Dear mainstream and corporate news media,
The problem is you. You have all been willingly led by the nose by a buffoon. His lack of respect for you will continue to be justified until you stop treating his nonsense as marching orders. You do that because, as Les Moonves, the head of CBS, said, "Trump may be bad for America, but he's good for CBS."
You have been monetizing his steady stream of stupid tweets and outrageous acts. America would be grateful if you started doing your job instead of acting as Trump's tools. My fear is that, because a progressive candidate like Sanders, Harris or Warren would be bad for your profit margin, you will actually aid Trump in his re-election campaign.
14
My sister and I - both middle-aged women -- are vacationing to Europe this spring. In her Christmas gift bag last week, I added several Canadian flag lapel pins to wear on the trip.
In past years that might have been a mild joke as we both have slight Canadian accents. This time, we are deadly serious about avoiding identification as Americans.
In large part the media is to blame for normalizing, more each day, that vile, malignant sociopath and his scofflaw, environmentally destructive, jingoistic and terminally greedy henchmen.
10
Here’s an idea, NYT: Don’t let Trump set the media agenda.
Amazing insight, I know.
But I’m being disingenuous: y’all love his endless media-cycle-feeding. Everyone does—his media support makes tons on his blind supporters while his media detractors make tons on his opponents. But all dance to his tune far more than anyone should for reasons even he understands: money, “ratings,” ad revenue.
The system is utterly corrupt. Trump’s just the acute phase of the disease, and probably not even the most acute phase. The institutional structure of for-profit media is perfectly aligned with his M.O. As he knows—it’s the one thing he knows and does well. And so CEOs, as was famously demonstrated in that quarterly Wall Street call with I think the CBS dude, laud their bottom line while knowing at the same time that they’re helping to destroy the country.
I don’t know why anyone should be surprised. Everybody lauds a suicidal system hurtling toward climate disaster; you could barely find a mention of global warming during the 2016 campaign.
And that’s why Trump always attacks organization’s or individual’s ratings or popularity. It’s not just “crass”—it’s valid. It’s how almost all media works.
Conclusion: It’s not just Trump. It’s all of us. Trumps are always around; why they rise is due to widespread structural, institutional, and cultural (social, economic, etc) forces and trends. Obviously.
I know: I’m so reality-based, 20thC about it. I should work on my personal branding.
7
There is a method to this madness, in the torrent nothing grabs hold or hangs on long enough to become an intolerable liability, or cause for full blown inditement.
The perpetual blur is artful camouflage, a powerful diversion. The fire hose of grave stupidity and outlandish misbehavior inadvertently becomes Trump’s artful dodge.
5
As I read this I look back at the NYT editors and would like to ask what they see their duties are in the age of Trump?
He dominates the news cycle only because the media opts to cover it all. I remember thinking what Trump falsely said about Obama wire-tapping him was going to be huge. This fell off the radar because the media chose to move on to something less impactful.
The NYT and the rest of the media are either allowing themselves to be played by the president or simply choosing to do so to perhaps sell more.
Either way they are failing their subscribers. Trump dominates the media only because you allow him to.
13
I've given up watching the WH 'press briefing'.
I mean, what's the point? To watch the duplicitous, disingenuous, Trump-appointed narcissistic Sanders holding court as she spouts her lies, deceit and spin? To watch Roberts at Fox News continue to debase himself by always accepting Sanders' (and Spicer's before her) invitation to ask the first question(s)?
And why does the press corp bother? Aren't they embarrassed at being demeaned and cut off when the question doesn't suit her?
I would have thought an hour or so with Carl Bernstein each week to understand how real news can be sourced and disseminated would be far more productive than spending time with Sanders turning over the manure. I mean, the stench that gives off is vomit-inducing.
11
Is there a significance to Trump looking like a Christmas tree ornament, as shown in the picture?
1
I would not say Trump speed as this is the slowest year of any news cycle, like we are on a continuous loop of Trump gaffs that seems to occupy most of the news of the day.
1
"Mr. Negrin offered two predictions for the new year: Mr. Trump is unlikely to hold forth on Hezbollah anytime soon. And: '2018 is going to be 10 times worse.'"
And a Happy New Year to you too!
2018 my be a worse year but it can be made a whole lot better if the Democrats encourage candidates and votes alike to get into the mix. If we have a new logo, let it be "Make America Better."
3
If the news media choose - for profit -- to pummel us with every single event that pops up, whether consequential or not -- then the news media shouldn't blame "events" for creating a sense of chaos. The news media themselves are creating a sense of chaos by giving equal time to the trivial and the important.
6
There is a significant percentage of the population who is unbothered by any of this. They don’t pay attention. They don’t read any newspaper. They don’t watch serious news broadcasts. Some are proudly out of the loop. Some are incurious. Some are cynical about everything. What can be done about this.
1
Those of us, who pay attention, remember every single criminal action, along with the timing, and the connections that have been drawn between nefarious individuals, governments, and organizations.
2
Mr. Huff, you are right when you remind us about starving children and genocide in many parts of the world. (I would also like to add the continuing shameful state of affairs in our Puerto Rico.) But, sir, I believe we are neither hypocrites nor self-centered. On the contrary. We are justifiably concerned with our own children, including The Dreamers, our seniors, our struggling working class, our poor, our brown and black skinned, the rights of our LGBT community and those of the Muslim faith, to list but a few. I for one need this fast-paced media which reports REAL news. Yes, it seems as if it would be difficult to absorb its relentless constancy. But there is always one underlying theme that will NEVER paralyze us: Our democracy, our rights are daily being threatened by the greed, bigotry, power-hungry, and downright amorality of not only Trump but also his puppets in the Cabinet and Congress. Many of us our moving to protect what is our due as fast as the news reports it.
2
At the end of the days, like a couple of years later, when the world find out America leadership is not important anymore, when the world learn America is not trustworthy anymore, please remember the year 2017 is the beginning of the end of America.
3
As Trump and the GOP have Fox news, the Administration's propaganda machine, the Liberals should have a channel devoted to nothing but debunking Trump's Tweets and comments. This would free up legitimate media to focus on real issues, like how our system of government is being dismantled and our institutions, once the envy of the world, are being weakened by negative comments made to the world by our leader.
1
Trump was an out of control youth when his parents sent him to a military high school in Queens. This continues with military officers doing their best to control the man. Let’s hope that they can contain him, otherwise Trump, an unhinged bomb thrower , can do much damage to our country.
3
The press has every right to feel exhausted. Politics has become a three-ring circus with a lot of clowns and high wire acts. It’s great entertainment but substance is hard to find.
Following some politicians is like watching toddlers at play. They have an attention span measured in seconds, demand constant adoration and whine if something bothers them. Taking any of this seriously is big mistake. These antics can be aborted by funny games or things to throw or bang. The experienced parent only worries if the child wandering into something dangerous—or causing it.
Elected officials supposed to act like grown-ups. But when they act like toddlers, they can be very dangerous. Outrageous tweets, hollow boasts, and lies speak volumes about an individual’s poor character and lack of judgement. Those flawed officials do not belong in office.
Thanks to a hard-working, vigilant press, these embarrassing politicians are now easier to spot. It’s up to the voters to block them and their kind at the ballot box.
3
We've been gaslighted. Our fundamental beliefs and our trust in our senses (in this case the news from traditional media) have been called into question and overwhelmed with half-truths and flat-out falsehoods.
Knowing this has happened and is likely intentional should make it easier to pick through the wreckage and find the bits worth saving. Knowing their intentions makes it easier to see through what they're doing. It's a show being managed by a stage magician.
4
My recent goal has been to read less about trump’s minor outrages, discerning what has lasting news value, to save time and emotional energy. Then I found myself not only viewing Tiffany and ivankas holiday video, in which they throw vapid kisses in bathing suits from mar a lago, but feeling disgust over it. Then I read an explanation of why trump’s lie about taking the most presidential actions in a year is truly a shameless whopper.
I agree we need to stop letting trump control the news, especially with outrageous lies designed only to distract. But it’s hard.
2
This is a great article, read it in print this morning over coffee.
Such an easy, breezy style yet captures so much.
I look forward to many more years, Mr. Grynbaum.
Are news organizations using triage management? Or changed in response to adapt to the obscuring dust spewing from politicians which, by conscious and unconscious design, can hinder our accurately being able to accurately assess our world? How much should we allow a powerful leader to warp and corrupt public discourse?
2
- and I actually didn't want to critizise the NYT or the writers of the NYT about their way of handling Von Clownstick - the y just did what grown ups do - wrote lots and lots of articles in the most possible polite way about an insane racist birther who firstly wanted to become President and then he actually became the President of my homeland - which WE always are able to sy what Jennifer Lawrence said - and y'all know what Jennifer Lawrence said -
Right?
The NYT reported it without - really quoting her.
BUT perhaps that all will have changed with this... this... well y'all know what... and perhaps the next time a racist birther runs for US President the NYT will write:
This is a democracy BUT that doesn't mean that a racist birther is allowed to run for President - and if he tries it anyway he will be relegated to the Funny Pages from the beginning.
4
- or better said - its really kind of... sad? - that you guys are no match for Von Clownstick - and it starts with each of your reporters always forgetting when you meet Von Clownstick or when you write about him - how much more clever you are than the his hair - and how much more beautiful the Times is than anything in Gold.
And - seriously - Y'all really need to take it over the Cliff - and if the dude is pretending to talk about politics you need to ask him about his Golf handicap - and how it feels to grab some... Hamburgers.
And these are the things WE the American people are interested in and NOT what a dude who plays some President of a Banana Republic in a B-TEEVEE show thinks about Rocket Men.
I think that we'd all do well to take Matt Flegenheimer's piece to heart. And the confusion in the news is further exacerbated by the reality that a conversation about Trump is not a political one, it's a psychological one.
Trump's "dealmaking" incorporates the babble from a childish bully on the playground; Trump attempts to drive his listeners into submission by constant repetition and confusion. Trump then tests if he's achieved suspension of disbelief by uttering something senseless, such as, "Being president is really, really hard." Well of course it is. But if the listener is still hanging around after that mindless statement, he or she is either a reporter who has to cover it, or a dumb Trump supporter.
Matt has it right in his statement:
"And the president’s apparent triumph over the space-time continuum has created practical concerns across newsrooms and congressional offices, exacerbated by forces that predate Mr. Trump: the rise of Facebook and Twitter, the partisan instincts of cable news and, in the case of mass shootings, what many describe as a growing public imperviousness to horror."
We're all living Orwell's 1984. Trump's engineered confusion is to deaden our senses so that he can achieve control. Some of Trump's manipulative followers, such as Steve Bannon and Fox News know how to employ that behavior to create a lucrative market.
Our only hope is a firm confrontation to the Right Wing subterfuge by the educated population.
3
I think the upside is that the people who don't watch Fox News are out talking to each other, so DT and his lackeys can have their victorious ratings while they lose their elections. Actually, I know more people that voted for Donald Trump than I know have ever watched Fox News. Those are both in single digits, so it's probably not statistically significant. I think there is a knee-jerk Clinton hater factor in the last election that nobody seems to want to address.
10
Years ago, on my commute home to NJ from Wall Street, on the day Ronald Reagan was shot, many folks on the train had a radio tuned to the news. It was reported that Press Secretary James Brady had been shot dead. By the time I got home, the news had been corrected: Brady had been seriously injured, but he was alive. I remember clearly newscasters Frank Reynolds going ballistic, faulting his colleagues for the erroneous accounts. He said with vehemence, it's more important to get the story right than to get it first. The advice to slow down to human speed should be heeded by today's media--particularly since it's clear that Trump is erratic at best, seriously ill at worst. Pick the stories that count--not Melania's high heels or Trump's fish feeding habits in Japan--and confirm each--don't give Trump any real reason to yell "Fake news!"
