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KamaAina

(78,249 posts)
Tue Mar 22, 2016, 02:11 PM Mar 2016

Why Trump’s Manipulation of the Media Is More Serious Than Many Journalists Care to Admit

http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/why-trumps-manipulation-media-matters

When billionaire real estate investor Donald Trump announced he would run for president, the media blanketed the Internet and airwaves with news of his candidacy. Since then, wittingly or unwittingly, they have built a platform for his (often hate-filled) messages, with every headline and sound bite making his already outsized brand that much bigger.

Trump has now garnered close to $2 billion in free, or “earned,” media coverage — that’s about twice the cost of the most expensive presidential campaigns in history. He has also attracted more airtime than all other candidates combined, receiving a total of 175 minutes on ABC, CBS and NBC, compared to just 60 minutes for Hillary Clinton, 44 minutes for Bernie Sanders, and 32 for Ted Cruz.

As the media continue their wall-to-wall coverage, I, along with countless others, watch aghast. That’s because more than unbalanced coverage is at stake. As someone who works for an organization that analyzes news coverage I know that the media have tremendous power to influence public opinion and politics. We have seen this connection again and again, on issues ranging from vaccines to violence prevention. And if Trump’s performance in the primaries is any indication, the media’s amplification of his campaign is having an effect on voters....

Ultimately, responsible journalists understand that a free press is a cornerstone of democracy. Threats to that freedom come in many forms, from attempts at suppression to the co-optation of news reporting. That co-optation is easy for reporters to see when it comes from an overtly propagandist government like China or North Korea. But when it happens close to home and comes in the form of a wealthy, influential businessman, will journalists recognize it?
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