In the months since he began pursuing the presidency, Donald J. Trump has exhibited a command over the national news media that is without parallel in modern times reads the article by Jim Rutenberg in The New York Times
The can’t-look-away quality of his public persona and his media awareness have frequentlyead pushed much of our national journalism into an unsavory corner where the imperatives of equal time, hard scrutiny and adherence to traditional standards have given way to the business lure of the huge television ratings and internet clicks that Mr. Trump uniquely provides.
Still, nothing will test the news media like the next few days in Cleveland, where the Republican convention gets underway on Monday. Mr. Trump will have something that even he has never had; something that only presidents and major party nominees get. And that is nearly full control of the national media stage for four straight evenings in prime time, across not only cable news, but, at least for one hour every night, the broadcast networks as well.
He has been planning to make full use of his time in his trademark way, with daily themes that will weave in staples of hot-button topics from talk radio and the Fox News Channel’s opinion programs: Bill Clinton’s infidelity, Hillary Clinton’s response to the attack on the American compound in Benghazi, and immigration.
How far Mr. Trump goes with that convention approach, first reported by Jeremy W. Peters of The New York Times last week, remains to be seen; one never knows. But some of it promises to border on spectacle, to put it mildly. (Let me repeat: Among the potential themes is Mr. Clinton’s sex life.)
It could be one of those events that we look back on as a defining moment in American media, especially for the television networks: Did they once again this year hand themselves over to a Trumpian infomercial — the ultimate Trump infomercial — and bask in the ratings?
Or did they rediscover their vital role of providing context, perspective and truth in a contest that is not a countdown-clock-worthy sporting event or reality show, but a competition for the presidency of the United States in fraught and dangerous times?
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Feature image courtesy AP
