Admirable: Jeffrey Goldberg’s comprehensive overview in The Atlantic of Trump’s disdain for the military and his utter incomprehension of the idea of self-sacrifice. Josh Marshall’s piece on how political journalism is wired for the Republican Party.
Objectionable: NYT’s coverage of Bret Baier’s travesty of an “interview” of VP Harris. This sentence stood out to me: “Mr. Baier’s aggressive demeanor was consistent with the kind of tough coverage of Ms. Harris that blankets Fox News’s daily programming.” Let me fix that: “Mr. Baier’s repeated invocation of MAGA talking points was consistent with the blatantly misleading coverage of Ms. Harris that blankets Fox News’s daily programming.”
You're right, Margaret, that it's late...but I encourage you to keep pounding away at the media to do a better job. While I am grateful that the NYT and WaPo have both given strong editorial support to Harris, the quality of many of their headlines--the only things that people who don't care enough to dive into full articles see--continues to be awful. It's not the reporters who write them--but what is up with the headline writers?! Anyway, thanks for all that you do to try to wake Americans up to the disaster that a trump--or Vance--presidency would bring about.
Yes....and no. They clearly need to stay within the bounds of editorial policy. But my understanding is that they have quite a bit of latitude, and they are in many ways responsible for how articles are framed. It's really obvious when you read the headline, then read the article, and there is a disconnect.
Again, the editors (and owners) have final say - just, up the food chain. And it happens to frequently to be accidental. Do you read the news yesterday that the owner of the LA Times' over-road the editorial board's decision to endorse Harris?
The New York Times has covered Trump the way it covered Hitler becoming Chancellor of Germany in January 1933, writing that Hitler's radicalism couldn't be carried out because he needed the support of the "moderate" German industrialists to stay in power.
Ezra Klein’s seemingly innocent query “Was Trump’s first term so bad?” on the NYT’s website. First, by any objective measure of budget deficits, job growth, impartial justice, government management, national unity, constitutional norms, international stature and national catastrophe response, TRUMP WAS THE WORST EVER. Second, even if the nation survived, if not a few hundred thousand pandemic victims, what Trump has done since Jan 21, 2021, is also very relevant and simply disqualifying. Klein is out of his depth.
Ummm, and, of course, the little bit about an insurrection at the end of his term. The first time there wasn't a peaceful transfer of power in American history...
The only thing at this point would be have the officers who were beaten and attacked on January 6 in ads/Tiktok/Facebook and footage of what Trumpism is truly about - taking power by force.
Those that cannot admit Trump and his crew are cruel and dangerous will still cast their ballot for their new MAGA party. The Republican Party died long ago and their electorate gleefully enjoy their new daily headlines of venom and vengeance.
And the old “press of the conservatives” - Noonan and Will - behave as if this is just a fever dream that will pass without permanent damage. That he is just uncouth and the plans being hatched to turn everything upside will be thwarted by those of virtue they still dine with.
Mobilizing the youth to vote is a multi-year nationwide campus endeavor that the Biden administration refused leadership or engagement. It’s not a magic trick, it’s just regular engagement that Obama already showed how to do.
This race shouldn’t be close, too many didn’t take this seriously enough, including the “free press”.
Thank you as always, Margaret. My latest infuriation with the media, and specifically the NYTimes, has been their sanewashing in their live blog coverage of Trump. The most obvious recent example was when he started rambling about the late Arnold Palmer’s genitalia and they referred to it as “golf stories.” The sad thing is that this was pretty low on the stakes meter. When they’re doing it about his overtly fascist rhetoric, I can only feel despair.
The only solace I can find is that the margins in the swing states are likely to be so small that if the media finds religion it could still play a meaningful role in helping preserve our democracy. I’m not holding my breath.
Been focused on the stakes the whole time - even when *some* got scared, and forgot their integrity, in how they treated Pres. Biden, I never did.
Also been making sure what I'm responsible for in our media landscape has focused on the stakes the whole time, though you're correct in that too many others in our business have not. Kudos to some, though I certainly wouldn't give as much praise to the NYTimes as you did, Margaret. Were it up to me, I'd fire most of the people on the political overage for the NYTimes, and do it in such a way they'd never work in media again. I'd also stuff AG in a closet until he learned a few things he's seemed to have forgotten.
