Cable News Didn’t Just Cover Trump They Helped Create the Chaos Threatening Our Democracy
I’ve never been a Donald Trump fan. Even if he wasn’t president I wouldn’t like him because I dislike people who think that only they have the answers to everything.
In fact, I never liked it when he hosted The Apprentice, but that’s not because he was the star of the program; If I had to rate the number of TV programs that I like on a scale of 1 to 1000, with 1000 being the most disliked, I would select 1001,
Before the advent of cable political programs, I would have selected, maybe, 899 on the scale., although I’ll admit that in the 1950’s until the early 60’s, there were programs that were very good, and not just because I worked on them.
In general, I agree with what former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Newton N. Minow said when speaking to the National Association of Broadcasters Convention on May 9, 1961, in his famous “wasteland” speech: “Television is a vast wasteland.” I believe the cable political shows have made it even worse.
I believe it was the 24/7 cable coverage of everything that President Trump did during his first run for office in 2016 that helped him defeat Hillary Clinton and the continuous coverage given him by the cables during the presidency of Joe Biden helped him win again in 2024.
When Mr. Trump replied that every negative news story was “fake news” it didn’t worry me. I thought it was the give and take of politics.
When he said during his reelection campaign that he would deport illegal citizens, that didn’t worry me because I believe our borders should be secure and people should enter the United States legally, the way the parents and grandparents of every person I know, including mine, did. And what bothered me was the way he did it.
When he stated that he would resort to tariffs during his administration, I wasn’t worried. I’m not an economist, and we have always had tariffs of one kind or another, even during President Biden's term. What concerns me is the manner in which he imposed them without considering their potential impact on the world and the U.S. economy.
When he said he might resort to using force to give the U.S. control of the Panama Canal and Greenland that didn’t worry me. I thought he was just making headline news. I hope I’m right.
When he brought in the richest car salesman in automotive history to slash the government, that worried me. (And still does.)
But the there are seven things President Trump did that really worry me about the future of our democracy:
Firing Charles Q. Brown, Jr. as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Politizing the Department of Justice.
Politicizing the FBI.
Disregarding orders by Federal judges.
.Releasing the thugs that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Attacking law firms for representing clients who disagree with Trump.
Banning books at military academies that the administration disagrees with. (Not quite the book burnings of the Nazi era, but close enough to worry me.)
There are many other actions President Trump has taken that I disagree with, but the above seven are prime examples of his authoritarian nature and are a threat to our democracy. Many of his tactics resemble those of Nazi Germany and that worries me.
But President Trump had plenty of help and not just by his political allies.
Cable news political programs share the blame for me being worried. Programs from the far right to far left have dominated political news with their lies, distortions and their “us against them” style.
Prime examples are all the right wing cable political shows, especially those on Fox, and one program on centrist channel CNN. It is the Abby Philip
CNN News Night program. She begins each program by saying, “Americans with different perspectives aren’t talking to each other. But here they are.” No, they are not, Ms. Philip. They are screaming at each other.
The program often features opponents shouting over each other’s remarks, making it difficult to understand the points they are attempting to convey. However, on the nights when they behave like ladies and gentlemen, refraining from interrupting each other and presenting different perspectives on events, the discourse becomes muddled with both truths and untruths. This dynamic lends credence to Mr. Trump and his surrogates' falsehoods, leaving viewers who rely solely on these types of programs unsure of what constitutes real news and what is fake news.
During my early days as a journalist, reporters reported the news as it happened. using quotes when necessary. Then, I think it was the Associated Press that required its reporters to have quotes from more than one person in a story, which helped usher in the “he said, she said,” journalism we have today. The result is that the truth became what the readers believed it was and was amplified by the cable news political talking head shows, who base their programs from what was reported in the morning newspapers.
And that’s why I blame cable political news programs for being part of the reason I’m becoming worried.
For clients who are willing to go public and comment on how the current political news will affect their business, PR practitioners should arrange interviews with trade publications because many reporters get story ideas from the trades. Too often, novice account handlers do not know this.
