The Media's Facilitation of trump

By: Daisy and Bailie

Daisy: Wow, it's been a long and emotional week for me. How about you?


Bailie: Yeah--I haven’t stopped checking the results for the past week. Hearing the news of Biden’s win this morning was something I’ll remember for a very long time. I find it interesting that the media coverage of the election has focused on the overwhelming feeling of uncertainty across the nation.


Daisy: I agree. It's amazing how the media has covered the election process while trying to validate it at the same time. Never in history has there been an election so focused on the questions of fraud and fairness. Due to Covid-19, Trump has focused this last portion of his campaign around mail-in ballots and convincing his supporters that they are inaccurate. Biden, on the other hand, has refrained from criticizing Trump and has adopted “every vote counts” as his new slogan. You know, I have seen so many articles talking about what to expect after the election from the Trump campaign, the vote counting process, and just overall how dangerous Trump’s statements are for our democracy.


Bailie: I have seen a lot of that too. I think that news outlets have become more outspoken in the past few days against the Trump administration’s claims on voter fraud. I just saw this New York Times article that didn’t find much evidence backing Trump’s claims.


Daisy: I saw that one too! I think this relates to how this new age of extremism in politics has pushed media outlets to hold the government more accountable than ever before. I even saw an in-depth exposé on the different ways the Trump administration could attempt a coup! I couldn't imagine that happening in the Obama/ Romney election. I mean wild, really wild.


Bailie: Exactly--this age of extremism makes me wonder how this loss will affect the Republican party as a whole. And it brings up the question of if or how these Republicans can reshape themselves after Trump’s presidency.


Daisy: Yeah, I totally agree. The future of the Republican Party is really on the rocks at the moment. You know many would even go as far to say that Trump isn’t even Republican himself. Many Republicans have come out against the Trump administration and I think they are really in danger of splitting.


Bailie: Yes. This reminds me of this New York Times article I read about how Trump, rather than splitting the Republican Party, has actually rebranded it and even made it stronger.


Daisy: Yeah, I have heard that too. It's undeniable that he has mobilized a base of the Republican party many didn’t even know existed. Even though Trump has lost this election as this New York Times article shows, he won’t stop participating in the political ring. There are even rumors of him starting Trump TV and running again in 2024. His rebrand of the Republican party is only drawing further and further away from the Democrats.


Bailie: I also think that the media plays a big role in this party polarization, as written about in the Atlantic.


Daisy: For sure. I mean the media is half the reason Trump even won in the first place. Specifically social media—just look at Twitter and Facebook. So many people were attracted to Trump because of his outlandish tweets and therefore he got so much essentially free advertising. Even the traditional media gave him way more coverage in 2016 because of his aggressive take on politics.


Bailie: I think this is both a good thing and a bad thing. On one hand, you’re starting to see politicians being held accountable for information that may be false or misleading. At the same time, when the media centers itself around blame and hate, the core of these issues never get discussed. It seems that in the past few days headlines have surrounded the candidates as people and not the issues at hand.


Daisy: I think that is such a good point. It relates back to our last point of how the media outlets have definitely stayed away from a neutral stance. Look at the difference between Fox News and CNN. Sometimes they report the exact opposites from each other. In a way they are almost invalidating the truth.


Bailie: Yes-- As the overall doubt of the media by the public continues to skyrocket, what is the future of our public sphere? If we invalidate the press’s power to hold the government accountable do we still have a healthy democracy?


Daisy: Facts. It makes me wonder if this new media culture will last even after Trump is out of the White House and how much damage has actually been done to our democracy. As the Washington Post motto, “Democracy Dies in Darkness”. Are we getting closer to that reality?