But I join you in your call to every decent person in media, and everywhere else, to keep the media focused on the stakes.
Because if this all goes the wrong way?
Every one of us decent people in news media will be targeted for death by MAGA, with the support of the new fascist Trump government.
And I'd kinda like to not have that happen.
Good luck to us all.
Let's go save the world. Again.
Maybe this time though, after we do? Let's make sure the monsters can't gain power again.
One of the criticism's of the US after Sept 11th was that we lacked imagination and just couldn't conceive of flying planes into buildings.
Well IMHO it is happening again. Too many people are incapable of seeing what a 2nd Trump Presidency will do. Many of the educated folks on the right are horrifyingly sanguine about what is to come if Trump is elected. The less educated are just enjoying the show and how Trump hates the same people they do. None of them see what will happen to the masses of people that are currently hanging on a by a thread when the bottom falls out. The 1930's Germany metaphor has been used a whole lot, for sure, maybe overused (maybe not) but it seems we have plenty of "good Germans" in this country too.
You cannot say this too often. In the NBC interview of Vice President Harris, Lester Holt just had to mention whether a woman of color was subject to sexism. Then they played a portion of an interview in which she was questioned about sexism and being a woman. I don’t believe that this is or should be an issue and certainly shouldn’t be raised by a major network this close to the election. Gender is not an issue other than stopping the assault on women’s rights. Of course the McDonald’s issue got more coverage even to the extent of video asking her whether she really worked for McDonalds. What world is NBC living in?
The NY Times editorial staff is a disgrace. They run some articles on Trump’s failures, but have been sanewashing him for quite a while. As a newspaper with one of the best investigative reporters in the country, there’s no excuse. Maybe the owner and editors have a distorted view of their responsibility to the American people. Unfortunately for them, they are in New York. We in New York and New Jersey have seen Trump’s act for a long time. The Times is now printing a few more critical articles, but it’s too little, too late. When the story of this time is written, the failure of the media to fully expose Trump will be part of it.
Thank you for this but, as you note, it's late. Where has been the coverage on the fact that Trump objectively was a terrible president? Rated the worst ever by historians. His handling of the pandemic alone is disqualifying (remember his statements that we needed to reduce Covid testing to reduce the number of cases?). Why is the media coverage of the economy so focused on GOP talking points? Why did it take The Economist to report that the U.S. economy is the envy of the world? Kudos to The Economist but how many Americans saw that series of articles? Again, thank you for pointing out the stakes of this election. Tell that to the NY Times, which sees the threat to democracy as just another campaign issue, equivalent to inflation or immigration. My goodness. Democracy does not work without a competent and free press. We are watching that unfold before our eyes.
The media, writ large, shows the same tunnel vision as many Americans: they are uniquely focused on rights, with little appreciation of its collective responsibility. There is no moral, political, or humanitarian equivalency between Trump and Harris, no matter how hard the media tries to formulate one. Giving voice to the fascist bent that is Trump’s closing message, should only amplify the chasm between him and his opponent. Rather, some voices in the fourth estate are trying their hardest to turn Trump’s avowed intentions to turn our country away from democracy into quaint memes that would somehow translate hate and discord into humor and humanity. They do so for the same reason Trump spouts his tirades while slithering down the slope toward lunacy — because they can. We have reached a depressing point in our political discourse when we are forced to turn to comedians like Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel for political insights. When most of the kids on my block wanted to be Superman, I aspired to be Clark Kent. I had such great affinity for journalism then. How greatly that affinity has faded.
I agree with the points raised here. However. Believe it or not, I think the New York Times this morning may have hit the nail on the head: misogyny. All one had to do was to look at the male/female breakdown in voting preferences across age groups. Someone finally did and dared to say it. Although my own sneaking suspicion (in addition) is that women, in general, are just smarter than men.
Admirable: Jeffrey Goldberg’s comprehensive overview in The Atlantic of Trump’s disdain for the military and his utter incomprehension of the idea of self-sacrifice. Josh Marshall’s piece on how political journalism is wired for the Republican Party.
