Are Journalists Overreacting to Donald Trump?The mainstream media may be losing credibility by jumping at shadows. Vanity Fair, Feb 6, 2017, James Warren
As with Lady Gaga Sunday night, Kellyanne Conway gives us a million reasons. Conway, a senior advisor to President Trump, was on Fox News with Howard Kurtz earlier in the day, proceeding apace with delegitimizing the press.
She spoke of “selective coverage” and “information underload,” meaning the press was nefariously keeping the good stuff about the Trump White House from the American public. A million reasons why the press is unfair to her boss.
So, what do experienced hands from conservative and libertarian newsrooms think about the coverage so far?
“I think the media are in grave danger here of mishandling their responsibilities on an epic scale,” said
John Podhoretz, editor of Commentary magazine.
“The Trump administration is a target-rich environment for the media, but tone is everything,” he says. “Mainstream reporters going on Twitter and becoming participants in the politico-culture war against him will discredit the efforts of their institutions and will end up preaching only to the anti-Trump converted.”
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Thus far, the biggest obstacle to covering Trump has been balancing short-term and long-term stories, said
Katherine Mangu-Ward, editor in chief of libertarian Reason magazine.
“I’m not sure the media are doing a great job of that so far,” Mangu-Ward said. “There’s been a lot of scrambling to keep up.
“Reacting after the fact to each (un-telegraphed, un-vetted) policy change isn’t the only role of the political press. (Nor is it to ‘keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while,’ contra Steve Bannon.) Instead, publications like Reason, which look to provide policy recommendations and analysis, are going to have to work extra hard to prepare to cover all of the eventualities, banking experts and expertise so that when the administration pulls its next two-headed rabbit out of hat, ‘we’re ready.’”
Michael Barone, longtime columnist, TV analyst and the founder of The Almanac of American Politics, was concise with his assessment of how the press is performing.
“Extreme hostility combined with bafflement,” says the senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner. “Resulting in some trenchant criticism and some over-the-top frothing at the mouth.”
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http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/02/are-journalists-overreacting-to-donald-trump
