The media are missing the story of our lives: a looming dictatorship
News outlets’ downplaying of the danger is shameful journalism neglect
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Is it possible that large segments of mainstream media will continue normalizing fascism right up to the very minute a dictatorship takes hold?
Is it possible that they will never warn us?
If that happens, it will mark the culmination of the most shameful episode of journalism neglect in the nation’s history.
The news industry’s mission is to inform the public about matters that affect their lives and warn them of threats to their health and safety. That’s why weather reports are such a big part of local news. So allow me to use a weather analogy to explain what’s happening in political media right now.
Imagine a hurricane approaching the coast. News organizations report that winds are increasing, heavy rain is starting to fall, barometric pressure is dropping, people are being urged to evacuate and shop owners are boarding up their windows. But the news outlets carefully avoid using the word “hurricane.”
They might tell themselves, “We said there was a big storm coming and people were urged to leave. Everyone should have figured out it was a hurricane.”
But that’s not human nature. It’s human nature to think, “We can ride this out. It’s a big storm – but it’s not a hurricane.”
What’s bearing down on us is a political hurricane – a dictatorship in which a despot controls the news media, justice becomes a mirage, oligarchs buy off the government, white supremacy reigns, and dissent is crushed by masked thugs who execute people in the street and use electrified gloves to torture people.
A lot of this is happening already. So the news media need to say plainly, in big headlines: Trump is building a dictatorship. Use the D word. Say that this is the most corrupt presidency in American history, which it obviously is. Say that the president is mentally unstable, which he obviously is.
State painful truths directly and loudly before it’s too late.
I don’t think dictatorship is inevitable. There’s a chance we can survive this. There’s the potential for people power – millions of demonstrators refusing to submit. There is the court system, which is the only branch of government putting up meaningful resistance right now. And there are the midterms, in which Democrats could win one or both houses of Congress and start holding the regime to account and obstructing its crimes.
But none of those things can be relied upon. There’s not a long tradition of mass anti-government demonstrations bearing fruit in this country. Would people even know how to attempt a general strike? And the highest court, the right-wing-dominated Supreme Court is in a position to nullify much of the good work being done by the lower courts.
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As for the midterms, Trump and his Republican co-conspirators are plotting at this very minute to rig the elections or nullify the results. They’ve already stolen Black political power through a mid-decade gerrymandering of congressional districts. The question isn’t whether Trump will rig the midterms – it’s whether he’ll rig them more.
Again, I think we can survive this. But the American people need to send a strong signal to the MAGA movement that we won’t tolerate another coup attempt. And fewer people will send that signal if the news media keep acting like everything is normal.
This is the biggest story of our lifetimes – and of political journalists’ careers – but many of them aren’t treating it that way.
The recent White House Correspondents’ Dinner, with Trump as guest of honor, was one of the worst examples of American tone deafness ever, earning a dishonorable place in history alongside the picnicking spectators at the First Battle of Bull Run.
I’ve written frequently about how major media use lame euphemisms to minimize what’s happening, such as describing Trump’s blatant corruption as “testing norms.” Another form of media malpractice was on display last weekend when Trump said he’d make the Strait of Hormuz “a territory of the United States” and U.S. news outlets barely covered it, apparently deciding that the commander of the most powerful military on Earth doesn’t need to be taken seriously.
Mainstream media are generally casting the midterms as just another red-vs.-blue contest when they ought to be telling their readers and viewers that this year’s elections may be the last chance to save American democracy. This year may also be the last chance for the news profession to save itself.
A Category 5 hurricane is bearing down on us right now. Too many journalists are still debating whether to call it one.
This week’s media atrocity
After Trump announced that professional liar Karoline Leavitt was leaving her White House job, New York Times investigative reporter Eric Lipton wrote an embarrassing Bluesky post: “White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt & members of her team have been extremely helpful in responding to questions I raise. Regardless of public facing commentary, privately they are willing to engage and address questions. And I have appreciated that. Thank you.”
A classic case of celebrating private access over public honesty.
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The answer to your question, in my opinion, is the media, with the possible exception of MSNOW will not create waves until it is too late. These other outlets are owned or soon will be owned by Trump supporting multi-billionaires, so don't expect them to raise any alarms. This is why I get all of my news from independent journalists
At this point, I won't read their newspapers. I will not watch their news programs. The American people are on the cusp of a disaster. We need more than inuendo.