24
We'll catch up.
There's still hope!
Context: There is always a cognitive lapse between new information and older ways of understanding. The Three Card Monte game that has replaced our government won't go on indefinitely. We'll all go broke, get suckered into a war by our own so-called commander-in-chief and our grandchildren will read about when America was Great in their history classes, on Youtube, if they're not too busy responding to capricious weather caused by climate changes caused by greedy Three Card Monte predators.
5
"Of course, Mr. Trump runs neither the networks nor the newspapers, much as he might prefer it at times, and the news media has come by its share of criticism honestly."
The key admission in the article and one that pretty much undercuts its point.
Shame it doesn't receive more prominence.
7
Is it too much to ask for one day in 2018 to be free of anything Trump? Perhaps if we're lucky, maybe a weekend.
12
I'm with you, alayton. Wouldn't it be great if there could be a complete 48 hour freeze on his image, the sound of his voice, and definitely his tweets. Aside from being the most dangerous man in America, if not the world, his blathering has grown so incredibly tiresome to hear day in day out.
2
Trump's greatest skill is not real estate, it is conning and grifting in order to purchase, or manage real estate, and, failed casinos.
With that skill, he has managed to bamboozle, hoodwink and deceive many, particularly those who voted for him and still believe he is the savior of the country.
He has also managed to con professional journalists and reputable media, print, digital and broadcast (note I wrote professional and reputable, so, that casts Fox and the entertainers on that network aside).
I, and possibly others, questioned why this publication and other reputable publications reported on every inane and insane tweet the "president" issued. Why not just report the stupid things he does. Oops, I answered my own question.
8
Forget the article - Pulitzer to that photo!
3
Yes, journalism is playing into his hands.
9
Here in Germany Trump is considered kind of a White House "laughable". How silly can it get in America?
6
I bet, that despite all of his actions he will be re-elected. Sad!
1
From a NY Times op-ed by Nicholas Kristof : "... on average my columns about President Trump had readership more than twice that of my columns about foreign topics."
I commiserate with Kristof and I can't help thinking that journalism today is searching more for sales and clicks then truth.
8
Every day since January 20th this year has been a news trial. From Trump saying his inauguration was the most huuuuuge ever, saying Obamacare was repealed, declaring Kim Jong-un Rocket Man, day after day, lie after lie, we’ve been apppalled.
My point here, though, has anyone noticed the number of NY Times comments made routinely regarding Donald Trump and his news? Surely Trump must keep track when he does his daily checking of his self popularity by the number of people he’s stirred up in writing. Remember, Melania said “Donald likes to stir things up.” We thought maybe she was kidding, in a wifely sort of way. Ha!
So, I’d like to take this time to address Mr. Bassey Etim and his wonderful, beautiful, staff at the New York Times this past year, the approvers. You guys/gals work from morning til night and throughout, too, probably, to go through these thousands and thousands of reader comments. I’m sure when yet another outlandish Trump doing occurs, (which is often) you must think “oh, boy, this is going to be another one of ‘those’ days!” And it is one of those days!
He’s embarrassed us, he’s humiliated the country. He’s made us angry, he’s pushed us over the edge. But the Times has carried on. You’ve not only kept us abreast, you’ve given us opportunity to blow off steam here, put our thoughts in writing, attempt to give a personal twist on the day.
Thank you comment approvers. The best to your families and loved ones in 2018, too. Happy New Year!
24
This is all part of Trump's strategy - keep left-footing the opposition with dribble, nonsense and idiocy until get incinerated by the resulting bonfire and fail to develop a viable opposition strategy. Trump (and his thumb-sucking sycophants in the Republican Party) should be the easiest opposition to run against with a well thought out strategy, but the Democrats are too busy responding to his constant gibberish to put together a coherent program. Will some smart, respected, youngish Democrats please push aside yesterday's ideas of both the Clinton and Sanders partisans and begin developing a responsible agenda for dealing with the country's massive problems?
9
Mister Ed - there are counter-actions being done by Democrats that you don't see because they don't make the news yet. I'm not speaking for Democrats with a national profile - rather, I'm speaking of regular people who are running for Congress, and regular people who are connecting with other regular people who are being persuaded to flip one or two houses of Congress to do things like see his tax returns or have Emoluments hearings or, say when solid evidence is presented, vote on impeachment.
I've never been involved in party politics before. Now I'm running for Congress. I'm running against the 2nd most conservative member of the house and someone who routinely writes articles that say we need to defend the IMPOTUS from 'baseless Russia attacks.'
www.torresforcongress.com
1
It’s time to cut back on the little stuff about Trump. Do we need Headlines about his stupid joke re: frigid weather could use a little global warming? Trump loves creating outrage, so how about a weekly column on his most inflammatory rants instead of several daily ones?
16
Dear NYT and faithful readers: Please continue the endless opposition to Trump and overreaction to everything he does.
5
Trump is leading, everyone else is marching to the beat of his drums. I hear people still saying how ‘stupid’ or ‘amateur’ he is etc but in the same breath cursing his many successes. Almost the entire media complex attack him daily and have been trying desperately to destroy him but to no avail. There are major scandals boiling up but you won’t hear of them here or any other anti-Trump media. I’d be furious if I had bought into the whole “Russia!” fabrication and to see I had hoped in vain. Just as I was taught in University to get as many sources as possible, I do the same thing with Trump. I recognize bias at both Fox News and Washington Post but I chew through the information contained from every possible angle as we were taught to gather a diverse group of views before looking at all available evidence or lack thereof before jumping to conclusions and especially never allowing emotions or personal beliefs to hinder a decision (as much as humanly possible that is)... maybe they don’t teach that way anymore but it serves me well.
3
Social media performance art? Really?? The whole tone of this article is a little weird: a journalist for a major news organization, which has done outstanding work going in-depth on Trump's personality & policies, satirically "explaining" that none of us, including the media, are paying attention to anything for very long.
This approach is dangerous because it can oversimplify things to fit into the central thesis. For example, the Vegas mass shooting, like the attack in Manchester, may well not be dominating the news cycle because mass shootings have become so much more commonplace since Sandy Hook. A far sadder explanation, but one that requires a lot more collective soul searching than blaming it on Trump's constant braying for attention.
2
Trump is the epitome of a "black hole" right here on Earth. He exhibits such strong media gravitational effects that seemingly nothing can escape from it. He can and does deform time. And his boundary is an event horizon he creates for the most part. In celestial terms, black holes form at the end of a massive star's life cycle. Could Trump be the omen for all of us?
4
Reporters, these scandals are going to look painfully obvious in hindsight, so please investigate. Congressional Republicans could well be obstructing the Russia investigation for their own protection. I bet they, too, conspired or accepted help from Russians / Facebook Russians, etc. to cheat in their own elections, with hacked emails, internet bots and trolls, and fake Facebook ads against their opponents, etc. Please check the local Congressional level campaigns. These Congressmen don't command the same attention Trump does, and are less funded for their defense attorneys when the prosecution points to their role in trying to subvert justice by directing investigation away from themselves. Just what funding does FOX News or their talking heads get from Russian banks and companies?
Why were the particular 29 US Attorneys singled out for firing? We know about the Preet Bharara and how the money laundering investigation went dormant. What Russian funding and secret assistance did these Congressmen (Gaetz, Nunes, Ryan, Hatch, Grassley, Jordan, etc.) accept or solicit from Russians? What investigations went dormant when each of those 29 were fired? Of the hundreds of US Attorneys, these 29 were selected for a reason. It behooves reporters to go find out what criminal investigations were obstructed by that firing.
7
This comment is right on the money. Literally.
2
If Virginia and Alabama are any indication, then 2018 could signal the end of the Trump Apocalypse! If Democrats control either or both houses of Congress, we might get a real accounting of 2016 Trump campaign and Russian collusion.
I never get to my Netflix cue on weekdays because I am always checking the fake news media (CNN, MSNBC, NY Times, WSJ, and Washington Post) for the next outrageous move by the Trump administration or some new lie exposed.
If Trump flames out in 2018, then the country is stuck with Mr. Personality--Mike Pence. Somebody needs to check if he has a pulse and even better, a personality. Is he really still alive or propped up like "Weekend at Bernie's."
1
The great dissonance between the office of the presidency, with its enormous power and responsibility – and the mentally and psychologically sick person who is occupying this office is causing great and sustained stress for most of us. This situation ipso facto cannot be resolved. Trump and Pence must be removed from office. Its our existential imperative.
5
All day, every day, I STILL cannot believe he sits in office.
Next time a rabbit hole opens, please don't fall down it: now we know it's bottomless, and there really is no place like home.
6
News is what has happened, supported by facts. USA Citizens are being exposed to opinion of news which is not always clearly defined and is often created by professional manipulators to promote self interests . All Opinion must be labeled as Opinion Not Fact on all elecronic media. All real news must be labeled "Contains No Fake News-CNFN" to restore authenticity and public confidence in the foundations of our democracy.
2
By the way, I trust we're all looking forward to the New Year, when one supposes we'll go to plaid.
1
"Black hole" is the descriptor for Trump.
A black hole deforms and distorts time.
A black hole is incapable of reflection.
A black hole is formed when a dim, dense, heavy, dangerously unstable star goes bankrupt, unable to itself generate resources necessary to keep itself a star, and collapses into a denser state in different form, its outer layers blown away.
Thereafter it can only become bigger by forcing all matter that comes near it into itself, subsuming it, at which point that matter ceases to be visible.
"Event horizon" is the boundary beyond which anything that happens can never be seen by an outside observer.
Any event approaching that horizon accelerates and takes the path of hyperbola (or hyperbole?).
The black hole literally grabs nearby objects regardless of their inclination, and they let him do it because of the failed star's power.
In the "Black hole information paradox," regardless of what information goes into the black hole, it simply ceases to exist, apparently gone forever, challenging the scientific law that matter cannot be created or destroyed. As such, it's the most profound destructive force in the universe, and not a creative destruction (a la Mitt Romney, who pined for economic downturn and destruction of entities so venture capitalists could sweep up their smithereens into other entities of value) but a true obliterator.
Once such a failed star implodes this way, it never again shines any light but swallows it up as a force of darkness.
7
"All Trump, all the time" is a setting, not a cycle.
3
The media said;
Trump couldn't beat Rubio, he did.
He couldn't beat Cruz, he did.
He couldn't beat Christie, he did.
He couldn't win the nomination, he did.
Trump could never beat Hillary, he did.
He'll never stop illegal immigration, it's down by 70%.
He'll never pass tax reform, done.
The media said The economy will suffer under Trump, it's roaring.
2
Mr. McGrath, everyone has their opinion concerning Trump, I respect your opinion. BUT, he was able to get "tax reform" approved, his ONLY major "achievement". However, that achievement will hurt so many hard working Americans, including those who will loose their health benefits. Who will benefit long term from the tax reform, the ultra-wealthy. You forgot to mention ALL the issues Trump has turned upside down because he either doesn't understand them, or they where initiated by former Presidents. I do an extensive amount of foreign travel, I will tell you people in other countries have told me to my face what a disgrace Trump is and that they feel sorry for the American people. That is the TRUTH, not FAKE news that Trump spits out on a daily basis. On the positive side (for me) I strongly believe that his base is starting to realize that Trump is for Trump and that when he runs in 2020 whatever candidate the Democrats run, that candidate will win because Trump gives them on a daily basis numerous reasons not to re-elect him.
