Hey Media!!! If his tweets are complete BULLSHIT... and they are

[maxrandb]

YOU DON'T NEED TO BREATHLESSLY REPORT ON THEM!

A large part of your job is to IGNORE BULLSHIT!!!

Do your fucking job!!!

[MousePlayingDaffodil]

1. Actually, no . . .

Pretty much anything the President of the United States says (or tweets) is, by definition, "news," regardless of the content of those statements. So reporting on what he tweets is, also by definition, the news media doing its "job."

With respect, you couldn't be more wrong here.

[maxrandb]

3. You're probably right, but

All I'm seeing with these tweets is stenography... NOT journalism.

It would be nice if the media did their jobs and dissected all the lies, line by line and word for word.

For example, Donnie Short Fingers just tweeted that Luther Strange "shot way up" in the polls after shit for brains endorsed him.

That blatant lie was in the 1ST sentence, and was then followed by more bullshit.

All MSNBC did was show the damn tweet. No conversation or examination of the bullshit.

[MousePlayingDaffodil]

5. I take your point . . .

. . . but I think it may be misplaced. The notion that the media are, somehow, the arbiters of "truth" is overblown, and considerably so. Proper journalism, for the most part, is essentially "stenography." I don't need somebody to tell me what is "truth" and what are "lies." Not only can I figure that out for myself, it's my responsibility to do so.

[sharedvalues]

11. Yes. OP is right. Media should report facts, not opinion

And if the president is trying to destroy facts by misleading the public, journalists (and the public) should be unafraid to report the fact: the president is a liar. and we should focus on better sources of information.

[MousePlayingDaffodil]

13. I'm afraid we'll have to disagree, then . . .

. . . because I don't look to others to do my thinking for me. I can reach the conclusion that the President is a "liar" without having to be told that such is the case, by the media or anybody else.

[sharedvalues]

17. Post gets it right. Lakoff puts it best

First truth. Then report the lie. Then truth again.

Or better: don’t report the lie. Use your limited time on air or in print to report useful facts instead.

Read Lakoff. Or watch him here. Better, do both

[Perseus]

38. All networks and MSM in grneral should

listen to this professor.

[JonLP24]

20. If something is either true or not they should report on that

They fact check themselves, why not the President?

[sharedvalues]

33. Yes, key point!

Not every issue has a clear fact to report. But some do. And the media should report facts when they are available.

Examples: climate change is real. The tax cut bill is a disaster for the middle class. The healthcare bill will cause Poe people to die.

Those are real facts. The GOP seeks to muddy them by lying. The media should report those facts.

[sharedvalues]

12. You are so right. Thank you.

Very well put.

The most important thing America needs right now is a return to facts in public debate. The president is trying to destroy truth.

[Perseus]

37. What they need to avoid is the continued publicity they give Bannon

yes, his stupidities have to be reported, but not with the solemnity or importance that the media puts on whatever that guy says, he needs to be banned from the conversation, or reported as what he is, a demented individual.

He and Trump validate the quotes of "God creates them and they get together", or "Birds of the same feather flock together".

[The Blue Flower]

2. These are official presidential records

Totally transparent. I encourage him and the media to continue. Documentation for the public at large, and the fool is providing it.

[Fred Sanders]

29. Insanity and racism deserves no coverage unless condemned simultaneously President or pauper.

[DonViejo]

4. They are doing their "fucking job"...

reporting official statements from the President of the United States:

DOJ says Trump's tweets are official presidential statements
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/government_says_trumps_tweets_are_official_presidential_statements

White House: Trump's tweets are 'official statements'
http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/06/politics/trump-tweets-official-statements/index.html

[sharedvalues]

10. Yes, post is right on. Do not need to report lies.

Yes you’re right journalists have some fiction still held that everything that people say is “news” just because they said it.


This is false. Journalists should report the truth. If the president lies, it is completely fair to ignore him.

[MousePlayingDaffodil]

14. You couldn't be more wrong . . .

Journalists should report the "news." If the President is telling lies, then the media shouldn't "ignore" him but report on what he's saying.

I don't understand the mentality of supposedly progressive people who believe it is the job of "journalists" or anybody else to be the arbiter of what is "truth" for a person. In my view, people who embrace such a view are setting themselves up for being suckers for some other form of propaganda.

[sharedvalues]

18. Post is right. And this is a key point about America

The media is structured to amplify lies told by Trunp and the GOP.

The media is being used by Trump. He knows they think they’re forced to repeat his words. So he tells extreme lies and the media repeats them. This dynamic is destroying America.

Journalists can report facts. They must, in fact, if we are to save our democracy.

[Fred Sanders]

30. Faux News salutes you!

[Ligyron]

40. You and I and everyone at DU may be able to discern fact from fiction

But most of this country is populated by folks who can't, that's the problem.

[DonViejo]

19. Who do you recommend sit in judgement of this President's lies?...

You? Me? Some journalist? Will your designated judge of truth and Presidential veracity also judge statements from President Obama? The next Dem President?

[JonLP24]

21. Fact check them all

[sharedvalues]

31. Yes. Journalistic consensus shows truth.

Remember Trump and the GOP are extreme liars. It is easy to call out their lies.

