Pay attention to right-wing media
By Christopher B. Daly
In the age of Trump, the media landscape has shifted.
Traditionally, our presidents were big readers. During the decades before they entered the White House, they typically read books about history and global issues. They read biographies of earlier leaders, in preparation for exercising power themselves. They also devoured newspapers — the leading papers from their home states as well as the “elite” national media, along with serious magazines. They also watched the network news. Once in office, all modern presidents read “briefing books” — customized reports on serious topics, prepared by experts, collected in three-ring binders.
One result: they dwelt in a world of facts.
Another result: they dwelt in a world that was recognizable to other powerful, responsible people, whether they were in Congress, in business, or in other countries. There was a lingua franca (to use an elite, foreign-language term) that facilitated not only discussion but action.
Now, we are in a very different situation. President Trump appears not to be much of a reader. He famously shunned the Presidential Daily Brief (the PDB) and ordered his staff to boil things down into bullet points — preferably fewer than 10 and preferably one-page long.
So, where does Trump get his intelligence?
We can infer a lot from his tweets and his public statements.
He immerses himself in right-wing media, especially cable TV, and he talks to people who are themselves dependent on right-wing media. His favorite program appears to be “Fox and Friends,” a morning talk show on Fox News, which he alternates with “Morning Joe,” featuring former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough. Trump also checks in with Bill O’Reilly regularly. Through Fox News, or perhaps directly, Trump is exposed to the vast right-wing “meme factory” that produces a torrent of alternative anecdotes, slogans, conspiracies, xenophobia, and re-framing of regular news. I monitor these sources for professional purposes and to get out of my own bubble. It is really a different place.
I would venture to say that most Democrats, most well educated people, and even most “news junkies” rarely venture into the right-wing news universe. But it is important, because that is the stream from which Trump drinks and uses as the basis for policy.
With all this in mind, I think the major media would be doing a great public service if they would prepare a daily digest of what is being said and shown on right-wing media. Call it the Citizen’s Daily Brief. That way, the rest of the world would not be so startled when Trump refers to a non-existent terror event in Sweden or says crime in the U.S. is at an all-time high. The things in his head come from somewhere, and we need to know what’s going in there. So, to the mainstream media, a simple request: please watch and listen to right-wing media so we don’t have to!