3
Your media also pointed out that Trump promised a whole buncha stuff about the bamkers and financiers and real estate tycoons of Wall Street--the only part of the economy that is in fact booming--and we're beginning to get the sneaking feeling that he was lying like crazy.
2
This man Trump is an absolute disgrace to the memory of those patriots who through the 242 years of this nation's history have given their lives, for this nation.
He is like a foreign agent, willfully destroying everything he comes in conact with. HIs goal of undoing all the needed regulations established by the Obama legislation, and previous ones, serve NO purpose other than satisfying an ignorant deplorable base.
His purpose is actually twofold. to satisfy his vindictive, twisted psychotic personality by attacking this country repeatedly, and by thrilling, and gaining support of a deplorable base. All of this done, mind you while continually enriching himself and his cronies.
What depths we have sunk to!
2
There is no such thing as Trump dominating a news cycle. Control of the "cycle" belongs to the press and it has allowed itself to be used as a promoter of fake news by the Fake of Fakes residing in the oval office. The press has played the patsy since the guy rode his escalator down to his paid audience in 2015. The press opted for click-bait profits through readership over journalism principles putting every presidential distraction on the front page above the fold without context or question or analysis. The president belongs to the press because they made him the president. The press participated in the division of America against itself. Every failed character trait about the guy was obvious but the press refused to acknowledge it. SAD!
4
- and if you guys would have moved all reporting about Von Clownstick from the beginning to the “Funny Pages“ - and NOT to “Politics“ we wouldn't have to read such articles and comments now.
6
What did you just write about?
3
I noticed that during the campaign even MSNBC carried live coverage of all Trump's rallies and events. Hillary hardly drew any interest. When Michelle endorsed her as one of the most "qualified" persons to for the office, it was the kiss of death. Nobody wants "qualified." They want exciting and entertaining and the more the better. It was the most entertaining and watchable campaign ever because of Trump. He knew how to keep the pot boiling. After the election I expected things to settle down and get back to normal. Was I wrong! The Democrats seemed to get the message. With their endless opposition to Trump and overreaction to everything he does, they have have become as ridiculous as Trump himself. It's a comedy contest. The NYT readers have also played their part jumping up and down on their seats every time someone mentions "Russian collusion," which has turned into a gag line. Trump's faithful fans are no better. The age itself has become demented. Everyone needs to pull back, and yes, it starts with you! and me, too!
6
You happen to be one of Trump's faithful fans and staunch alibi-writers, Ed. Congrats.
2
Trump is being covered by the media 24/7 because he is unique. Never before in the history of the US has a President either deliberately lied, not once or twice, but several times per day; or got his facts mixed up (not able to distinguish fact from fiction); or just doesn't care about what he says as long as it gets media coverage. Also, the media's obsession with Trump may also have a lot to do with the fact that he is the least prepared or knowledgeable of any previous Presidents about history, the Constitution or the job of being President, and really doesn't care. And finally, if you look closely, he is probably the laziest of any President, taking an enormous amount of vacation time and golfing and calling it work. He says he works a lot, but there is no proof he actually does much of anything except repeal regulation and Tweet insults. All of this is news worthy of coverage cause it is important to future generations to document how our system of government was destroyed while the public watched and was entertained by his antics.
30
Out of this past year's news-making tornado, three moments clearly stand out for me: Speaker Ryan and Vice President Biden laughing over the Electoral College vote certification, Pres. Trump firing Dir. Comey because of the FBI's Russia investigation, and Pres. Trump declaring that there were many fine people rallying for white nationalism in Charlottesville. In the latter two instances, Pres. Trump abdicated all political and moral authority, respectively.
...meanwhile, there is genocide in Myanmar and children are starving to death in Venezuela, and we are paralyzed from intervening by our own hypocrisy and self-centeredness.
I am ashamed!
81
Media put Trump front and center during the election, giving him publicity and continued to do so after he was elected. I am sick and tired of seeing and hearing him on every news channel, on every page of every newspaper, and on line. Can we please make a resolution for the coming year to ignor him?
6
I think it just seems that way because you find him so annoying. So do I, but I really don't think he's getting so much more coverage than Obama, Bill Clinton or the Bushes did.
Donald made a deal with Putin. For money, the only language he speaks fluently. I promise you Vlad, chaos and confusion will be rampant in the US after Clinton is elected. And behold! Clinton was not elected, due to the same quaint and outmoded 18th century electoral college that stole the presidency from Gore and gave it to another fool, (that now looks like a saint). Now, because Donald dominates the news with his nonsense we are taking our eyes off the ball, and are close to losing freedom of the press, among many other things, and are scarily close to the Chaos Putin bought. No wonder Vlad is looking so happy
11
Clinton has only herself for blame for losing the Electoral College. There's no more effective at pulling Democrat votes than the AFL-CIO's field mobilization program. Local union leaders in three union vote-rich states--Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan-- begged her to campaign there more. She refused based on what, polling? The polls were misleading--people were too embarrassed to admit to pollsters and even themselves that they'd be voting for Trump. Any political neophyte could have figured that out. Clinton didn't go to those three states because she didn't want to be beholden to unions during her presidency. So she is in the woods, President Trump is in the White House. Cry me a river.
3
Is there a name yet for the very strange habit Trump has of when he attends places such as a fire station to thank the emergency services people and then praises himself with a lie. The latest being the most legislation passed claim. No politician in Australia would get away with this strange habit there are some things that should never ever be done by a leader of a democracy anywhere in the world. It is such strange behaviour it defies logic.
12
Trump's gaslighting only serves to throw a brighter glare on his daily lies and his very dangerous course. Is America on a path to war, unbridled nationalism, unchecked military spending, ethnic intolerance, and the destruction of a free press and the judiciary? You might find some interesting parallels in Nicholas Stargardt's book, "The German War: A Nation Under Arms."
5
Does it matter that trump sneers,whines, and slanders every day on every channel? The comrade trump fotos are on view endlessly and have the obvious effect of adding to his media dominance. Looks like a dictator's display of power and narcissism. I was pleased by Seth Meyers using the hideous image of trump from the animatronic showcase in Disneyland. The daily debacle of the trumpsters, father and family feeders at his trough, self dealing liars and toadies, terrifies people across the world. And now everyone can see how criminal selfdealing monsters operate. Welcome to trumpistan 24/7:
11
It's too hard to continue the criticism of trump.
Trumpistan 24/7 only if you waste time watching those droning cable-news channels. I cut the chord 14 years ago. Amazing how not having cable TV in your home can affect your worldview.
1
Trump stated he stands by nothing that he says. SO stop focusing on what Trump says--he intends it as a distraction from what he and his appointees are doing. THAT is the real crime.
6
Shakespeare’s tragedians either suffer from a character defect, or from a decisive moment from which things go south.
In the case of the media, and specifically the Times, that ill starred decision predated this year by two. It was when the Times decided that, almost as soon as he declared, that all of his twitticisms were “news.”
The Times normalized his spur of the moment unthinking spasms of invective by covering all of them, unlike, say, the yuge crowds Bernie Sanders was attracting in the Northwest.
In fact, for MONTHS, the T8mes ran a sidebar on its digital front page of “Trump’s Twitter Insults.”
Twitter wasn’t news until the Times helped to make it so. The rest, including responsibility, follows logically.
3
If St. Bernie pulled such great crowds in the Northwest, how come he got absolutely creamed in the Washington pop vote, and had to declare vic'try on the basis of state caucuses that were the equivalent of the Electoral College?
1
The problem with Trump is simple: he’s about 5% substance and 95% bluster. A bloviator-in-chief with A.D.D. Too many lies and way too much talk. With no tax bill passage, his first year would be a disaster. When his term ends, he’ll wish for the days when reporters hung on his every tweet.
1
Last week I went to Mexico and took a “Trump-cation” a vacation, without reading about Trump’s never ending purges of amazing people appointed by the Obama administration.. North Korea, and Putin. Shortrelief.
5
Please could all newspapers agree to cover politics only on page 5, or something, and keep 45 OFF the front page? Maybe without the attention, he might just shrivel away. Readers would also feel more relaxed, and could choose not to go to that page, without feeling assaulted by the front page everywhere they look...
6
That would be the most dangerous thing they could do. Trump is going to go on doing what he's doing. Don't you think it's better that people know about it?
1
In a way, no! I really feel people need a break from this never ending drama whipped up by 45, and particularly by his tweets. He is manipulating and provoking crowd frenzy, and as the article says, nobody can keep up with it.
Put it inside, where we can search for it if we want to know what he's up to, and do a weekly summary, maybe, so we can see the wood for the trees, but at least take him and his bombastic rantings off the front page...
So the President of the United States, who actually has a job, has flummoxed the media? He does too much for them to cover it all so he is just now suggesting that the press should cover the relevant issues, well DUH!!
He beat the media into submission. He exposed them for what they are, a bunch of liberal hacks. Maybe America has arrived at a time when the media can't influence elections. May be a good idea to try some truth telling about the corruption of the democratic party, and the hijacking of the election cycle by Hillary Clinton all to no avail. America has wised up.
4
I say it again and again - this is just like the dysfunctional "co-dependent" relationships all those books have been written about. What's he going to do next? Did I make him mad? Will he freak out? Will he call me names and try to ruin my reputation? Will he ever call (tweet) me again? Will he try to punish me?
This country - and our hard-working media - is allowing itself to be subject to the manipulations of this very immature and ill-formed man. Why do we permit such a simpleton, such a dark alley con-man who clearly has no interest in our well-being, rule our daily lives and undermine our democratic values and national identity?
3
This article gives the impression that the news media cannot control the tempo that Trump sets, when in fact it can. It simply can ignore or de-prioritize his constant stream of nonsensical and outrageous tweets and comments. A big reason he won the Republican nomination and then the Electoral College to (undemocratically) become President is because the media paid so much attention to him as a candidate. The media needs to learn from its mistakes and stop paying so much attention to Trump as Tweeter-in-Chief. That way, the NYT can write an article next year about how in 2018 it helped to “decelerate” Trump’s non-news.
3
As Trump and the GOP has Fox news, the Administration's propaganda machine, the Liberals should have a channel devoted to nothing but debunking Trump's Tweets and comments. This would free up legitimate media to focus on the real issues, like how our system of government is being dismantled and our institutions, once the envy of the world, are being weakened and destroyed.
4
Is the greed of the Republican Party owners so great that they are willing to allow a Trumpian Horror Show dominate the world we live in? We understand the subservience of their paid henchmen, Ryan, McConnell and the Trump so-called cabinet (gabinetto in Italian). What we do not understand is how even the hard-right super-wealthy controllers of the GOP can be willing to see our nation humiliated before the world. At the end of the day it will be bad for business, not just for the little guy but for them as well. Even if they have no patriotism whatsoever, do they not at least have a long term self-interest in having a sane person in the White House?
6
I made that assumption long ago, before the financial crises of the mid 00's. How could anyone fear that they'd kill the goose? That would logically mean there'd be no more golden eggs, so they'd never do that.
“Newsmaking”?
This is where you are failing us. You are letting him bait you with noise and all too often not focusing on the real news. Tweets and distraction actions are not news and are filling your pages with non-essential content and stories.
How about this resolution in 2018: tweets go on the last page only.
5
I learned real quick after Trump’s election that I was going to have to turn Rachael and Lawrence off and stop reading Charles Blow for the next four years, they made it perfectly clear and were proud to recognize they’d just been bitten by a rabid dog and would be carrying on as such. Without all their noise the arc of the sun for me is traveling at exactly the same speed as it always used to. People can choose for themselves what time they want to go by.
2
I hope that in 2018 the media will cease its endless focussing on and rehashing of every single tweet and statement of the president. Those are more mere smoke screens and mirrors, intended to hide what his cabinet members such as AG Jeff Sessions--in concert with his trusted aid Steven Miller--, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, and Education Secretary Betsy de Vos are doing behind the scenes. If all that the media does is focus on Mr. Trump and continues to pay scant attention to the actions of his team members, we will be in for a rude awaking three--or, God help us all--seven years from now. By that time the America the world has known for the past 70 years will have changed to such an extent that it might take a generation or more before this nation is back on the straight and narrow.
61
Amen! Can't we just have a regular news segment that lists the latest crazy tweets from DFT (no, that's not a typo), then quickly moves on? No need to analyze, because it's just the con man distracting the marks. I love PBS NewsHour and NPR, but I want to scream when they repeatedly ask one of DFT's apologists or potential voters, "What is President Trump thinking?" He's not thinking! They are not mind readers! It's all spin that lets the spinners create an imaginary Trump who suits them and isn't vulgar, uninformed, or nuts. I've noticed this in a lot in the media I use (not just NPR or PBS), both during the campaign and 2017. Please stop! Mind reading is not news!
Focus on the stuff that matters! How about a news website to track all of the regulatory changes that are destroying the rights of workers and consumers, and the environment? Funding changes that hamstring essential government functions? Qualifications (or lack thereof) of judicial nominees, and the outcome (confirmed or not confirmed)? Assaults on the safety net? Assaults on health care? The list could go on and on.
Given the fire hose volume of assaults on democracy and "the little guys," citizens who care to make informed votes needs this sort of aggregation to wade through the mire. Please, be part of the solution.
The last time a culture was distracted/obsessed by 'bread and circuses' the consequences were devastating.
Something tells me this ain't going to end much better.
And however much many may want to blame the media, the ignorant Trump voter or someone other than ourselves ... well, to me at least, that's just way-too-easy an excuse because we're ALL to blame.
Except, of course, me.
6
And me, I'm totally innocent.
1
Well, blaming a messenger is a time honored human trait.
Ditto here and it does not help when much of this story revolves around newsrooms talking to each other.
An echo chamber if you will.
Undoubtedly, this POTUS operates differently - but he forewarned us while winning a nomination from a conservative party - and then beating an establishment supported candidate.
I remember his convention - and I am a Republican - there were none of our party heavyweights or discussions of his platform.
It was all about him.
This article also fails to mention that spread of social media has accelerated the speed with which any news goes around.
And at the same time, how fast it disappears as easy as hitting a delete button.
Many criticize attention spans of teenagers - but look around and this social media has reduced attention span of us all.
I am sure that the 44th wishes he had used tweets more and more effectively. Heck even that woman who had that Oscar envelope moment last year probably wishes - rather than those emails.
Finally, one may blame news media but it's readers also who have become amazingly and irritatingly Trump centric.
I am a faithful reader of the NYT.
Comments to articles that have nothing to do with POTUS - often start with his very name in the first line.
What's certain is a politician when campaigning will at his peril ignore the pervasiveness of social media - especially this tweeter stuff.
2
Let's not forget that Trump's whirlwind is abetted by his criminal cohorts in the cabinet and congress. November, too, will be here in a hurry.
2
New Year's resolution: I am going to read substantive news articles only. Last year's resolution was to turn off news/political TV, and I kept that resolution.
3
It has been a crazy year, all sound and fury, little sense although important things are happening. I realize media journalism thinks it has to cover the President's sayings and doings and somehow can;t seem to catch up with the tweets and speeches of one man. I get the impression that TV especially pours endless amounts of gasoline on Trump's fire. The coverage is mostly negative but it is attention and reinforcement, and the dragon grows fiercer all the time. Why can;t the media try a new tactic? Simply report what the President does: do it in say a half hour a night summary report without a lot of punditry and repetition. We are being ill served by the TV media which plays Trump for ratings and is played by him as well.
3
President Trump is the most unprecedented political force I have ever witnessed; who during less than two years of political life has disrupted every single domestic and international political convention guarded with a pit bull jealousy by the chattering classes who seem to think of themselves as some sort of high priests of politics and the press.
And he has done it with the sharpest of elbows, a skin thinner than parchment, a bombastic populism that never found a stage or microphone not to his liking, and a genius usage of twitter that leaves those self-appointed priests fuming and fussing in futility.
His opponents seem to think of him as some sort of manic and a fool; this is done at one’s own peril.
Over the course of the last year, in the face of a press that is biased to the point that 90% of the coverage is negative, in the face of a left wing is out to assassinate him politically for stealing their vestments, and with the burden of a clumsy Republican Senate has plowed ahead at Trump speed has actually made progress on that one page agenda he promised to make happen.
In the chaos of the Trump world is an ideology as sharply defined as Reagan's, LBJ's overwhelming force of personality that can move mountains, and oddly enough, a sophisticated understanding of how to use power on an international stage not all the different than Nixon. That is pretty good company.
He is a revolutionary most unexpected: Viva La Revolucion!
1
Sounds like ... a media elite becoming too old to effectively cover a 71-year-old president's shenanigans. We may need younger blood behind the cameras and in front of them.
2
While I applaud the good work of print journalists exposing the conspiracy and obvious obstruction of justice, cable news spends its time reporting every tweet, and then engages in panel discussions about the insanity of said tweet. So much news goes unreported. A collateral effect in print and broadcast media, sadly, has been an unholy embrace and elevation of the measly 33 percent that comprises Trump's base. Because his base is white, it gets unwarranted attention and respect. Contrast the blinding coverage of these sorrowfully racist and regressive folks with the total ignoring of black voters during the Obama era and the media's surprise of the power black women exercised in the Alabama election. The problem with following the insane tweets is the Twitter medium itself. All the whinging about the toxic social media landscape is due to the belief that Twitter is actual communication, rather than a useless platform that delivers zingers, not argument or well-thought out ideas. Twitter represents a shift to celebrity culture and an intellectual regression. Stop following the insane tweets--why not publish them once weekly. There is no substance, nor is substance intended.
62
All the lying from Trump is extremely difficult to keep track of, the man will look at the camera and comfortably lie, even if video exists that prove he is lying. He lies at breakneck speed and the next lie takes over the previous lie.
And since his hardcore base believes every word he says, he keeps it going every day, knowing that he could shoot someone on 5th Ave and not lose one vote.
The blame for all this irresponsible and dangerous behavior can be squarely placed on his 35%, they are his enablers. Without that base support and his own media outlet, Fox News, Trump would’ve had no choice but to grow into the Presidency and attempt to unify the country and work to be the President for all Americans.
Trump will never respect the office of the President of the United States, he’s turned the Presidency into his own reality show. Every day he works at dividing the country, coddling his 35%. And he’s ripping the country apart to the delight of his base.
43
Unless what he says is a declaration against interest and potential evidence against him, pay no attention to his words, only what he does.
Remember, for example, his statement “the calm before the storm”?
That was months ago. The media analyzed that granularly. Nada...
We understand that as the C in C, sometimes what he says has import, but more often his rhetoric is for political consumption alone. That’s not news.
14
I very much wish that Barack Obama would be considerably more outspoken in 2018, entering the public fray as a critical counterbalance to Trump. Akin to a "shadow" parliamentary leader, let him drain some of the attention away from the show-boating and vile narcissist, reminding Americans how an authentic President thinks, speaks, and comports himself, not the current imposter. Although this would be a stark departure from modern post-presidential conduct, we're dealing with an incumbent who has no respect whatsoever for any norms of the high office he occupies.
25
I disagree with this excerpt: His tornado of news-making has scrambled Americans’ grasp of time and memory, producing a sort of sensory overload that can make even seismic events — of his creation or otherwise — disappear from the collective consciousness and public view. It may be dizzying, but I'm keeping up with his delusional manipulations -- they are not working -- I am very clear on what is going on with this man.
27
I'm not sure if the writer understands that Trump is the puppet master holding the strings with the media at the other end. He's having the time of his life pulling up this way, pulling down the other, yanking hard on the other string, you guys really really should catch on that you are being manipulated. They probably laugh like crazy in the oval office watching msnbc and reading the Times. If you were more circumspect before you responded to his tweets maybe this would stop. President Trump is a very bright man, and a grand manipulator.
18
I'm pretty sure you have to have some basic intelligence, foresight and critical thinking skills to be able to manipulate the media the way you apparently think he is...
He isn't...
He isn't capable, he certainly isn't bright. He is, apparently, the "best thinker ever", knows more than 'any CPA about taxes, know more about the "bills", than any President ever", just apparently knows more than anyone has ever known"...sigh.
If you have half a brain, you know that he knows nothing.
4
Las Vegas and the church in Texas have fallen off the map
Sadly, those very catastrophes remain the latest milestones in an unwritten Guinness-type book of records inspiring lone wolves who are this very moment adding to their deadly arsenals of military style weapons and ever refining their excruciatingly bent plans of attack on their blissfully unsuspecting fellow citizens.
4
So, NY Times, don't let them fall off the map! Maybe start an open-stories column that just lists the stories we should still be following and has links to any follow up.
4
I always thought the press was responsible for the 5 W's, not every tweet of the mental midget currently occupying the White House. The press is also responsible for holding the current press secretary accountable to the truth. Recently, I read 4 of 100 statements made by Trump contain some truth. That means 96% are lies. Instead of just being megaphones to the lies, how about challenging the press secretary obvious false assertions for evidence? Start with not letting her press conference lies go unchallenged? Who pays her salary? We do. If she cannot tell the truth, she should be fired. She works for you, not the other way around. Failure to do so just makes the press a megaphone for the lies.
29
but she ll go into the next room, and lock you out.
1
Or just not call on you. Like kindergartners.
After a few lengthy phone calls and too many spreadsheets, I'm losing about $150 a month due to the new tax bill. I haven't heard of an salary bumps to date. Trump can go some place unpleasant.
11
2017 will come to be best known as the year that actual feminism, wherein societies treat men and women equally, was finally put into widespread practice in America and other world regions.
It will be seen to have been precipitated by the election of an unqualified, corrupt and fraudulent misogynist over a more qualified but heavily attacked female candidate deemed "unlikable" by three decades' worth of propaganda by the Old Boys Club establishment that once had power over every facet of American life.
18
There is a chicken and egg problem here. Did Trump cause the chaos, or its the chaos causing Trump?
The natural world is falling apart on almost every level. But we are steadfastly determined to ignore it. That is what is making us crazy -- a miasma of existential denial parading as a consensual everyday reality. And denial is the big lie that opens the floodgates to a cascade of small lies. By agonizing over all the trivial small lies, we continue to divert attention from recognizing the far more serious problems that assault us on every side.
We of course responsibly insist that we would like to get around to dealing with these huge problems but, alas, right now we are simply too busy. Maybe tomorrow. Today we are consumed with outrage over a new flurry of Tweets. First things first. And how about that stock market? It just keeps going up. I guess that means things can't be too bad.
