It's tough times for the news media. Not only are they struggling in their business models, but the election of Donald Trump wasn't just a rejection of Hillary Clinton - although it was certainly that. It was a rejection of them too, as they spent the entire campaign not so much reporting as instructing the American people what to do when they went to the polls.
The people responded with an instruction of their own.
So you'd think the media would be starting to get a clue that things are changing and they can't just keep doing things the way they always done them. But when the top dogs of the D.C. press corps showed up yesterday at Trump Tower for a meeting with the president-elect, they were apparently under the impression that it would be all about how they could get all the access they wanted to the Trump White House.
Uh . . . no:
“The meeting took place in a big board room and there were about 30 or 40 people, including the big news anchors from all the networks,” the other source said.
“Trump kept saying, ‘We’re in a room of liars, the deceitful dishonest media who got it all wrong.’ He addressed everyone in the room calling the media dishonest, deceitful liars. He called out Jeff Zucker by name and said everyone at CNN was a liar, and CNN was [a] network of liars,” the source said.
“Trump didn’t say [NBC reporter] Katy Tur by name, but talked about an NBC female correspondent who got it wrong, then he referred to a horrible network correspondent who cried when Hillary lost who hosted a debate – which was Martha Raddatz who was also in the room.”
The stunned reporters tried to get a word in edgewise to discuss access to a Trump Administration.
"[CBS Good Morning co-host Gayle] King did not stand up, but asked some question, ‘How do you propose we the media work with you?’ Chuck Todd asked some pretty pointed questions. David Muir asked ‘How are you going to cope living in DC while your family is in NYC? It was a horrible meeting.”
Good.
I've been wishing for years that a Republican president would do something like this. The usual template for the media/president relationship is that Democrats use the media as an unofficial propaganda arm, while Republicans fear them and constantly engage in a fruitless effort to win them over.
Because they "buy ink by the barrel" and all that nonsense, they believe they can say anything they want, and presidents have no choice but to cower and give in to their high and mighty power.
Trump is absolutely destroying that template, and it's a beautiful sight to behold. He did it, first, by defying all their cheerleading for Hillary and their shameless attacks on him - and winning the presidency anyway. And he's doing it now by letting them know that he understands exactly what they are, and that because of their dishonest performance in their jobs, this is not going to be an easy four years for them. He's not going to sit there and take it when they ask dopey, loaded questions. He's not going to shrug his shoulders and accept it when they report dishonestly about what's happening in the administration, or in the country. That's what Republican presidents have typically done. Trump will not.
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Their nonsense is not going to play anymore
And the usual media tropes aren't going to cut it here. This is not a matter of a politician not liking it because the media engage in healthy scrutiny. This is a matter of a man who is about to become president calling them out for lying, sensationalism and shameless bias.
I can only imagine the looks on their faces as they walked out of that room with their heads in their hands. They'd better get used to it. Their nonsense is not going to play anymore. They might have to learn about this concept called honest, substantive reporting. If any of them are even capable of it.
