Tell The Truth Now!

The war makes it more urgent for journalists to call out Trump’s derangement

Don't hold your breath. As Froomkin types, it isn't up to the journalists, but their institutional masters.

I sincerely hope that the leaders of our top news organizations are doing some serious introspection right now.

Maybe they’re searching for the right language – they just can’t bring themselves to use words like deranged or dangerous.

Well here are some things they can say – in the institution’s own voice — that don’t sound so extreme, all of which are backed up by extensive evidence.

He is volatile. He is unreliable. He lacks credibility. Sometimes he is incoherent. He is asserting dictator-like powers. He operates in a bubble of enablers. When he utters a falsehood, it is because he is lying or because he has lost touch with reality – or both. He is being misled by his aides. He believes the lies he sees on Fox News.

And if news executives aren’t willing to be blunt in their institutional voice, they should at least include informed speculation about why he says and does things that are so irrational and disconnected from reality.

They can attribute it to experts or critics if they must, but they should fully describe the critique that provides the essential context for virtually every news article coming out of Washington these days.

Something like: “Critics say Trump is deranged and unfit, that his aides are venal, that his cabinet is inept, and that his supporters are cultists. They say nothing he says can be trusted and that he should be removed from office.”

Still nagonna happen.