8
The New York Times has let itself be manipulated by Donald Trump for decades, and mostly during the presidential campaign. Please do your job, which is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Dumpster dive into his tax returns, his failed business dealings, his breaches of contracts, Jared and Ivanka's businesses, etc. etc.Trump should have been exposed by the press for the fraud that he is. Robert Mueller is working on the rest. G-d bless Mueller.
94
It doesn't take my focus away.
I know for sure that the one immutable fact is that this guy is a lunatic of the first order, a lunatic sex offender who is completely and totally dislodged from reality.
I know for a fact that he didn't get anywhere near a majority of votes, but the absurd American system let him in with nary a whimper from the Democrats -- you know, the ones who never mounted any type of offense, much less defense, to the republicons, who took over the lying narratives about Hillary?
Think about what would have happened had Hillary won with the minority of votes, the same way Trump did?
The fascist jack-booted so-called "patriots", to whom everything is someone else's fault, would have been out in the streets 24 hours a day with their guns, until their man took control when, of course, the wimp-ola Democrats would have given in, thinking they were dealing with rational Americans.
We can only hope that one day the Democrats will learn that they came to a hardball, no-holds-barred war armed with lollipops, platitudes and ice cream cones.
If by some miracle they do regain power, they need to immediately crush the fascist whiners.
They'll need the motivation, will and shock-and-awe tactics that will forever eliminate the false narrative by the traitors who are out only to destroy America so they can turn over what's left to the Russians. End of story.
21
The Times refers to the "Trump Bump" in digital subscriptions.
Trump is outrageous in many ways. But Jill Abramson, the former Times executive editor, said in a piece in the Columbia Journalism Review that she having to go through 7 Trump stories on her smartphone to find anything different.
Trump feeds the press. But the press feeds its readers' seeming insatiable thirst for Trump stories.
14
By any name entertainment journalism is now the mainstay for our political governing in the All The Time Trump forever stamped Great US of A. How many years to go well depends if the electorate sees Trump as the new normal - and forget standards for world class - class leadership on the world stage of states-persons that would have been greater had Hillary Clinton to the win so entitled and with career savvy.
3
Terrifyingly Trump speed is warped speed. This comment may well have been made already. If so, it bears repeating.
3
I wouldn't credit Trump and his minions with "speed." More like stumbling, bumbling, lyin', connin', fast-rolling chaos. And not the good kind of "chaos."
16
Shock media. Shock breaking news. Shock politics. Shock president.
Shock Doctrine. All day, every day, all the time. It is to wear us all down.
And it is working. Sort of like mass gun murders, we get numb.
22
From my reading many news sources throughout the last year I have detected a solid trend towards whiny non-story screeds. While this one isn't as bad as many I have read this year, it does follow a trend that seems to take some insignificant item and then riffs on how bad, ugly, unsuited for the Presidency, disgraceful, etc., etc. that Donald Trump is. If there's too much news for a news outlet or a news outlet believes a news story needs to be prominently discussed for two or three days, then that news outlet has control over their own platform and can make that happen.
However, regarding the number of President Trump driven stories is high only because this outlet and many others, and you know the list of them that I am referring to, attempt to cover as many stupid, insignificant Trump stories as possible to make President Trump look bad. THAT's why there's so much more "news" and it goes so fast. Case in point is CNN's weird fascination with a truck parked near the Mar-a-lago golf course that blocks their cameras from filming President Trump golfing. Really? Really? REALLY? What drivel. So Matt Flegenheimer, why don't you stop writing stories about trivia or writing the same story with multiple anti-Trump twists and simply follow stories important to the country and the world. Oh, by the way, a story about a 200 year old magnolia tree that is in imminent danger of falling over isn't important news. Let that guide you in 2018.
9
Sadly, anything a president does is newsworthy because, yes, he is the presidenguy spews non-stop trash, which makes the job of responsible journalists extremely difficult and more crucial than ever. Unfotunately, the media is full of bright, responsible peopke, so they end up normalizing the untenable.
1
Now Playwrights must write at the speed of light, sound, fire, gunfire & molestation keep up with this acceleration. Poetic play responses are like old quarts of milk left out. They are too expensive to produce & take too long 7 are not relevant by the time they are shown. A new language & methodology of theater arts us be implemented. Its not enough to stand & kvetch. Strategize now! Play wrights Sanctuary directed Dr Larry Myers of St John s University goes directly to breaking news troubespots nd engages in dramatic arts jihads!
2
The article doesn't mention the way Trump has absolutely manipulated the media, whether he intended to or not. By focusing so intensely on his every utterance, then, almost comically , assembling panels to seriously discuss even the most nonsensical utterances, the media has perpetuated and accelerated the news cycles mentioned in this article.
Moreover, Trump has incited the major news cable channels to devolve into sources of entertainment rather than news, ever pandering to their target audiences. The hunger for ratings has long since eclipsed any semblance of professional journalism, to the extent the three tv cable news networks ever practiced it.
Frighteningly, the viewers of these channels actually believe they are getting unfiltered news and are blind to the fact that they are simply being fed what the broadcasters think they want to hear. And, frighteningly, viewers have become resistant to any information which might contradict or even cause them to question their rigid positions. Ask George Will or Greta Van Sustren, neither a fan of Trump, whose conservative leaning views were met with outrage by MSNBC viewers whose refusal to even listen to another viewpoint caused the dismissal of those two commentators. Fox dug in by adding a Laure Ingraham show, which doubles down with Sean Hannity to give Fox viewers what they want to hear.
Ironically these factors have combined so that the more "news" we watch, the dumber we become.
11
In every visit to the US, when you turn on the TV, you get this obsessive, claustrophobic, relentless, non-stop talking about the latest "matter" that happened. But when any coverage was made about the rest of the world, it was either a disaster or some snide remarks preaching from high horses about "rights". Is it any wonder that the average american has a reputation for being so ignorant of the outside world? Americans you meet often still think that the US is the best in this and that. And one sure way to tell whether someone is from the US is through their ignorance, such as the foolproof one - encountering an ethnic Chinese and mistaking Singapore to be in China.
43
The real change is not in "the news" or the "acceleration" of the news. (What does that mean anyway?) The change has been in the way the news is covered.
(1) Monopolies control the media and the news.
(2) Journalists seek "sound bytes" assuring that control of how issues are framed is securely in the hands of those with power. Journalists have stopped helping people make sense of the issues. They aid the powerful in framing the issues.
(3) Nonsense, if spouted by either elected officials or by lousd voices in the corporate controlled media, is covered as news. In this way, falsehoods (like denial of climate change) are treated as legitimate points of view.
(4) If the viewpoints and opinions of idiots from both major political parties are presented -- regardless of how nonsensical -- then the reporting is deemed to be "fair and unbiased".
(5) Polls are evidence of truth. If 40% of the people believe that Obama was born in Nigeria, then that becomes a "legitimate opinion" and possibly true. If 75% of Republicans believe that voting fraud is a serious problem then suppressing the voting rights of people who don't agree with that becomes an acceptable way of protecting voting integrity.
(6) War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. 2+2=5.
But because all of this is accelerating, pretty soon 2+2 will equal 6.
7
This wouldn't be a problem if the media didn't it think it important to write reams of articles about every silly tweet. Best to ignore most of what Trump says and does.
17
Yeah, well I long for the day the news cycle DEcelerates. When I don't have to hold my breath as I open my NYT. When I can read about boring things like a hurricane or two, maybe a low-level earthquake. When I can read about a museum opening or the latest updates to the Popemobile.
Happy New Year, folks! Can I say that or will someone take offense? Will they refuse to bake a New Year's Cake?
groan...
4
The Press should know by now - he was given advice years ago "keep your name in the Press, whether it's good or bad". Trump is obeying that advice
(given by "protector" Cohen of Sen. McCarthy days) and the Press is 'eating it up'. STOP giving this nit wit so much FREE PRESS! Less than 30% of our population is interested.
14
It's hard not to be swept up in the maelstrom of Trump -- listening to him/reading about him/reflecting on all his out and out lies has a way of drawing in even the most sensible and rational of us... much like an accident that is hard not to momentarily turn to and watch.
I truly wish I knew what we could do to end this nightmare. Should we ignore this ignoramus, or should we catalogue every single word he utters/tweets at any given moment (which is exhausting even the most patient among us) in hopes of not letting him get away with any more than he already has?
I'm inclined to go the latter route. Because if we don't, who will? If not now, when?
5
He thrives on media coverage! The most damaging thing the press could do would be to stop covering him.
13
Love the Christmas tree behind Trump. It is all Costco imported from China, kind of like his appointees. Oh well, the Trump strategy is to lie so fast , loud ,& as often as possible as to overwhelm the public & the media. To say anything as often as possible so as to deny what has been & will be said. Accountability is not in the cards for Trump as long as he spews any & every lie imaginable. Just look at the advertising the Republicans are running on CNN. Now they have reduced taxes ,they must be shopping for a war now.
2
This has been going on long before Trump. It's the 24/7 news cycle, internet, smartphone. Constant content; distractions galore.
7
It boggles my mind to think that some of the stories that broke this year ( Pentagon investigating UFOs, Saudi Arabia seemingly holding Lebanon’s PM hostage, The escalating humanitarian crises in both Yemen and Myanmar) how quickly we had to move from one story to the next with barley enough time to comprehend the current situation before another one arose.
6
...and this just proves that whatever else he is NOT, the Current Occupant of the Oval Office it a master manipulator and attention hound.
What he DOES understand is ratings. This is the first presidency which operates entirely on what gives the best publicity.
5
Crooked lying speed in Trumpian times. In spite of the deep incompetency and corruption of our "ugly American" in chief, we have to give it to him: he is a master distractor, a vulgar big-mouth hate-spewer with the uncanny ability to self-congratulate for 'causing' the sunrise and sunset..while at the same time find scapegoats (serfs?) we didn't know existed...for any and all slights inconvenient to him. Trump's cluelessness may be the reason of his nonsense gibberish, and repetitive utterance, about words evoking existential threats in his confused-guilty childish mind, i.e. 'collusion'. Self-centered applause is something we shed in the first few years of childhood, ingloriously preserved intact in this most insecure, and immature bully ever, president of these United States, to our shame and ruin. Are we masochists, allowing his misrule to flourish, at our expense?
3
Yes, it was the year that, somehow, Putin tricked the media into giving Trump's primary campaign non-stop coverage. Those dastardly Russians!
6
Ah, refuting charges that no-one is making. It's good to know that the New Right Wing still remembers the classics.
2
Snake Oil Salesmen must stay in constant motion....or else risk complete exposure of their fraud , larceny and deceit.
The man's major 'accomplishments' are accelerating manmade climate change, flushing America's reputation down a gold-plated toilet, appointing a justice to a stolen Supreme Court seat, trashing American healthcare, and charging a $1 trillion bonus for billionaires (and himself) to a middle class credit card.
Trump remains an unabashed, proud sociopath and a continuing threat to national, international stability, the middle class and the poor.
Trump belongs in a psychiatric ward, not in public office.
110
reply to socrates: as usual you nailed it. what is wrong with our elite news media making an effort NOT to give him the coverage he NEEDS? we need to cover the impact of this evil man destruction on this earth, not him talking.
1
65 million voters belong there with him. What do you propose to do about that sad fact?
No two tax lawyers and accountants are going to end up interpreting this new tax law in the same way.
Millions of ordinary Americans will apply their own personal spins to it, granting themselves generous deductions that Paul Ryan never envisaged.
