News giants have lost some influence
As this is being written, it appears Donald J. Trump will be the next president of the United States, an outcome which likely has startled, even shocked, millions of voters on both sides of the political street. But none of them is as shocked, and probably embarrassed as the so-called eastern media establishment, which is used to being able to tell us whom to vote for.
CNN, the other big cable networks, the big broadcast networks, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and, yes, the supposedly neutral PBS News all could not stop telling us what a hoot Trump was, how he didn’t know what he was doing, what a boor he was, and so forth.
It is hard to remember a more crass editorial campaign against any candidate for the presidency than was led by this vast group of supposedly objective news vendors.
They should all be fired, or at least have their pay cut.
At first, they made fun of Trump as they laughed with one another at how unsophisticated the real estate mogul could be in political appearances. Then, they began to malign him as one by one his Republican debate opponents bailed out of the presidential race because Trump was too tough for them.
But these news people had made an error — they began mentioning Trump’s name again and again and again and again, and made him into a political celebrity. Before, as host of the reality TV show “The Apprentice,” he had been an entertainment celebrity. But once he began to make news, the news people couldn’t talk about him enough.
They began to write and broadcast stories about why Trump couldn’t possibly be elected, and about how Hillary Rodham Clinton was probably unbeatable, considering her vast resources of money, her huge nationwide staff of professional polls. They didn’t even complain when she refused to conduct all but a few press conferences. They buried her with love and respect, even though she hadn’t earned much of that.
Clinton was a good candidate, but not quite good enough to deal with the likes of Trump, a street fighter who seemed to know where and who his voters were, and didn’t hesitate to go meet them. Clinton could still win enough electoral votes to give her the election, but it would be very difficult. The states leaning toward Trump as this is being written are richer in delegates than the ones that presently lean toward her.
The news people who promoted her candidacy are still hoping she wins; but if she doesn’t, they deserve a share of the blame. Perhaps they should lose their jobs, too.
