at a Thursday press conference. And if it takes removing our bylines from the print paper so that people dont see our names even though we take our names as a personal source of pride for everything that we produce then thats what were going to do.

Lee Enterprises spokesperson Charles Arms declined to comment.

Chrissy Teigen. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

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Opinion: Why we still pay attention to Donald Trump - Poynter

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