Objectionable: NYT’s coverage of Bret Baier’s travesty of an “interview” of VP Harris. This sentence stood out to me: “Mr. Baier’s aggressive demeanor was consistent with the kind of tough coverage of Ms. Harris that blankets Fox News’s daily programming.” Let me fix that: “Mr. Baier’s repeated invocation of MAGA talking points was consistent with the blatantly misleading coverage of Ms. Harris that blankets Fox News’s daily programming.”
Just so.
You're right, Margaret, that it's late...but I encourage you to keep pounding away at the media to do a better job. While I am grateful that the NYT and WaPo have both given strong editorial support to Harris, the quality of many of their headlines--the only things that people who don't care enough to dive into full articles see--continues to be awful. It's not the reporters who write them--but what is up with the headline writers?! Anyway, thanks for all that you do to try to wake Americans up to the disaster that a trump--or Vance--presidency would bring about.
Thank you!
The headline writers couldn't do what they do if the editors didn't agree with them. :(
Yes....and no. They clearly need to stay within the bounds of editorial policy. But my understanding is that they have quite a bit of latitude, and they are in many ways responsible for how articles are framed. It's really obvious when you read the headline, then read the article, and there is a disconnect.
Again, the editors (and owners) have final say - just, up the food chain. And it happens to frequently to be accidental. Do you read the news yesterday that the owner of the LA Times' over-road the editorial board's decision to endorse Harris?
The New York Times has covered Trump the way it covered Hitler becoming Chancellor of Germany in January 1933, writing that Hitler's radicalism couldn't be carried out because he needed the support of the "moderate" German industrialists to stay in power.
Ezra Klein’s seemingly innocent query “Was Trump’s first term so bad?” on the NYT’s website. First, by any objective measure of budget deficits, job growth, impartial justice, government management, national unity, constitutional norms, international stature and national catastrophe response, TRUMP WAS THE WORST EVER. Second, even if the nation survived, if not a few hundred thousand pandemic victims, what Trump has done since Jan 21, 2021, is also very relevant and simply disqualifying. Klein is out of his depth.
Ummm, and, of course, the little bit about an insurrection at the end of his term. The first time there wasn't a peaceful transfer of power in American history...
The only thing at this point would be have the officers who were beaten and attacked on January 6 in ads/Tiktok/Facebook and footage of what Trumpism is truly about - taking power by force.
Those that cannot admit Trump and his crew are cruel and dangerous will still cast their ballot for their new MAGA party. The Republican Party died long ago and their electorate gleefully enjoy their new daily headlines of venom and vengeance.
And the old “press of the conservatives” - Noonan and Will - behave as if this is just a fever dream that will pass without permanent damage. That he is just uncouth and the plans being hatched to turn everything upside will be thwarted by those of virtue they still dine with.
Mobilizing the youth to vote is a multi-year nationwide campus endeavor that the Biden administration refused leadership or engagement. It’s not a magic trick, it’s just regular engagement that Obama already showed how to do.
This race shouldn’t be close, too many didn’t take this seriously enough, including the “free press”.
Here, here Lisa!!
Well said.
Thank you as always, Margaret. My latest infuriation with the media, and specifically the NYTimes, has been their sanewashing in their live blog coverage of Trump. The most obvious recent example was when he started rambling about the late Arnold Palmer’s genitalia and they referred to it as “golf stories.” The sad thing is that this was pretty low on the stakes meter. When they’re doing it about his overtly fascist rhetoric, I can only feel despair.
The only solace I can find is that the margins in the swing states are likely to be so small that if the media finds religion it could still play a meaningful role in helping preserve our democracy. I’m not holding my breath.
Agree on all
Been focused on the stakes the whole time - even when *some* got scared, and forgot their integrity, in how they treated Pres. Biden, I never did.
Also been making sure what I'm responsible for in our media landscape has focused on the stakes the whole time, though you're correct in that too many others in our business have not. Kudos to some, though I certainly wouldn't give as much praise to the NYTimes as you did, Margaret. Were it up to me, I'd fire most of the people on the political overage for the NYTimes, and do it in such a way they'd never work in media again. I'd also stuff AG in a closet until he learned a few things he's seemed to have forgotten.
But I join you in your call to every decent person in media, and everywhere else, to keep the media focused on the stakes.
Because if this all goes the wrong way?
Every one of us decent people in news media will be targeted for death by MAGA, with the support of the new fascist Trump government.