No wonder the stock market is rejoicing. Americans now have what they’ve always craved. A tax plan they are free to apply to their own situations in any way they want. About 250 million tax plans in fact, a separate one for each adult in the country.
3
Trump's 1980s theory of chaos is not news worthy nor his administrations' orchestrated lies. Since this article focuses on press maybe the press needs to introduces Trump and his administration to the concept of what is really news worthy and deserving. The press should focus on policy and the impact of policy. The press did an outstanding job with the health care repeal/replace and the tax plan. The public hungers for real media coverage of policies and outcomes.
4
I’m to the point that I don’t want to hear or see Trump and his republican cronies causing all sorts of disruption and destruction in the country. If we don’t know who and what they are by now it won’t make a difference in 2018 or 2020.
The media can also stop airing every single speech Trump make now too. He only knows one speech and says it wherever he goes. He can’t even come up with new words to use. I don’t want to listen to the Republican point of view or news anchors starting arguments with the opposition anymore either.
Let’s hear some positive news about Democrats for a change. We must have better and more varied news to air. We shouldn’t have to listen about Trump over and over. How are we going to know who to vote for in 2018 if the media doesn’t start talking about positive alternatives?
11
The Trump saga has been downright agonizing from day one. Future generations will look back on this period with utter disbelief: "They were THAT myopic in 2016 to elect a person so unqualified, and merely sat back and watched while he undermined the Constitution and threatened the Fourth Estate and used his office as a personal money-making criminal enterprise?"
I think it's safe to say that the two gravest mistakes in American history are these:
1. Slavery.
2. Electing Donald Trump.
24
3. Walmartization of our nation
9
Trump signed a promissory note with the American people a little over a year ago. Like his other bankruptcies, he has reneged on this one. However, the fault is not with the Orange Clown because his history of bankruptcy and lying was well known to the voters who voted for him. The fault was with the voters.
The ultimate fault is that of the Republican Party who has devolved into a cult of wealth with their own faith based liturgy of Laffer curves, trickle down economics, climate change denial, and distinct theocratic tendencies. They are the ones who are responsible for the calamity that is Trump.
There is time to reverse course by electing patriotic legislators rather than puppets of the elite. Vote in 2018. Vote to kick the Republicans out.
10
All news is now treated as entertainment by the huge media corporations that own and control news outlets-and make billions- and do no investigative journalism.
So we have an arrogant,revengeful, president,piling lies upon lies, contradicting himself-constantly attacking anyone who disagrees with him,or points out his lies.
He is a president you would expect to see in a movie or TV drama.
But there are real world consequences.
This,one of the worst presidents in U.s. history, just signed one of the worst tax bills in U.S. history and put a trillion dollars of debt on the 20 Trillion dollar National Debt.
95
What about the Times story on Weinstein or the UFO story or the WAPOs Roy Moore discovery and that’s just to name a few. There has been some great investigative reports over the year.
4
Trump loves playing the media and he does so like a pro.
What to remember when media flips out over his tweets:
"I know how to work the media in a way that they will never take the lights off of me." This is the single most important thing Trump ever said.
Trump knows that whatever he or his people say, no matter how ridiculous, THAT immediately becomes the news cycle. He must giggle at the way it works:
"I said the STUPIDEST thing today! Get this: I said, Seagulls cause climate change and EVERYONE is yapping about it. Right now, ornithologists are on MSNBC and CNN denouncing me! The Audubon Society just called a press conference and everyone is going to run it live, just like they covered me in the campaign. This is beautiful! Now we can get down to work completely unobserved."
Now he's done it again and his global warming/cold weather remark will dominate national news.
I assure you, Trump is laughing.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
6
The news media has to slow down his train because he gets to be in control of his lies. By the time everyone catches up, he has gone onto another stupid topic that assures us that his narcissism rules. He has no in depth knowledge of anything other than trump and he forces us into his terrible world. He is a masterful marketing guy so pandering to his base is simple and they believe his utter nonsense. Don't go to college because educated people aren't good for him, don't read because people who read understand he doesn't understand anything. Loyalty? Pledge loyalty to him but he will throw anyone under the bus at any time. He has no loyalty to anyone except himself. He is the first president in any memory who is so self-centered and so "out of touch" with the world or anyone's feelings but don't ruffle his. This is simply a crime that has been perpetrated on the people of the US and we need the media to keep uncovering his lies and his cheating to make himself rich.
4
Trump want's Fealty.. Loyalty is not sufficient..
2
This is evil genius at work. If one or two things a week get people mad at you, the odds are that they will remember them and stay mad.
If you put up a smoke screen of ten or so things a day, people don't remember what they were mad about last week.
2
Historians will note Trump's scheme as the boorish mixture of a narcissist who is great at acquiring Other People's Money, who didn't care what anyone else thought because he regards everyone else as a sucker and/or loser for him to bilk, and thereby shamelessly used Hitler as a model for rising to power.
In his world view, "the means" are not worth considering, nevermind justifying, as long as "the end" sees him prancing around like the royalty that he believes to be his birthright.
Trump is so far above the rest of us in his mind that he feels he can lie repeatedly because HE gets to decide what everyone else's reality is.
10
Trump's opinions may have accelerated, but not reality, which needs fact finding and analysis to provide proper insight. Trump is trying to promote reactive journalism, his purpose is a dismissive control of the news.
4
Watching the daily press briefing at the White House is a disheartening experience. The reporters roll over to Huckabee Sanders' egregiously scornful insults, are seemingly incapable of coming up with coherent follow-up questions on their feet, are willing to laugh sycophantically at her feeble attempts at snarky humor and otherwise reduce themselves to groveling toadies.
Newsflash: She's not doing you a flipping favor by standing there; it's her JOB to be responsive to citizens via the media watchdogs who represent the citizenry. Start reminding her of that, start holding her feet to the fire and start walking out of those jokes of press conferences when she is obstructive and insulting. And record it all and tell the American public what went down and why. Remind us of her salary, whose paying it and that her position doesn't exist to defend or shield the president with made-up fantasy nonsense, it exists to relay FACTUAL information to the American public UPON REQUEST. It is not discretionary on her part, nor is she, again, doing us some grand favor by responding. She works for us, not him.
Also I realize news organizations traditionally are competitive and don't collaborate but in this dire situation, would it be too much to ask that they coordinate a line of questioning, back up one another when the press secretary fails to answer questions and stop facilitating her lies and evasion by themselves jumping around disjointedly from one topic to another?
340
Kosher Dill: politics is entertainment now. Political power & media power are the same. The press and Ms. Sanders are on the same side.
1
Of course you are incorrect. There is no requirement for the President to address the public at anytime save the State of the Union.
2
Very good points! It drives me crazy that reporters all too often ask meandering, (or self-important) questions, which the press secretary (or whatever politician) can easily avoid answering. Questions need to be succinct and about important subjects, followed by immediate, sharp followups. More answers need to be demanded to explain discrepancies, false claims, false promises and outright lies. More answers need to be provided about policy positions. So what are you replacing Obamacare with when you fulfill your promise to destroy it? Specifics? Why are you undoing protections against oil spills and water pollution? That's the kind of information the public needs to know. Get away from the stupid sparklers Trump lights every day.
3
It was truly an exciting year.
From re-establishing relations with Saudi Arabia and Israel to a roaring 2017 US economy, to tax cuts it has been a remarkable year. Illegal immigration down 70% all the while deporting less in numbers than Obama. Wall St hit over 80 all time records, 401ks are going strong, border guards are being told to actually do their jobs, unemployment at a 17 year low, MS-13 members shipped out, ISIS decimated, and that is just the first year.
5
I'd love to hear you explain just what Trump did to improve the economy.
8
Half of those aren't necessarily good things...
5
It's not actually "news" that is being reported with Trump. It is more like reporting on one atrocity after another; one political malpractice episode after another. The news is about how Trump-Russia is going to culminate in charges and convictions for what appears to be an asset of Putin's intelligence and security apparatus.
5
I have never regarded Trump as the candidate of the Republicans, but the candidate of the collective media. After all, they created him, and he is their hand-crafted Frankenstein monster.
Decades ago when Trump was nothing more than the spoiled son of a sinister real estate huckster from Queen, the press allowed Donald to elbow his way into the newspapers for his outlandish proclamations and grandstanding although he had no accomplishments to recommend himself above anyone one else walking down the sidewalk.
The NY Post especially lavished attention upon him, but also local New York television news (gossip) stations could always count on him for a flashy, if not incendiary time-filler when the newsroom was slower than usual.
Trump represents more than the corruption of the Republican party - he embodies the amorality of the media's obsession to dazzle a gullible American public. The line between news and entertainment and fiction began to blur more than thirty years ago.
14
The president controls the news cycle more than he realizes. In spite of his nonsensical tweets and ignorance of current events national and international, the press which he abhors, waits with bated breath for his next news conference or tweet which is sure to be major news. The president controls the media more than he realizes.
3
The problem is that the news can't move at Trump speed. By the time one of Trump's lies can be dealt with 4 more have escaped unanswered. It might be better if this were a coordinated effort but with his shameless attitude and his friends in the right wing media, we are, not only rowing against the tide, we aren't all rowing in the same direction. While this feeds division, mistrust and anger, the media can do no better than go around in circles. This leads to stasis and and a normalization of this Presidency. The last thing this country can afford. I still don't know why headlines do not scream "Trump caught lying about_____" today and every day of the week. This is the land of "Truth, Justice and the American way" and we seem to have lost our way with all three.
7
I agree. The headlines should be screaming "Trump caught lying. . ." every time he lies, in every newspaper and TV program. Just because he is lying AGAIN is no reason not to keep pointing it out. The Times has done a good job of tracking the most egregious lies but it's not enough.
"President Trump’s tornado of news-making"
More like a tornade of:
1. Fake news
2. lies
3. more lies
4. diversions
5. insults
6. disparaging remarks
And this is what is called 'news"?
13
I don’t think it’s funny that a master manipulator can so quickly change the topic.
I feel America is being played, and it’s not a nice feeling that it’s by a duely elected president.
Of course we certainly know by now that Donald Trump is not a nice person. So to want or expect responsible behavior isn’t in the cards, unfortunately.
“Trump fatigue” is a real phenomenon that is setting my neurons on fire. All while this man laughs his way to the bank, on our tax dollars.
55
How could the news accelerate to Trump speed when the guy spends 1/3 of his time on what he calls a working vacation.
The man is in the White House but even when he's there he doesn't do anything but complain.
There is no speeding just a moderate pace of doing nothing and accusing everybody else of being wrong.
We should all have jobs like that.
16
I was dumbfounded when he won. I raged at the television every time he was on. I fought with family members and ex-friends who supported him. Recently I got rid of cable so no MSM, just local news. I keep The NYT app as a touchstone. I'm a bear hibernating until the mid-terms. Unless he does something so awful that forces me into the streets with others I'm conserving my mental and emotional strength to vote out the enablers and vote in the resistors. From the school board up to my senators and governors.
39
That worked great for you last time. Just FYI, Dems have lost 1,200 elected seats in 8 years and there are many more coming. Hilarious.
4
It so amusing to read comments from idiots who really believe that President Trump will be impeached in 2018. I guess these fools get their fake news from CNN, MSNBC, the NYT and/or the Washington Post. President Trump will dominate the US and world stages until 2024. He has completely changed our country in less than one year. Obama's liberal legacy has already been totally obliterated. It should be obvious even to the most partisan liberal that the Democrats have absolutely no one who can even remotely challenge him in 2020.
