The U.S. Press is Broken

The Fourth Estate has become complicit in normalizing and elevating a potential dictator.

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The modern American press is utterly broken.

It is not made for this moment or built for this fight against an increasingly violent and untethered MAGA movement committed to right-wing minority rule. It lacks the capacity, willingness, and ability to be agile and evolve to accurately report MAGA’s blatant attacks on our freedoms and institutions. It has atrophied into a shameful, laughable, and even dangerous coterie of incestuous sycophantic stenographers beholden to access and ratings over truth and facts. They’ve had nine years to understand the assignment and adapt to Donald Trump, a twice-impeached convicted criminal who lies as he breathes, incites a violent insurrection, and refers to the press as “fake news” and “enemy of the people,” and still they fail. 

If you have fifteen minutes, watch MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell’s withering and astute critique of the media’s failure to hold Trump accountable during his unhinged Mar-a-Lago press conference that was covered across all networks without any fact checking. 

Because I’m your loyal masochist, I watched Trump’s relentless stream of verbal diarrhea in real time and shook my head as he lied without any significant pushback from the assembled reporters who voluntarily bent the knee and became his reeks.

He repeated the dangerous lie that Democrats allow abortions after birth, and not a single reporter challenged him. That means that Democrats are literally killing babies, you know, murder, which is illegal. One would assume that would be a huge whopper that would be fact-checked, but nope. No reporter cared. Trump also created a bullshit story out of thin air about riding a helicopter with former SF Mayor Willie Brown, except this never happened. In fact, Trump seems to have confused Willie Brown with Jerry Brown, who was Governor of California. Trump also seemed to forgot Tim Walz’s name as the press conference lumbered on to interminable lengths. Was there breathless coverage and newspaper headlines the next day raising alarms over Trump’s cognitive health, or pundits demanding that Trump abandon his campaign? Nope.

Earlier today, it was reported that a violent insurrectionist who attacked police with poles during the January 6th riots received a 20-year sentence. At his disastrous NABJ conference appearance last week, Trump said he would “absolutely pardon” these insurrectionists. Was any reporter curious enough to ask the former President why he keeps praising individuals who attacked the police and failed in their attempt to overthrow a free and fair election? Nope! Last week, it was reported that the President of Egypt gave $10 million to Trump to help his 2016 election campaign. Trump’s AG Bill Barr shutdown the US investigation and intervened to prevent the FBI from subpoenaing Trump’s financial records. Seems like a pretty damn big deal! But, nope, no interest.

Instead, some in corporate media are trying to “Swift Boat” Tim Walz’s service and many are big mad that VP Kamala Harris hasn’t sat for an official interview. Tsk tsk! That’s the biggest sin she could possibly commit! I wonder what would happen if she radicalized some of her supporters to threaten and attack them like Trump has done for years? But, I digress. When she did approach them on the tarmac with “Whatcha got?” these are the questions they asked her. 

No wonder public confidence in journalism is at its lowest. I am actually rooting for the fourth estate. A robust, smart, and critical free press is a healthy indicator of functioning democracy that is willing to ask tough questions of those in power and demands the truth instead of propaganda. I will gladly applaud and support those who do well, but it’s time to publicly humiliate those who are abusing their privilege, and tarnishing their legacy, with their utter failure to do their jobs at a time when the world is holding its breath to see if America chooses democracy or a Trump dictatorship. 

In my humble opinion, we can begin by acknowledging that the news and storytelling is subjective. There is no “view from nowhere.” That’s bullshit. It’s OK to be biased in favor of democracy over a dictatorship. It’s OK to reject a “both sides” asymmetrical framing when dealing with fascists who refer to you as “fake news.” It’s OK to choose truth over performative neutrality. It’s OK to admit you need to diversity your portfolio, your news rooms, your anchors, your writers, and your stories to reflect the entirety of the American experience and not just be overloaded with DEI Hires, which include white men and women who come from the same five cities and are either milquetoast centrists or “never Trump” Republicans. 

There’s three months left until the 2024 election. There is still enough time for a course correction. But if journalists, reporters and anchors are unwilling to rise to the challenge and listen to the majority’s critique of their numerous failures, then they must resign. Find another job. That means you’re not made for this moment, and you’re not built for this fight.

Your failure will drag our democracy down with you.