Calling Out Trump's Lies: Our Broken Media, Cont'd.

Media Matters reports that a number of long-time political journalists are calling on their colleagues to call out the lies of neo-fascist buffoon Donald "Rump" Trump on the campaign trail and in interviews. So far, Rump has largely avoided being held to account by the media for his numerous falsehoods and misinformation, with the mostly ignored exception of "fact checkers" like PolitiFact or fact checkers employed by major newspapers. By having his rallies and speeches appear without interruption on cable channels, Rump has been able to slide by without being challenged in real time. Also, the lack of follow up questions by apparently unprepared interviewers (hey there, Chuck "It's Not My Job" Todd!) allow Rump to escape fact checking, which only encourages more lying on his part.

We're not at all optimistic that the Beltway village media will dare to push back on Rump when he launches into a "pants on fire" answer or statement. It's simply not the style of tabloid "journalism" that's been practiced broadly in the past 25 years, with the insidious overlay of false equivalence / both siderism that rules the political press. It's about sizzle, sound bites and sensation for corporate journalism that knows there's no profit in the truth anymore.