The political media are entertaining us to death

MAGA fascism wins when storytelling gets in the way of truth-telling

You hear a lot about “storytelling” in journalism these days. 

It’s not enough to deliver the facts – journalists have to present them in a compelling narrative. They need conflict and drama. They need surprising twists and turns. They need hooks that make readers click on their headlines. They need fresh storylines that are visual and even cinematic.

Water pollution regulations and price caps on insulin are not cinematic. Even something as important as the rise of American fascism isn’t cinematic except when a mob bludgeons cops and storms the Capitol.

The push toward authoritarianism is often happening on paper – such as the Supreme Court ruling that confers the power of a king upon the presidency. We didn’t get video of the Supreme Court justices issuing their ruling, and the impact won’t be felt for months or years, so it’s under-covered. Major media like the trivial but tangible, such as Donald Trump’s sale of $299 assassination-attempt-themed sneakers, the novelty of a vice-presidential nominee with a beard and the “campaign issue” of Kamala Harris’ laugh. 

Part of the problem is the common definition of news. One Webster definition is “previously unknown information.” It was nearly a decade ago when Trump called for the jailing of Hillary Clinton, so when he advocates the jailing or even execution of his enemies, that’s just “Trump being Trump.” Old news. 

I have a different definition of news: It’s information that helps people improve their lives and warns people of threats to their well-being. Trump and his anti-democracy gang are a huge danger, which means they’re a huge story.

Yet before recent events such as the assassination attempt and Harris’ entry into the race, the campaign “lacked the high-wattage, earth-shattering storylines that energize the reporters who chronicle them,” the Washington Post wrote over the weekend. The most important election of our lifetimes was “a bit sleepy,” according to the shallow people at the Post.

I wish journalists would be a tad less bored with the threatened demise of democracy. I wish they’d cover Trump like they cover hurricanes. When hurricanes approach, news outlets warn people. They don’t think, “We told them about hurricanes last year. This is just another one. It’s just ‘hurricanes being hurricanes.’”

The media’s obsession with the new – with bright, shiny objects – works against politicians who are serious about government policies. It rewards stunts and head fakes.

A couple weeks ago, the media were obsessed with a supposed Trump pivot – or as a Politico reporter wrote idiotically, his “new softness.” That wasn’t a real twist in the story – of course not – but reporters used that spin to meet their story quotas and fill up airtime. In daily journalism, there’s a need to “feed the beast” – to write something, anything, as long as it’s clickable. 

It’s news as entertainment. 

Conflict is one of the essences of storytelling, and the Democrats supplied plenty of that in the last month with their stay-or-go-Joe wrangling over Biden. At least as newsworthy during that time was Trump’s unhinged rhetoric. Yet it produced less conflict because his supporters accepted it. And thus it got less coverage.

Now Kamala Harris is the bright, shiny object, showered with positive attention. This will not last. The thirst for new storylines will compel the media to go negative on Harris. I’m not saying they should go easy on her. They should go serious on her, staying focused on the issues that people really care about. They should avoid frivolous framing that treats politics like a movie plot.

The desire for cinematic spin is why the Associated Press gave the Roman emperor treatment to Trump’s visit to the scene of his Jan. 6 crime in June. AP’s story started: “Donald Trump made a triumphant return to Capitol Hill on Thursday …” Triumphant return? He’s under federal indictment for what he fomented on Capitol Hill. Please.

Another example of the triumph of storytelling over truth-telling was in the New York Times’ embarrassing headline after Trump’s felony conviction in Manhattan:

Trump was never “Master of New York City.” He was a headline-grabbing clown. If anyone knew that, it was the editors of the Times. But they spun it that way because it had a fall-from-grace feel to it. It was cinematic. They got enough ridicule over the headline that they later changed it to:

One thing Trump actually is a master at is inventing and promoting narratives. The Big Lie about the 2020 election is the most prominent and damaging one, but there are lots of others, providing nonstop programming material for Fox News and other needy news outlets. There’s “the Russia hoax,” “the deep state,” “the swamp,” immigrants “poisoning the blood of our country,” “Soros prosecutors,” etc., etc., etc.

Ironically, some of the craziest things Trump says at rallies purely for their entertainment value are no longer of interest to mainstream media. To normal people, a politician talking repeatedly about batteries on boats, sharks and Hannibal Lecter would be alarming. But to the media, it’s not news anymore. They need new crazy things. 

Here’s a storyline that the media ought to go after:

If the Republican Party wins the upcoming election, it could be the last fair election in American history. And even if the Republicans lose, they’re plotting to dispute the results and cause chaos that may make Jan. 6 pale in comparison.

That might not be entertaining enough for the news media, but it’s frightening enough to get American grown-ups to pay attention.