How Should We Cover Trump?
Looking for the right balance
Once again, the political world tilts toward the immense gravitational pull of a former president, running for reelection, facing indictment, and confronting multiple other serious criminal investigations.
There has never been a political figure in American history like Donald Trump — perhaps one of the few truths on which both his backers and detractors can agree. Even the old phrase “love him or hate him” seems inadequate in describing the level of the bifurcated passions he engenders.
There is no doubt Trump thrives on attention, and he has a carnival barker’s knack for making sure the spotlight is always shining on him. As a former president and de facto leader of one of our two major political parties, he is newsworthy. Yet much of what he does and says is meant only to garner attention for attention’s sake. He is eager to do this at any cost, often by demeaning our political discourse.
This dynamic presents a particular challenge for the press. And it will get more complicated in the days, weeks, and months ahead as Trump’s fate steams onward on two parallel but distinct tracks: one political, the other legal.
How do you find the Goldilocks approach to coverage? Not too much, not too little, but just right?
How do you bear witness to the outrages and injustices without allowing him to suck the oxygen out of everything else to which we should be paying attention?
What is the tradeoff between reporting and amplifying?
There is a school of thought that the press’s elevation of Trump in the primaries and general election of 2016 played a big part in paving the path to his presidency. The amount of free coverage he received was unprecedented. The rallies shown live on cable news with no editing and little real-time context or perspective to the lies and invective he was spewing felt more like campaign ads than responsible coverage.
Once Trump was president, he was impossible to ignore. His statements, no matter how false or unhinged, carried the weight of America’s chief executive. And he certainly drove ratings. Those who loved him wanted to bask in his greatest hits. Many of those who despised him wanted to make sure their worst fears were documented and acknowledged as he swung a wrecking ball at our national order.
Trump is bombastic, outrageous, dangerous, and disingenuous. He lies, sneers, and stokes division. He threatens the very fabric of our national identity. He has fomented a cult-like status, undermined the rule of law, and debased the peaceful transfer of power.
He’s also incapable of going away. And now the drama that swirls around him like a Category 5 hurricane is only going to get worse.
In our own distant corner of the media landscape, we wrestle with how to cover Trump.
How do you approach a newsletter called Steady when the era's dominant political figure (yes, even more so than the current president) embodies the antithesis of the word?
We understand that for many of you the very definition of Steady means not having to read or hear Trump’s name with frequency. Wallowing in what he is doing on a daily basis is not productive. On these points we largely agree.
But at the same time, we believe it would be a mistake to downplay the danger he could wreak on this nation. He is running for president again, and should he win, which is well within the realm of the possible, his second term would probably make his first one seem restrained.
The death knells of many democracies, the transitions from freedom to autocracy, have been initiated at the ballot box. Many autocrats have been endorsed by a popular vote. Voters can get restless, angry, and scared. They can also become complacent, disengaged, or apathetic.
Autocrats know how to feed off both passion and passivity. Then, once installed, they find ways to undermine the governmental checks and balances that would otherwise prevent their worst abuses. Democracy withers, sometimes gradually and with little notice. It is no coincidence that many Trump supporters celebrate Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, who followed this despot playbook to turn the country into his fiefdom.
As part of the Steady balance, we intend to continue to confront what Trump is doing and what he represents. It may get repetitive at times, and exhausting. He thrives on making his opposition overwhelmed and weary.
The 2020 election was a decisive loss for Trump, but it wasn’t a decisive end to Trumpism. Neither, likely, will be indictments or the criminal peril that surrounds him.
Trump is still here, and the threat he poses still looms large. As such, we must find ways to cover him without letting him dictate the terms of the coverage.
We hope we can achieve the right balance and look to you, our valued members of the Steady community, for guidance on how we are doing.
Note: We’re deeply thankful for the Steady community. If you aren’t already a member, please consider subscribing. Both free and paid options are available.
Thank you so much Mr Rather, for everything!
I’d love to hear what Biden is doing, what bills he has been able to pass and what those bills will mean for the American people. I’d love to hear what bills he hasn’t been able to pass, what those bills would do for the American people and who voted for and against them. I’d love to hear what his agenda is yet for his presidency and what his agenda would mean for the American people.
I don’t want to hear any speculations about trump at all, and only the bare bones description of news involving him without using his name, photo or voice. If he’s indicted and arrested, well that’s a piece of news, ok, now on to the next piece of news. I feel the same about the others who espouse his extremist hyperbole.
It seems to me they are the tail wagging the dog and we need the dog to be in charge not the tail. Lets hear about issues facing us, what the actual sources of those issues are - no blame games - and actual possible solutions that can be discussed and debated and voted on. What are some creative solutions communities are finding to address local issues? It seems to me there’s a lot of newsworthy news in our country and the world, and we’re being held hostage by drama. Lets have the newsworthy news instead!
Thank you again.
The media should stop guessing and speculating. We don't know what will happen, or when it will happen. But covering everything Trump says and does doesn't make any sense. He's been grabbing attention for way to long, and he knows just how to do it. Do we get play by plays about everything President Biden says or does? Nope. But, when Trump was president, we re-hashed his every move. It's time to stop that. Report what we know and stop giving Trump, and those who inflame the public for attention, a platform.