THE TRUTH ABOUT FAKE NEWS

Sometimes people behave badly just because it’s so easy to do and there are no real consequences for doing it. Donald Trump’s attacks on the news media and his calling any news he doesn’t like “fake news” is a perfect example.

Journalism began to lose its reputation as a responsible and respected profession in the 1980s as broadcast media (radio and television) turned their news departments, which they had previously operated as a public service, into profit centers. Reporting the news, as practiced by famed television journalists like Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, was gradually replaced with an entertainment product, a product not unlike professional wrestling and reality TV.

In the “good old days” the news was what it was – informative, objective, factual and straight forward. Journalists just told you what had happened. They did occasionally offer opinions about events, but those were clearly labeled as editorials. Those days are long gone. Today, you won’t see, hear or read a news story without a half dozen self-proclaimed experts (pundits) sharing an opinion about, attempting to interpret or otherwise spinning the story to make it more pleasing or palatable to a specific audience. You no longer need to expose yourself to the news that is. You can choose the news you want. As Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan predicted it would be in 1964, “The medium is the message’’.

It was only a short step from choosing the news you want to claiming the news you don’t want is not the real news, or “fake news.” Donald Trump, knowing something about entertainment, reality TV and, by association, news as an entertainment product recognized this lack of confidence in the news media as an opportunity, seized that opportunity and has been exploiting it for his own purposes ever since.

Donald Trump has been called a lot of things, none of them flattering. But there are two things he is not. He is not stupid and he is not crazy. He is ignorant about many things and he is evil, in the sense that he derives pleasure from causing other people pain and suffering, but they are not the same as stupid and crazy. In fact, what he demonstrated throughout his campaign and continues to demonstrate since he took office is his absolute mastery of the news media as an entertainment product. And he is using that mastery to retain the support of the 30% of American voters, who are as ignorant and evil as he is and who see him as their voice and as the champion of their beliefs, by ensuring that, whatever anyone else might do or say, they hear or see the news he wants them to hear or see. He knows he only needs that 30% to hold the Republican Party hostage because without that 30% the Republicans will lose all the power they now hold. He also knows, as does the Republican Party, that Mike Pence can’t hold that 30% (he's too straight-laced and not arrogant enough), which is why the Republicans won’t do anything to remove Mr. Trump from office, at least not until after the mid-term elections.

I believe Donald Trump sees his presidency as a business venture. As long as he remains President he can continue to change the laws to benefit his businesses (and those of his Robber Baron friends) and funnel tax dollars into his (and their) pockets; and all he needs to do to remain President is retain the support of the that 30%.....but I digress.

Donald Trump totally controls the news media in this country and by doing so he ensures that his supporters get the news he wants them to have. Shame on the journalists who abandoned the integrity of their profession to satisfy their employers’ greed and made it so easy for him to do so.