Guess who’s picture is not being featured?
Over the past several years, especially since Donald Trump was defeated for re-election and Joe Biden became President of the United States, there has been a weird and annoying trend in the news: when something big happens, when some important action or decision takes place, instead of the story being the thing that happened, the focus (as evidenced by the news story headline and lede) becomes about how Donald Trump reacted to it. For example, take a look at these stories:
— New York Times: Trump Rages at U.A.W. President After Biden Endorsement
Clearly, the important story is that the United Auto Workers union endorsed President Joe Biden for re-election, not how Trump feels about it (quite obviously, he wouldn’t be happy not to get the union’s endorsement).
— CNBC: Trump lashes out at financial monitor in business fraud case after she reports errors
Once again, the real story here is that the independent financial monitor in the Trump business fraud case in New York has found serious irregularities in the Trump Organization’s business operations, including a questionable $48 million loan. Surely, it is not a surprise, and not the main story, that Trump is unhappy about the monitor uncovering his potential wrongdoings.
— The Guardian: Angry Trump fumes after $83.3m damages ruling in E Jean Carroll case
By now, you can identify the pattern. The big headline should be that a Manhattan jury ordered Trump to pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million dollars for defaming her in 2019 after she accused him of an earlier rape. That Trump was then “angry” about being hit with such a huge verdict is merely a very foreseeable consequence.
These are just three of many examples in recent months. This kind of news coverage, leading with Trump’s feelings instead of the thing he is reacting to, violates the basic principles of journalism, where a story headline and lede should answer the questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How? Obviously, such articles could, and arguably should, seek Donald Trump’s reaction when the matter relates to him, but typically that should only be a line or two, possibly with a quote from him. The problem here is that such Trump reactions incorrectly have become the main part of the story.
The question we need to ask is, why are news stories now so frequently about Trump and his fee-fees? One simple answer is, in a word, clickbait. Going back to the 1970s, and starting with the New York tabloids, one media outlet after another has found that covering Donald Trump leads to more views and thus more money. Obviously, this trend has accelerated since Trump landed in the White House, since the news media already have a cult of the presidency, and has not abated since Trump has left Washington, especially since he is running for re-election. Now, apparently, the news organizations have discovered that shifting (one might say lowering) their focus to a new level — “Trump Lashes Out,” etc. — brings in even higher ratings and viewership. Our mainstream news media long ago seem to have given up real journalism in favor of profits, and this focus on Trump’s feelings is the latest result.
No one is saying that the media should not cover Donald Trump. That would be unrealistic, given that he (1) is the former president, (2) is running for re-election, (3) faces numerous criminal and civil legal cases, and (4) is one of the most famous people in the world who had a reality TV show before going into politics. Rather, the issue is that many media outlets are so overwhelmed by Trump’s fame that they make every story primarily about how he feels on various topics. That is not only annoying, it degrades our news media, and diminishes us as a country.
So what can we do to counter this unhelpful trend of coverage focused on Trump’s fee-fees? Obviously, most of us do not control the mainstream media. But there are a few steps we can take:
— Call out the media publicly on their shoddy news coverage.
— If you write or share news stories, avoid the ones that feature Trump’s reactions and feelings. Another tell-tale sign of such clickbait stories are when their main photo is of Trump, and when the first word of their headlines is Trump’s name.
— Be your own broadcaster, and promote, write or film stories (on social media, for example) that follow the basic rules of journalism. Be part of the solution to avoid one of the biggest dangers of an uninformed public — that of losing our democracy.
Photo by Mike Licht, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/oZBTo0
