"Trump’s entire career, by way of contrast, gloried in scandal. During the 2016 campaign he contradicted himself constantly, said and did repugnant things, and did not care a whit."
Has nothing to do with trump. Has everything to do with how elected repubs and the media handled trump. 'Access Hollywood' tape would an example. Hours after it breaks:
“Drop the Podesta emails immediately,” Stone instructed, seeking to “balance the news cycle” after the release of the Access Hollywood tape. Thirty-two minutes later, WikiLeaks followed through.
And on and on. Elected repubs kept their mouths shut. Reporters: I emailed Mcconnell spokesman but have not yet received a response.... Meanwhile reporters are hiding in the rope line at Clinton events and asking nonsense questions even repubs would be embarrassed to ask.
Andrea Mitchell on Clinton 'Email Scandal': Have you apologized enough?
Al Franken, Andrew Cuomo. Rightly or wrongly held accountable by their party. Both Franken and Cuomo, their aids, family and friends hounded by the press. Meanwhile Haberman: Just trump being trump, Mcconnell spokesman gets an email from a reporter...
I also think the sheer volume of corruption and incompetence in the Trump Administration and given lying was the rule rather than exception resulted in a range of news stories being lost in the shuffle.
The "sugar high" analogy has another and more fundamental aspect: If Trump had not had years as a TV celebrity he would never have had the slightest chance of becoming POTUS. Simple name recognition, along with more than a little secret admiration for his obnoxious character, made it possible and could do so again.
I think you both offer some interesting takes, but to boil it down to a base level, the model of journalist as instrument to truth and information can only result in an uncomfortable conflict with journalist as gatekeeper of truth and information for their own further profit. While none of us can, it would be interesting if we could know how much of this information would have been available in real time were media outlets to ban the publishing of books by employees for say, 10 years post-story. And for the record, this isn't Haberman specific.
"Trump’s entire career, by way of contrast, gloried in scandal. During the 2016 campaign he contradicted himself constantly, said and did repugnant things, and did not care a whit."
Has nothing to do with trump. Has everything to do with how elected repubs and the media handled trump. 'Access Hollywood' tape would an example. Hours after it breaks:
“Drop the Podesta emails immediately,” Stone instructed, seeking to “balance the news cycle” after the release of the Access Hollywood tape. Thirty-two minutes later, WikiLeaks followed through.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/08/drop-the-podesta-emails-senate-report-sure-seems-like-another-trump-russia-smoking-gun
Access Hollywood tape disappears under the waves in a few hours. The media, the narrative setters, decided that.
Study: Hillary Clinton’s emails got as much front-page coverage in 6 days as policy did in 69
https://www.vox.com/2017/12/7/16747712/study-media-2016-election-clintons-emails
If you heard about this during the 2016 election you are one of the few:
FinCEN Fines Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort $10 Million for Significant and Long Standing Anti-Money Laundering Violations
https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-trump-taj-mahal-casino-resort-10-million-significant-and-long
Haberman: Just trump being trump.
And on and on. Elected repubs kept their mouths shut. Reporters: I emailed Mcconnell spokesman but have not yet received a response.... Meanwhile reporters are hiding in the rope line at Clinton events and asking nonsense questions even repubs would be embarrassed to ask.
Andrea Mitchell on Clinton 'Email Scandal': Have you apologized enough?
Al Franken, Andrew Cuomo. Rightly or wrongly held accountable by their party. Both Franken and Cuomo, their aids, family and friends hounded by the press. Meanwhile Haberman: Just trump being trump, Mcconnell spokesman gets an email from a reporter...
So it went and so it goes.
I also think the sheer volume of corruption and incompetence in the Trump Administration and given lying was the rule rather than exception resulted in a range of news stories being lost in the shuffle.
The "sugar high" analogy has another and more fundamental aspect: If Trump had not had years as a TV celebrity he would never have had the slightest chance of becoming POTUS. Simple name recognition, along with more than a little secret admiration for his obnoxious character, made it possible and could do so again.
I think you both offer some interesting takes, but to boil it down to a base level, the model of journalist as instrument to truth and information can only result in an uncomfortable conflict with journalist as gatekeeper of truth and information for their own further profit. While none of us can, it would be interesting if we could know how much of this information would have been available in real time were media outlets to ban the publishing of books by employees for say, 10 years post-story. And for the record, this isn't Haberman specific.