The current drumbeat around the migrant caravan reminds me of the 2014 ebola panic, in which media outlets, pushed by Trump and the GOP's cynical grandstanding, aired nonstop coverage. After midterms, GOP stopped talking about it and coverage cratered. mediamatters.org/research/2014/… 
Trump played a key role in turning Ebola into an election issue in 2014, as @PoliticsReid pointed out in his book: thehill.com/homenews/state…
@PoliticsReid Notably, the other major fearmongery story leading up to the 2014 midterms was ISIS agents crossing the border from Mexico (this was not actually happening). Fox and Trump are now melding a similar story into their caravan discussion. mediamatters.org/blog/2018/10/2…
If you are a journalist reporting on Trump’s caravan fearmongering without centering the fact that he’s fabricating the narrative, you are misleading your audience and serving as a megaphone for a campaign of demogoguery. That’s what happened during the 2014 Ebola scare.
Thus far, this is not going well.
Despite several years of evidence that the president lies constantly, many journalists still haven't figured out how to incorporate that into daily reporting in a way that actually keeps the audience apprised of what is happening.
Important corrective here:
He knows exactly what he's doing.
This is a midterm exam for journalists: What have you learned over the past two years about how to cover an inveterate liar while getting your audience the facts they need?
He thinks you're stupid.
Folks.
New study from @mmfa: From October 15-21, as the midterms approached, cable news spent more than 15 hours on caravan coverage. Trump and Fox are getting the news cycle they want. mediamatters.org/blog/2018/10/2…
@mmfa Initial Fox coverage of the caravan triggered Trump tweets, which lead to more Fox coverage and led MSNBC and CNN to pick the story up too. mediamatters.org/blog/2018/10/2…
Finally got around to writing this up:
