In the harsh wake of an eight-figure settlement courtesy of Paramount Global/CBS to President Donald Trump for its distorted coverage of then-presidential candidate VP Kamala Harris, one might assume that lessons have been learned. And yet, rather than focus on balance and parity, the Fourth Estate appears to have kicked its anti-Trump narrative machine into overdrive. In fact, it seems that legacy media outlets have decided to go all-in on their efforts to support Trump’s opponents.
Along with the estimated $16-million-dollar payout that will ultimately fund the Trump Presidential Library, Paramount Global has committed to releasing direct transcripts of interviews with US presidential candidates. Such actions are designed to reignite the dwindling flame of trust the public holds for the American media and, indeed, present a perfect opportunity for a reset in tarnished relations.
Consider yesterday’s (July 8) coverage in the digital realm:
The digital edition of DC’s most prominent newspaper hosted 18 stories above the fold, two-thirds of which were either directly critical of the president or contained barely hidden barbs. Observing the targeting of his reconciliation package to his dealings with illegal immigrants, one might fairly term the paper an oppositional organ.
What might be the greater indictment, however, is what the outlet did not cover. Of the more than 100 articles that graced the home page, not a single one mentioned the Democratic Party or its elected officials. That’s quite an achievement for an outlet that claims to be keeping democracy out of the dark.
And this was not a lone example.
More than half of the Gray Lady’s above-the-digital-fold coverage was devoted to negative stories regarding the commander-in-chief (55%). While not surprising that Trump, being president, should dominate the news cycle, the tenor of the pieces ranged from sarcastic to downright damning.
For example, Lawrence Summers wrote of the BBB signing that “I don’t remember on any past Fourth of July being so ashamed of an action my country had just taken.” Another author lamented that the Trump Energy Department “has hired at least three scientists who are well-known for their rejection of the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change.” Or what about this title: “How to Make Senate Republicans Pay for Their Awful Bill”?
Again, coverage of the Democratic Party is at best minimal. With more than 170 linkable stories (many are arts and food, naturally), Trump scores a whopping 31 mentions against just three in total for Democrats.
Of the top 28 stories on CNN’s politics page, 22 were either about or directly related to Trump. And all of the remaining articles seem to take a moment to bash the president. Of the more than 50 articles, roughly 70% deal directly with the president. Just five cover other topics.
This type of coverage is repeated throughout the left-leaning media. But let’s briefly examine if this all-Trump-all-the-time strategy is just because he is the guy who makes all the news. The Fox News politics page has a total of 26 articles, only nine mention the president by name. The New York Post has 15 stories above the digital fold of its homepage; just two are directly Trump-related, and one is on the BBB.
It’s just not an obsession on both sides of the media divide.
Rudderless and adrift, the current Democratic Party strategy is to claim that Trump is killing the American Dream. DNC Chair Ken Martin said of the BBB that “Republicans own this mess, and it’s an albatross around their necks heading into the midterms.” He and his colleagues apparently see this as the formula to press going into next year’s elections. “[W]e’re going to make sure every single voter knows who is responsible for taking away their healthcare, food, hospitals, and nursing homes,” he continued.
And he will – as the numbers clearly demonstrate – be assisted by the left-leaning Fourth Estate. As Mark Twain once noted, “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re mis-informed.” So much for the media learning a hard lesson.