The professional culture is so congealed we now have an incumbent relentlessly messaging that he'll reject anything but election-night victory as illegitimate, while encouraging violence against protesters, and it has had almost no impact on how journalists cover the horserace.
In their defense, other organs of the state, including those under Democratic control, aren’t reacting with commensurate alarm, and if they did, journalists might follow suit. But Biden *has* sounded the alarm, with only passing effect.
I *do* think these habits can be forced to change, but it’ll require organized action from within newsrooms.
Trump’s “Law and Order message” is pure propaganda, and easily verified as such. Reprinting it uncritically is dangerous.
If Caputo’s rant is alarming (and it is) it’s more alarming that Trump says basically the same stuff–and that there’s no legitimate scenario in which he loses. Reporting on him as a “law and order” candidate in a normal horse race is such a huge failure. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
I remain convinced that the only way to stop this kind of thing from happening should Trump do what he’s threatened to do is concerted *proactive* action from within the newsroom from the same brave staffers who responded to the Cotton op-ed.
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.