And I'd kinda like to not have that happen.
Good luck to us all.
Let's go save the world. Again.
Maybe this time though, after we do? Let's make sure the monsters can't gain power again.
'Cause I'm gettin' too old for this sh**..
One of the criticism's of the US after Sept 11th was that we lacked imagination and just couldn't conceive of flying planes into buildings.
Well IMHO it is happening again. Too many people are incapable of seeing what a 2nd Trump Presidency will do. Many of the educated folks on the right are horrifyingly sanguine about what is to come if Trump is elected. The less educated are just enjoying the show and how Trump hates the same people they do. None of them see what will happen to the masses of people that are currently hanging on a by a thread when the bottom falls out. The 1930's Germany metaphor has been used a whole lot, for sure, maybe overused (maybe not) but it seems we have plenty of "good Germans" in this country too.
That is heartbreaking as it is terrifying.
You cannot say this too often. In the NBC interview of Vice President Harris, Lester Holt just had to mention whether a woman of color was subject to sexism. Then they played a portion of an interview in which she was questioned about sexism and being a woman. I don’t believe that this is or should be an issue and certainly shouldn’t be raised by a major network this close to the election. Gender is not an issue other than stopping the assault on women’s rights. Of course the McDonald’s issue got more coverage even to the extent of video asking her whether she really worked for McDonalds. What world is NBC living in?
The NY Times editorial staff is a disgrace. They run some articles on Trump’s failures, but have been sanewashing him for quite a while. As a newspaper with one of the best investigative reporters in the country, there’s no excuse. Maybe the owner and editors have a distorted view of their responsibility to the American people. Unfortunately for them, they are in New York. We in New York and New Jersey have seen Trump’s act for a long time. The Times is now printing a few more critical articles, but it’s too little, too late. When the story of this time is written, the failure of the media to fully expose Trump will be part of it.
Thank you for this but, as you note, it's late. Where has been the coverage on the fact that Trump objectively was a terrible president? Rated the worst ever by historians. His handling of the pandemic alone is disqualifying (remember his statements that we needed to reduce Covid testing to reduce the number of cases?). Why is the media coverage of the economy so focused on GOP talking points? Why did it take The Economist to report that the U.S. economy is the envy of the world? Kudos to The Economist but how many Americans saw that series of articles? Again, thank you for pointing out the stakes of this election. Tell that to the NY Times, which sees the threat to democracy as just another campaign issue, equivalent to inflation or immigration. My goodness. Democracy does not work without a competent and free press. We are watching that unfold before our eyes.
The media, writ large, shows the same tunnel vision as many Americans: they are uniquely focused on rights, with little appreciation of its collective responsibility. There is no moral, political, or humanitarian equivalency between Trump and Harris, no matter how hard the media tries to formulate one. Giving voice to the fascist bent that is Trump’s closing message, should only amplify the chasm between him and his opponent. Rather, some voices in the fourth estate are trying their hardest to turn Trump’s avowed intentions to turn our country away from democracy into quaint memes that would somehow translate hate and discord into humor and humanity. They do so for the same reason Trump spouts his tirades while slithering down the slope toward lunacy — because they can. We have reached a depressing point in our political discourse when we are forced to turn to comedians like Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel for political insights. When most of the kids on my block wanted to be Superman, I aspired to be Clark Kent. I had such great affinity for journalism then. How greatly that affinity has faded.
I had to close the NYTImes website when I saw this headline this a.m.: "Why Gender May Be the Defining Issue of the Election."
(gift link) https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/23/us/politics/harris-trump-election-gender.html?unlocked_article_code=1.UU4.sbEd.peLJly0uwmm8&smid=url-share
If there is a Trump second term, Margaret Sullivan at least will know that she did everything possible to stir the media to save democracy.
Big Media has become the Big Top. No longer journalism but a circus.
This is really an existential identity crisis for them, and they're unable to cope with it so far.
I worry for the good journalists who still work there.
I agree with the points raised here. However. Believe it or not, I think the New York Times this morning may have hit the nail on the head: misogyny. All one had to do was to look at the male/female breakdown in voting preferences across age groups. Someone finally did and dared to say it. Although my own sneaking suspicion (in addition) is that women, in general, are just smarter than men.