Howard Kurtz: Media Partisans, Broken by "Trump Trauma," Have Thrown Away all Professional Standards in Order to Become Full Liberal Democrat Partisans Against Trump (and Republicans)

Source: AceOfSpades
Published: Jan 24, 2018
Author: Ace
Post Date: 2018-01-24 13:09:51 by Tooconservative
Views: 1743

Well, this isn't new, really, but he is right.

These are excerpts from his new book Media Madness.

Donald Trump is staking his presidency, as he did his election, on nothing less than destroying the credibility of the news media; and the media are determined to do the same to him. This is not just a feud or a fight or a battle. It is scorched-earth warfare in which only one side can achieve victory.

To a stunning degree, the press is falling into the president's trap. The country's top news organizations have targeted Trump with an unprecedented barrage of negative stories, with some no longer making much attempt to hide their contempt. Some stories are legitimate, some are not, and others are generated by the president's own falsehoods and exaggerations. But the mainstream media, subconsciously at first, has lurched into the opposition camp and is appealing to an anti-Trump base of viewers and readers, failing to grasp how deeply it is distrusted by a wide swath of the country.

These are not easy words for me to write. I am a lifelong journalist with ink in my veins. And for all my criticism of the media's errors and excesses, I have always believed in the mission of aggressive reporting and holding politicians accountable.

But the past two years have radicalized me. I am increasingly troubled by how many of my colleagues have decided to abandon any semblance of fairness out of a conviction that they must save the country from Trump.

...

This is, at bottom, a battle over the truth. Who owns it, who controls it, who can sell their version to a polarized public that increasingly cannot agree on basic facts. Everything you read, hear and see about Trump's veracity is filtered through a mainstream media prism that reflects a lying president -- and virtually never considers the press' own baggage and biases.

Actually he pitches most of this as a case of Trump and his partisans and the media all doing the same thing, but, you know, it's the media which claims to be the God-Appointed Keepers of Truth.

By the way, when you see so many in the media destroying all previous professional guardrails and setting fire to the old rulebook, due to being so politically broken by Trump -- is it terribly hard to believe that FBI agents, DOJ officials, and CIA/NSA staffers did the same?

If this "Trump Trauma" can derange one group of politically-motivated "professionals," why would other professions with similar propensities for political motivation be immune?

So when the Deep State and its apparatchiks, like the NeverTrumpers, say "How dare you suggest our professional civil servants would ever compromise their integrity in pursuit of a partisan end!," say to them:

What about CNN? What about the Weekly Standard? What about the Free Beacon paying Fusion GPS to dig dirt on Trump and Cruz -- but, strangely enough for an alleged news operation, not paying them to dig dirt on Little Marco Rubio or John The Mailman's Son Kasich?

What about you yourselves?

The political battlefield is littered with lunatics literally deranged by Trump -- but I'm supposed to take some Deep State jock-sniffers' word for it that this could never happen to the straight-shooters of the FBI, DOJ, CIA and NSA?

Poster Comment:

Howie is no conservative but he sees the battle lines drawn pretty clearly. And he gives the advantage in battle to the power of the modern presidency and Trump's unique and combative style.

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#1: BorisY    To: Tooconservative (#0)

MeTrofreakouTsexuals

Too funny

Love iT
boris

BorisY posted on 2018-01-24 14:08:35   Reply   Private Reply

#2: Liberator    To: Tooconservative (#0)

Kurtz:

"I am increasingly troubled by how many of my colleagues have decided to abandon any semblance of fairness out of a conviction that they must save the country from Trump...

"This is, at bottom, a battle over the truth. Who owns it, who controls it, who can sell their version to a polarized public that increasingly cannot agree on basic facts. Everything you read, hear and see about Trump's veracity is filtered through a mainstream media prism that reflects a lying president -- and virtually never considers the press' own baggage and biases."

When Howie Kurtz becomes a convert and tires of all the MSM Hate-Trump! obsession, and outs it as self-serving cabal of colluding political liars and propagandists, it's a VERY good sign.

Liberator posted on 2018-01-24 14:20:01   Reply   Private Reply

#3: Liberator    To: Tooconservative (#0)

Howie is no conservative but he sees the battle lines drawn pretty clearly.

And he gives the advantage in battle to the power of the modern presidency and Trump's unique and combative style.

Amazing revelation and concession by Kurtz, ain't it? He can be the only one. Will the floodgates open?

Trump is beating the MSM. At their own game. The more they try and go toe to toe with Trump, the more cred they lose. And it AIN'T coming back.

NOW is the time for Conservative Media outlets to put the pedal to the metal establish themselves as THE real "news" outlets.

Liberator posted on 2018-01-24 14:23:30   Reply   Private Reply

#4: Tooconservative    To: Liberator (#3)

NOW is the time for Conservative Media outlets to put the pedal to the metal establish themselves as THE real "news" outlets.

I think talk radio has already maxed out, perhaps to overkill levels.

Fox News is a repetitive chorus of the same faces, same stories, hour after hour. They're very profitable but they have already maxed out the audience they can reach, I think.

So what you say sounds good but I don't see how conservative media ups its game much. Either they are in a fully saturated market (talk radio) or they are placing their own profits well ahead of expanding their reach and having a greater political impact (Fox News).

And once you admit those facts, you're back to...Trump.     : )

Tooconservative posted on 2018-01-24 14:31:07   Reply   Private Reply

#5: Liberator    To: Tooconservative (#4)

I think talk radio has already maxed out, perhaps to overkill levels.

Agree.

Fox News is a repetitive chorus of the same faces, same stories, hour after hour. They're very profitable but they have already maxed out the audience they can reach, I think.

You're right on the "same old" thing, but due to the limited "conservative" presentation of news, FNC will not only continue to hold onto its audience, their audience will increase (IMO of course.)

Due to the MSM lineup of CBS/ABC/NBC/CNN etal reporting on exactly the same lie and distortions of truth (as Kurtz implies or asserts), an appreciable volume ofthe Left of Center is forced to click over to FNC. Even the Left resent being lied to and made fools of. This should translate into even more support of Trump and center-right politics.

So what you say sounds good but I don't see how conservative media ups its game much. Either they are in a fully saturated market (talk radio) or they are placing their own profits well ahead of expanding their reach and having a greater political impact (Fox News).

TC, I don't think a FNC necessarily needs to "up their game" much; Just keep on reporting from a perspective that appears centrist or at least more truth and less agenda then the usual suspects of the MSM. I have a feeling FNC already realizes that due to an increasingly discredited left-leaning MSM, their market is naturally expanded.

I don't know enough about FOX to gauge whether they are putting profits ahead of potential reach, but only they and they alone can grow in viewership.

Liberator posted on 2018-01-24 14:47:09   Reply   Private Reply