Even after four years of this idiocracy, the media are still misreporting Trump. It’s an elementary reporting mistake: they lead with whenever whatever President Donald Trump blurts out. The man’s a vain, hateful, narcissistic liar. We shouldn’t be giving mentally challenged people that much attention.
Unless you want to argue that Trump’s Twitter feed is not really a factual desert.
J-School Ate My Brain
Basic reporting usually starts with the W’s: Who, What, When, yadda, yadda. But even before that, reporters have to know a foundational fact: what is the story? And if you don’t see what you’re covering, maybe you should think about it a smidge longer?
Washington Post Misreporting is a Trump Promotion Machine
Yesterday, the Post covered former Ohio Governor John Kasich’s speech to the Democratic National Convention (DNC). This morning they posted a followup in their WaPo live DNC updates, and as usual, they got it backward:
Trump attacks Kasich after convention speech
Trump on Tuesday attacked John Kasich, the former Republican governor of Ohio, who delivered a speech to the Democratic convention on Monday in which he accused the president of pitting Americans against one another.
“John Kasich did a bad job in Ohio, ran for President and was easy to beat, and now went to the other side desperate for relevance,” Trump said in a tweet in which he also called Kasich “another loser!”
Washington Post, Live Democratic National Convention Updates, Aug. 18, 2020
You could say it’s predictable and unimaginative that Trump would react that way. That’s what most people thought, I suppose.
I just winced. Why was Trump the subject? Kasich’s speech was the action. Kasich was the source of the news. Trump’s tweet was just a miserable but predictable reaction. He was secondary. There was no excuse to put him on top.
The media always get Trump backward. When Trump says anything, every story starts with what Trump said, then eventually gets around the substance. I know President Cheetos is splashy and lurid, but that’s not the same as newsworthy.
Here’s a thought. If the criticism gets your name at the top, why didn’t the media follow their usual construction here? When Trump talked, the Post put his name first in the headline. But Kasich made the speech. Imagine if the reporter hadn’t lost his focus. The article would look like this:
After Kasich’s convention speech attacking Trump as divisive, Trump criticizes the former governor
Yesterday, former Ohio governor John Kasich accused President Donald Trump of pitting Americans against one another. “Many of us have been deeply concerned about the current path that we’ve been following for the past four years,” Kasich said.
This morning, Trump attacked the former Governor in a tweet. “John Kasich did a bad job in Ohio, ran for President and was easy to beat, and now went to the other side desperate for relevance,” Trump’s tweet also called Kasich “another loser!”
Trump’s tweet did not address Kasich’s accusations…
The Alternate Universe Washington Post.
The same facts, but now we know where we’re standing.
The problem is straightforward: Trump is very, very good at pulling your eyes his way. At first glance, it’s nearly impossible to look away. But this isn’t our first look at the spoiled child-President. Yes, the reporter could see that Trump’s lurid freakout was ghastly enough to draw our eyes. Cool. But Kasich was still the main subject. Trump’s comments might be newsworthy, but only as a secondary concern. Kasich should have remained the primary focus.
Here’s another elementary question: did Trump rebut anything Kasich said? No? Huh. If Trump had addressed the substance of Kasich’s complaints, that would have shifted the question higher. Otherwise, the primary focus hasn’t changed: the main topic should have remained Kasich’s criticism.
The Post Misreporting Trump Again
Here’s another example from this morning’s online Post:
Trump lashes out at former DHS official who endorsed Biden
Trump lashed out Tuesday at Miles Taylor, a former senior Trump administration official who on Monday called the president “dangerous” and endorsed Biden.
“Many thousands of people work for our government,” Trump tweeted. “With that said, a former DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEE named Miles Taylor, who I do not know (never heard of him), said he left & is on the open arms Fake News circuit. Said to be a real ‘stiff.’ They will take anyone against us!”
Washington Post, Live Democratic National Convention Updates, Aug. 18, 2020
Same problem: the Post is determined to misreport Trump right up to the top. The President’s Twitter feed was never the most important part of that story. Try this version for size:
Former DHS official calls Trump dangerous; Trump lashes back
On Monday, a former senior Trump administration official called the president “dangerous” and endorsed Biden. Miles Taylor, a longtime Republican who served as chief of staff to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, explained his support for Biden in a video produced by the group Republican Voters Against Trump and in an op-ed published by The Washington Post, in which he said Trump “has governed by whim, political calculation, and self-interest.”
Trump lashes out at the former DHS official in a tweet this morning, “Many thousands of people work for our government,” Trump tweeted. “With that said, a former DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEE named Miles Taylor, who I do not know (never heard of him), said he left & is on the open arms Fake News circuit. Said to be a real ‘stiff.’ They will take anyone against us!”
Trump’s tweet did not address the substance of Taylor’s accusation….
Alternate Universe Washington Post
The main subject should have been the DHS official and, maybe, objective truth, not Trump’s latest tweet. The secondary story would be Trump’s inability to refute the substance. That’s how it’s supposed to work. If there’s evidence of the accusation, and no counterevidence, then Taylor’s charge is still the story.
We Can Fix This If We Try
I’m picking on the Post because the New York Times wasn’t as bad yesterday, but it’s widespread. Our media have made misreporting Trump into their cottage industry. The more corporate the media source, the louder their Trump megaphone becomes. Trump calls the names, but for all his abuse, he loves them for it. His lies get repeated over and over on front pages across the nation. That fact-check halfway down the article won’t matter; most people don’t read past the headlines. When we make Trump the subject, we’re making him the loudest part of every story. He wins.
So imagine that news media did this the right way: kept their focus on what Kasich and Taylor said, followed with Trump’s sniveling gripes. If Trump is willing to cough up more than ad hominem attacks, then maybe he moves up in the story. Until he refutes the charge, the substantiated charge is the main story.
And, you know? If we made the truth our focus — if we stopped misreporting Trump — I bet his nonsense would drop off abruptly.