12
Completely changed our country for the worse, trampled on the US Constitution, attempted to evade the rule of law, reduced public discourse to gutter levels, debased his office .... the list goes on.
I truly pity anyone who is both privileged enough to be an American and stupid enough to think he and his ilk are anywhere near worthy of the office of the president. The idiocracy is in full swing, and contrary to what you smugly assert, RGV, that is a terrible thing. Enjoy your jingoism, your greed, your MAGA hogwash -- if you can only feel good via braggodocio and bluster at the expense of others, you are a seriously damaged group of people.
6
Obama?
Name rings a bell. But wasn't he from several thousand Trump years ago?
He was a Pharaoh, right?
2
Biden would wipe the floor with him.
4
Another left-wing article with only left-wing sources (isn't the Daily Show the epitome of "fake news"?). The article is probably enjoyed by liberals in big cities but will be dismissed by the rest of us since it is so partisan. I am glad Trump uses Twitter since it allows his voice to get past the thicket of the left-wing press. Looking forward to more Trump successes in 2018!!
7
My own analysis of the Trump presidency is too obscene to print. Suffice it to say that I have sworn off Republican politicians for the rest of my life. I’m an Independent. I have voted for Republicans in the past. I wanted Bob Dole to be president. Never again. If Jesus Christ ran for Office as a Republican (which he never would) I wouldn’t vote for him. The Republican brand is history.
133
As a former educator I know that the students getting the most attention and the lion's share of the instructor's time outside of class times are the most potentially disruptive and worst students in the class. Although we say we should ignore them and focus more attention on good students, we don't have to because good students know what they're doing, know how to behave, take responsibility for their actions, and ask for help when they need it.
Trump is getting a lot of our the media's attention NOT because he's entertaining, but because he's a threat to democracy. He's the student at the back of the class talking, tweeting, never turning in homework, plagiarizing, badmouthing the teacher, the administration, and taking advantage of every free service the university has to offer while he's there. If he doesn't graduate, he'll sue.
We all have to keep our eyes on Trump and at all times so as not to become complacent about his abnormal and abhorrent behavior. It's necessary to stay on top of the news and decide when it's time to call representatives, march, boycott, or write letters. It's exhausting to have family dinners, book club gatherings, and other meetings turn into discussions about Trump and what's happening to our country in plain sight. It's pitiful that so much of our attention is being focused on this cretin while he has his way with the executive branch of government at taxpayer's expense.
Thank you members of the media for remaining vigilant.
317
Exhausting, you are right. And not just for Americans - speaking as a Canadian with a ton of American relatives. But your words give me heart, and vigour. It is going to be those of us around our book club tables that change the tides. It all starts at the bottom - those damn, little, grass roots!
Stay strong, all of you!
2
It's time to expel this disruptive, failed student, not merely as punishment for his numerous and multifaceted misdemeanors, but to salvage the rest of the class for the remainder of the term.
And before the usual "but Pence"-ing, no, we don't turn over the class to his toadies, we should also expel the others in his gang of miscreants.
3
2017 will go down in history as the year signficant progress was made against Confederate statues and the harassment of women.
These were important achievements, but ...
I would like it a lot if 2018 could be devoted to just one task. The impeachment, removal and jailing of Donald Trump.
23
No, not enough. He's only a symptom. The disease of the oligarchy and its republican party will go merrily on under Pence and the rest. We have to mobilize the sane parts of the nation to vote democratic and to restore what we can of a sane polity, and that restoration can begin in 2018--not perfect, no, but immensely better, and better counts. To those being crushed and about to be, better counts, and that includes us all but the rich.
18
The rate at which the news has accelerated can be largely attributed to Trump’s cognitive deficits and general lack of depth and character. When you govern (and I use the term loosely) by the seat of your pants with neither knowledge of issues nor introspection, you create constant turmoil.
He feeds off this chaos like a vampire, and probably derives a great deal of satisfaction from the disorientation it causes in the media and electorate. He thinks he is inducing amnesia in us and that he will escape the consequences of his actions.
We must remain strong and withstand this onslaught. Midterm elections will be here in a flash and the reckoning will come. And there is always Mueller’s steady presence in the background through all of this.
42
2017 will go down in history as the year signficant progress was made against Confederate statues and the harassment of women.
I would like it a lot if 2018 could be devoted to just one task. The impeachment, removal and jailing of Donald Trump.
9
As much as I loathe his policies and personal behavior while destroying relations with most of our allies but cozying up to dictators, Trump is a genius in gaining and holding the attention of the media and public.
Even now, cable stations like MSNBC and CNN, not to mention FOX News, can’t get enough of Trump as he dominates the discussion of the news cycle each day.
His dictum is there is no such thing as bad publicity as long as the spotlight is shining on him.
63
Trump's "genius" lies in his ability to tarnish his own and America's reputation on a daily basis. You call it "capturing and holding the attention of the media and the public." He's figured out how to make a fool of himself on a worldwide stage. Some genius.
1
JT--I can't stand the sight of his face, nor the sound of his voice. I rely on the free press to tell me what happened, and what was said. In the end
Robert Mueller will put it all together for us. Can't wait.
1
For better for worse, the most powerful, influential and important human on the earth is one Donald J. Trump. Deal with. it.
11
You can say the same about earthquakes and volcanoes, but no one has a favorable opinion of them!
4
For worse.
Definitely ONLY for worse.
3
Cherry pick what you read and watch - you don't have to absorb everything. Scan the headlines and read those articles you deem important - watch a program like the News Hour for reports on issues and when the orange one comes on screen have that MUTE button ready. And choose news-free evenings once in a while.
141
Yes! I always get a laugh out of people who go to an news article's comments section to let everyone know how much they resent a newspaper covering the story. Don't like it? Don't watch/read it.
1
It sounds like you've been living in my house, as this is exactly what I've been doing for the last 6 months since I decided that Trump-all-day-every-day was just too much. It's also important to keep the thought in the back of your mind that there will come a day when he's out of office. When I feel a little down, remembering that perks me up.
(Side note: a friend of mine has started a Trump Count Down calendar. She has a calendar on her fridge where she puts a red X every day to count off the days until 2020. She says it gives her hope. To each their own.)
.
“2018 is going to be 10 times worse.”
Unless Trump is impeached.
13
Don't hold your breath!
Impeached only in your progressive dream.
4
Only if Pence goes with him.
2
Well, look, our last two Presidents, Obama and Bush, were sleepwalkers, and Bill Clinton squandered his energies on extracurricular pursuits.
Trump is obviously some kind of hypomanic personality, like Teddy Roosevelt. He'll drive his enemies into their graves with nervous exhaustion.
One wonders if it wouldn't be better for most people if they learned to stop worrying and love The Trump.
5
Roosevelt believed in public service and putting the nation above his own and his own party's interests.
For this so-called president it's:
Trump First
Party Second
Nation Last
5
What's to love?
2
RE: “nothing matters”
To quote Lord North (an early English press Lord), but “Everything counts.”
2
We misunderstood Trump when he said "Make America great again", he actually meant GRATE again.
14
The truth is the media is still living in the past where their bogus polls drove election turnout and their "news" stories were counted on as at least somewhat credible. Those days are gone and regardless of how much MSM hates Trump, he seats more judges than other presidents, reforms tax codes, presides over Gorsuch, ends ISIS and drives the markets 40% higher since his inauguration. I'll take it! MAGA
6
It's hard to believe that the NYT once felt bound by moral decency, the U.S. Constitution and patriotism to publish the Pentagon Papers. Things have changed bigly. Sad.
10
In reply to Ceadan New Jersey
What President Trump says is big league, not bigly. Time to get that hearing aid!
1
It's like Colin Kapernik: a second-strong QB: he gets on a knee during the national anthem, and all of a sudden he's Big News. The drool contiues, though it's (hopefully) tapering off. So the Orange One. Every time he does something outrageous (twice a day, often), it has to be reported, analyzed, compared, and some deeper meaning sought. What if there WAS no deeper meaning? What if most of DJT's rants and rumblings were correctly identified as "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury; signifying nothing." We'd all sleep better if the NYT and others took a break.
11
Trump doesn't produce a "blizzard of news". It's just that The Times these days is easily snowed.
16
The good news for me. I didn't vote for him. My family is independent of all this idiocy, the media hyperventilating, and his goofy, stupid remarks, and best of all, I don't have a Twitter or Facebook account.
if folks want a different outcome from this past year, November, 2018 is the earliest it can happen.
18
Like the layer of geological dust that demarcates the dinosaur extinction-by-asteroid event, the psychological stress and physiological toll of the Trump presidency on the American people will without doubt be evident in domestic population and disease demographics in decades to come. Lower birth rates and shorter life spans could easily result from lax environmental regulation and poorer heath care availability. Even sooner, however, the general breakdown of basic civility will be the first byproduct of the daily chaos Trump creates and perpetuates in his incoherent version of reality.
10
The media are businesses. They stay in business by selling ads. People won't see or hear ads unless you grab their attention. That's best accomplished by content that generates intense emotions. I'm not sure there's a human being on Earth who generates more intense emotions in more people than Donald Trump. That's why he dominates the news; he ultimately sells ads, and to a lesser extent subscriptions, that help the media stay in business.
8
"Barack Obama was president earlier this year."
Easy as it is to lose perspective, from Trump's assaults on our cognitive facilities, right along with those on our country, we must recall that Trump is fleeting. This nation's integrity stood before he desecrated our highest office, and it will shine again.
Trump won the Electoral College, but not America's heart and soul. Ultimately, in the arc of history, Trump will be a flash in the pan, and justice will again prevail.
174
The nation's (USA) integrity was desecrated by Trump. I do not have the space here to tell how the USA has been a plague for other countries and peoples. And, also, the world integrity, from Latin, integritas, designates not just being honest and principled but also whole. A society cannot be integral where a few families own exorbitant wealth and many more have just enough to survive.
The "heart and soul" needs to get out and vote . . . in large numbers!
1
Impeach or death of a nation.
24
Good luck!
1
“Las Vegas and the church in Texas have fallen off the map — two of the most heinous mass murders in recent American history,” said Tom Brokaw...
You can be sure that had those mass killings been committed by Muslims, immigrants, or refugees, Trump would have never let up on them. Same with the Charlottesville murder at the hands of a white supremacist.
Don't let Trump coopt the stories or the truth! We citizens are counting on you in, yes, the mainstream media not to take your teeth out of the incidents which count the most, or to give Trump a free platform. You reporters are our best hope.
60
This is why the media, and all of us who comment here, need to stop talking about what Trump says, crazy as it might be, and focus on what he and the Republican Congress DO.
And create a narrative to counter what they do.
Otherwise, Trump wins - as he himself says in the NYT interview. That´s his one strength, but it´s a very important one. After all, it got him this far.
22
Trump has limitations, but he is very good at getting inside people's heads. Both Democrats and Republicans should try to hold onto theirs.
4
Quit covering Trump and provide information on what is happening behind the smokescreen of his tweets and platitudes. The whole country is being ripped off while the media shines its attention on what Trump says. Take the spotlight off him, please.
144
Finally an article that reflects what I've been feeling all along: I'm tried of reading about Trump every single day.
