A line penned by William Shakespeare seems strangely applicable for the month of July that seemed more like the Ides of March.
The line uttered by Caesar, “And you too, Brutus”, upon seeing his friend and ally among his assassins is traditionally symbolic of shock and betrayal.
Media have played the role of Brutus ever since Biden’s first debate with Donald Trump. Both print and television media dogpiled Biden daily with the New York Times beginning the harangue with their editorial of how he should drop out of the race for President.
It didn’t stop with that initial op-ed either.
It continued with the Washington Post, CNN, and even, MSNBC. The latter was the unkindest cut of all and Jen Psaki was the loudest voice. Biden gave Psaki, a total unknown, her start in political media as his press secretary. I can only say one thing to describe this: Ungrateful. Psaki was shock and betrayal personified, cloaked in a friendship. And it wasn’t only Psaki, but Biden’s colleagues and close friends like Schumer, Pelosi, and Obama. I previously admired these people once upon a time. I cannot view them in the same light now. They’ve tarnished their reputation for me and for many others as well.
Media were counting on the storyline of “Democrats in disarray” to carry them through the election. What they wanted most to boost ratings and revenue was a fractured Democratic Party that would hold an open convention in Chicago with lots of drama and intrigue. And anger. And infighting. And provide them with plenty to report on each day; like vultures feeding on the remains of a carcass.
It seemed they wanted to entertain, rather than inform. The very definition of news in any dictionary is to present “previously unknown information”. We expect media to keep us informed, then we can personally assess what our next action should be. And above all, we can form our own opinions.
But in puzzling reversal, they’ve turned a blind eye to Trump’s gaffes, cognitive condition, his age, his felony convictions and indictments and threats lately.
US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told Christians that if they vote for him this November, “In four years, you won’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote.” Everyone who heard that speech in Florida knew what he was alluding to. This would be the last election, because he would be anointed KING forever.
The media has barely covered this and those Republican lawmakers chalk it up in media interviews to Trump’s usual “jokes”—he’s not serious. Amazingly, the media interviewers never push back on these claims. It’s almost as if they believe it. It’s as if “that’s just Trump” and we have to accept that.
July feels like a betrayal by media and I’m boycotting those involved in the “pile on” regarding Biden. They’re dead to me. Things they shouldn’t have said, they said. Things they should have said, they did not.
Media need to stick with the basics of journalism: Who, what, where, when, why and how. At least that’s what I was taught when I was co-editor of the school newspaper and, just for the record, I had the same journalism teacher as Scott Pelley of 60 Minutes.
That’s not happening right now.
Does anyone have an answer as to why this is happening? Does anyone have sufficient clout with the big print and video people to make them aware that what they’re doing is unprofessional? Does anyone have sway with media to make them aware of the unpopularity of their reporting? Or maybe they don’t care.
We’ll have to stay tuned.