12
As a psychologist, I find the drumbeat of Trump tweets, taunts, threats, firings, "fake news" alerts more than "disorienting," more than cognitive overload, but what I've taken to calling a form of PTSD, Persistent Trump Stress Disorder. I feel I've been dragged into some very dark place where there's a new calamity daily from deporting Hispanic immigrants, a potential nuclear war with North Korea, the loss of health insurance for millions, the loss of important tax deductions for the middle- and lower-classes, the pollution of the air we breathe--all done with a total lack of sensitivity, empathy, compassion and any concern for the very dignity of those affected. The temptation to withdraw into a news-free shell is palpable. But, as a member of a Holocaust family, I've sworn to "bear witness" and to resist the the slide toward the darkness of fascistic autocracy with ever fiber of my aging 77-year old mind and body.
204
The hope (for our democracy) is that this lesson in governing by a reality show narcissist will leave the overwhelming majority of Americans so nauseous - and scared - that we will recognize and reject his likeness for decades to come. The other plus is that while many Americans (admit it) did not accept a black president, it's crystal clear how that it's about the man/women, not the racial thing. Just like it isn't about the gender thing.
6
I always thought that the tail should not wag the dog.
The media does not have to listen to every thought that passes through Trump's mind. It certainly doesn't have to use the immense power it has to repeat clear propaganda and misinformation.
Why are we not challenging the media's involvement in this awful state of affairs?
26
It’s like that ER doctor in Las Vegas : the stacks of injured, dead, dying, or maimed bodies keep pouring in, so he sorts them with color coding to make medical urgency distinctions (see Brooks’s column today). The craziness, the outrageous lies, the turning of policy upside down, the contempt for procedure, tradition , and protocol, the destructive edicts, the undermining of public safety, environmental protections, the racist and xenophobic tweets and actions, the display of ignorance coupled with disinformation, the list goes on; piles on piles of corpses and maimed and hobbled “news”, which gets the headline? How do you triage all of this insanity? I’m exhausted reading about it, and yeah, tend to focus on the latest calamity and forget yesterday’s.
6
Trump is molding this country into the pathetic state of his mind--chaos, ignorance, greed, revenge, insecurity, and a disdain for the "little people." He is the Leona Helmsley of the presidency. I, for one, will not forget any of his words and actions over the last year despite his attempts to distract from major issues. And I hope that the voters in the midterm elections next November will remember this year and vote accordingly to rescue our country from this nightmare of a presidency.
20
We were warned by various NYTimes columnists at the beginning of 2017 that Trump's antics were not normal, that we should never accept his lies and actions and insults and insinuations and ignorance as normal.
And yet, the aggregation of news at 'Trump speed' has indeed created a new normal.
Frightening.
11
Every. Single. Day. This abomination of a leader embarrasses my country and makes me heartsick for a mature adult in the seat of power.
39
A more interesting, and telling, story about Trump would be the 4.095 lawsuits he has been involved in over the years. Trump is not a tornado of "news making" unless you insist, New York Times, on incessant reporting of all his non-actions and gawd-awful misspelled Tweets. He has done nothing positive. He is, however, a tornado of destruction. Again, dive into the lawsuits to see what he's all about.
49
We may not remember the exact time and exact place when Trump in one form or another spewed his lies, revealed his warped inner universe, or his national and global cruelty, bigotry, and thuggery, but we DO remember. Let us not underestimate the intelligence of the majority of Americans. We not only have long memories, but also - for most of us- have moral compasses. We see through this corrupt being, and his trickery. We are one step ahead of him, although he in his fantasy world neither accepts nor understands that concept. The fact is he is not to be trusted. Ever. Like our high school history classes where we had to memorize in excruciating detail dates and places, those exercises were irrelevant to the era itself with its socio-economic impacts. We are living in a Trumpian Era, and we see the whole horrifying portrait of this Artist of Deception.
6
My wife and I do not ordinarily make New Year’s Resolutions, but for 2018 we are making an exception and are committing ourselves to buying and returning one Ivanka Trump handbag every week.
14
In reply to A Stanton Dallas TX
A liberal with biting satirical political humor that even a Republican can appreciate? Democrats could still win in 2020!
What news comes from our president? Any five year old with a computer prints out more news than the Twitterer. Also what laws have our do nothing congress passed this year, beside the tax bill? The press has decided to follow in the path of Ted on the Mary Tyler Moore show of 30 years ago except that was comedy and now these talking heads have unfortunately blazed the trail of ignorance, sadly all for corporate money.
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I wish President Trump a Happy New Year for 2018 and may he continue to make America great again. He is doing pretty good so far.
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Really? You call polluting our air and water, denigrating our law enforcement agencies, jeopardizing health care for millions of Americans, alienating our allies etc. doing pretty good? I'd hate to see your idea of what bad looks like.
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In reply to DR New England
I love your comedic writing!
Seriously? That isn't even an insightful comment. DR listed issues that are proven and require answers. You provided none, yet just spout "make America great again". Man, so tired...please, give us some examples of what his "pretty good so far" actually means.
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This is the truth of the nature of reporting news in a Trump-centered news world. Years ago, a story like government-funded UFO sectors wouldn't last just mere hours on major news networks, yet it seemed like the entire world shrugged at such a development.
The Times wrote about the report delivered by the Pentagon, but even I felt jaded the jay I read it because a half-dozen tweets and comments seemed to drown out another story too soon. There's definitely a balance between what news can and should report, but I don't think that balance was found this year, and I'm not sure that was to be expected. In my lifetime, I'm not sure if I will ever experience a figure as ripe for news as Trump; however, finding a way to give more light to the dozens of other stories that reporters at the Times create is an absolute necessity in my eyes. Too often do vital examples of photojournalism and investigative reporting go comparatively unnoticed because 240 characters came down the pike.
3
This is not Mr. Trump's doing; it's the the surrender of journalism & politics to the marketplace. Everything is a second-to-second competition for eyes & clicks & dollars now. The model is entertainment, not information or debate. Being nothing but an entertainer, Mr. Trump works the system well. Not only will 2008 be worse, but the next president will likely be elected precisely because she or he is worse.
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"A grandfather is talking with his grandson and he says there are two wolves inside of us which are always at war with each other.
One of them is a good wolf which represents things like kindness, bravery and love. The other is a bad wolf, which represents things like greed, hatred and fear.
The grandson stops and thinks about it for a second then he looks up at his grandfather and says, “Grandfather, which one wins?”
The grandfather quietly replies, the one you feed."
Coverage of djt's tweets is tantamount to feeding the dark or bad wolf.
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I don't agree.
The press is responsible for reporting on the U.S. president.
Trump's use of Twitter is an indication of his insecurity and insanity.
3
"Trump's use of Twitter is an indication of his insecurity and insanity."
Yes to the above. I think his tweets are a form of self serving propaganda and should only be further publicized if rebutted.
He accuses the MSM of being fake news while he is creating fake news through his Twitter.
2
It’s sad that this article doesn’t explore more fully why the press goes along with Trump in this way. Rather the article feels both hysterical and disingenuous. The Times has had more than a year to figure out a strategy that could prevent Trump from gratuitously dominating the news and it has failed to do so. Instead we get an article about how Trump makes you write about Trump. He is not a magician but a con man and the Times is the shill but refuses to admit it. See today’s interview with Trump.
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The key term in this piece is "news-making". Surely the passage of the overhaul was news - worthy. But lets take one of the other examples, Trump's verbal attack on Senator Gillibrand. In what way is this news-making? It seems to be news-making only in the sense that you have chosen to cover it. Lets compare that to a small piece that was buried by the Times regarding the reversal of the regulations having to do with ocean self oil drilling in the Gulf. As one might recall, these regulations were put in place after the BP disaster that was covered endlessly in the media during Obama's presidency. Apparently,this is not an example of news-making. This year some journalists have shown courage and tenacity and have been singled out for the ruler's attacks. In an article on a day in the life of Trump it was noted that the Times was his paper of record. One can't help but sense that the two articles on the cover of the Times today was their way to protect that status. That is not access, it is complicity.
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And you illustrate the article with yet another photo of Trump? Sickening. How about a photo of homeless people camping out in this vicious cold spell, or trying to keep warm in a rundown apartment?
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The single most unanswered question for the MSM is:
Why do you continue to use Reporters who cannot or will not respond to Trump's & minions continual LIES with this simple & straight forward response..
"Where is the proof to support that statement?"
Reporters seem to be slow or unable to ask the most pertinent & revealing question,
"What is your source for that allegation?"
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We need members of the Fourth Estate who can distinguish between news and current events. Where are they?
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I’m confused: isn’t it the job of the press to make hard choices, to put news stories into the proper context, and to not report on every single brainfart that comes out of the President’s mouth? If reporters are overwhelmed by the nonsense and distractions that Trump creates, how do you think we readers feel? Just because something is trending on social media doesn’t make it news; in fact, it is the many of the issues that are not trending that The NY Times and other serious media outlets should be covering, stories which Trump attempts to distract us from on a daily basis.
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Robert Mueller’s work to bring his investigation to a successful conclusion is now more important than ever.
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Define “successful conclusion.” I assume, of course, the end result should only be in identifying actual criminal activities related to election collusion, assuming of course, there was any. Would not finding anything be acceptable to you?
2
90% of the news reported about the president is negative. And yet, president Trump matched Obama end of first year: 46% APPROVE, 53% DISAPPROVE
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According to Trump friendly Fox New.
12
According to FiveThirtyEight, which aggregates all the polls, Trump's approval rating today is 37.7% approve, and 56.3% disapprove. None of the most recent five polls show the numbers you claim. The closest is a Rasmussen poll (Rasmussen is very Trump-friendly) that shows 45% approve and 53% disapprove.
According to CNN: "The cleanest comparison between the approval ratings of the two presidents is Gallup's daily tracking polls, which are released as both three-day rolling averages and weekly averages. The three-day averages released on December 28, 2009 -- the day Trump cited in his tweet -- showed 51% approval for Obama with 43% disapproval. On December 28 of this year, Gallup released a three-day average showing 38% approval for Trump with 56% disapproval."
Cherry-picking one poll, adding a percentage point, and then claiming Trump is as popular as Obama, is disingenuous.
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"Cherry-picking one poll, adding a percentage point, and then claiming Trump is as popular as Obama, is disingenuous."
Dishonest or lying is even more to the point.
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“2018 is going to be 10 times worse.”
As hard as that is to imagine, it’s probably true. Sad.
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And then... Trump gets elected by 400 electoral votes in 2020. Perfect! MAGA
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Most of Trump's tweets are not news, but blather. I did not understand why he received so much coverage during the campaign and why he gets so much now. There are so many stories I would like to see covered, and not just the crimes and disasters. I think the NYT should cover those and let CNN and Fox chase Trump.
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Matt Flegenheimer continues to show incredible insight into the underlying issues which are unraveling our political system and traditional checks and balances.
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And our very sanity. I am haunted daily by the worry that things are changing in a permanent way, not for the better. The onslaught exhausts me emotionally, and instead of pursuing activities I love, I spend hours disconsolately and compulsively reading about the latest outrage.
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Daddy, you’re not alone in your feelings. Ironic because the economy is doing well, we’re (hopefully) a long way from a recession, and yet the overall mood of the country is down. Just my opinion, I think it’s because of the threat an autocratic, racist president presents, as well as the GOP goons who go along with this form of “governing”.
That said, as long as we have a free press, we’ll come out of this bruised but not battered. That’s cold comfort - so we can’t let this get the best of us.
The country is worn out by Trump and his lies and shenanigans. We have to stay strong and do what we must until we again have someone fit to be POTUS.
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Dang! Exactly how I felt some 7-8 years ago. That’s interesting...
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