On climate change, we know the truth: climate change is caused by people. So journalists should say about Pruitt: “climate change is real. The GOP questions climate change because oil companies’ profits are threatened by climate change, so they pay the GOP to question climate change.”

On the Access Hollywood tape, when trump says it didn’t happen, journalists should say “Trump denies the plain truth of the tape”.



Your concern is real, that the GOP could induce the media to take truth told by later Democrats and call it a lie. But the current situation is a much bigger threat to America and so the media needs to take the most extreme lies and call them what they are. Otherwise trump and the gop will manipulate our media until we have an autocracy. For an example of why truth is so important , read this:
http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2017/05/13/the-autocrats-language/

[sharedvalues]

32. Also

If you wanted a more philosophical response, here’s my take on your direct question:

“Truth” or “fact” in public debate is a real concept. And it comes from consensus. There is a truth about climate change, because a large majority of scientists and informed citizens agree.

Truth is not available on every topic — some topics are not resolved. An example is whether free college is a good idea economically. That issue can have multiple sides.

Our current democratic crisis has been created in part by the GOP trying to damage truth. They do this by trying to muddy the waters, to create fake “controversy” on issues where facts exist. Climate change is a good example. And the GOP creates doubt by manipulating our media.

The most important thing the media can do is report facts, where they are available. The tax cut bill is a disaster for the middle class. The healthcare bill is really a big tax cut for billionaires. Those are facts. When Toomey or Price lies on TV about those topics, those guys are harming America to help billionaires. They know if they told the truth their terrible policies would be rejected. So they lie. And they do it because the media repeats their lies. If the media reported facts on topics with clear truths like this, our healthcare would be protected and this tax cut bill would be off the table.

[maxrandb]

35. I'll let you know the next time a Democratic President

Retweets White supremacists websites.

I will make you a bet though. If a Dem were tweeting complete nonsense and easily debunked bullshit, the Reich wouldn't have to beg the media to "dissect the lies"

[tenderfoot]

22. Fine! Keep documentation of his tweets!

They won't go anywhere. In the meantime cover more pressing matters. Non stop coverage of Trump tweets is NOT reporting the news. Try covering Yemen Rohingya Crisis Syria US opioids FCC GOP tax plan, etc....

[DonViejo]

24. I've read and, in many cases posted, articles about all of the news articles you

claim aren't being covered or aren't being covered enough to warrant your approval.

Do a little research, the twit's tweets are being maintained by the National Archives and are required to do so by

Congress created the Presidential Records Act of 1978 out of concern that former president Nixon would destroy the tapes that led to his resignation.

The PRA sets strict rules for presidential records created during a president’s term. They include material related to “constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the President.” This includes records created on electronic platforms like email, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. There is a narrow exception that things like diaries, journals or other personal notes don’t need to be opened for review.

Under the law, the federal government must maintain ownership and control of all presidential records, including records created by the president’s staff. Once a president leaves office, all presidential records must be transferred to the archivist of the United States, who makes them available to the public over time.

[tenderfoot]

25. Yes. He tweets are being documented...

that doesn't mean the media should be reporting on them every waking moment. He tweets that bullshit because he KNOWS everyone will talk about it rather than more pertinent matters. And it seems to work.

I'd also like to mention that just because YOU post decent articles on a online message board doesn't mean the Television News Media spends time reporting those same stories or reaching a wider audience.

[DonViejo]

28. There's a benefit to the media reporting on his tweets...

Trump’s supporters are worried about his priorities, and tired of his tweets
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2017/08/09/trumps-supporters-worried-about-his-priorities-tired-of-tweets/

The Public Is Growing Tired of Trump's Tweets, Says Voter Survey
https://politics.slashdot.org/story/17/06/07/2054214/the-public-is-growing-tired-of-trumps-tweets-says-voter-survey

Trump’s racist rants follow a pattern. Even his supporters are tired of it.
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-politics-of-distraction-bbc96303f290/

If he's tweeting every waking moment, the press is obligated to report on them. His Tweets are turning off his supporters and, sadly, embarrassing our country.

If you want to complain about Television News, that's fine with me, I stopped watching it (except MSNBC in the evenings/nights) years and years ago. Your local TV news is not going to give you the coverage you desire; never has, never will.

My involvement with handling printed news articles is more detailed than posting them to an online message board (HINT: read my DU profile).

[sharedvalues]

34. Reporting lies hurts all of us.

I encourage you to read George Lakoff.
Jay Rosen.
Masha Gessen.
The Columbia Journalism Review.
Paul Krugman (talking about false bothsides-ism since 1999).

Read the NYT Mag piece this weekend about why Crooked Media is working — because Americans are tired of the false bothsides-ism in the modern media.

If you’d like explicit citations about how the media’s desire to repeat words, instead of calling out facts where they exist, harms America, let me know. Start with Gessen’s piece “The Autocrat’s Language”.

And watch “Merchants of Doubt”.

[DonViejo]

39. You're preaching to the choir...

but am I going to advocate for some unidentified reporter to pass judgment on what he says before they publish it? No way. I'm a Democrat; I believe in Freedom of the Press and I trust other journalists (op-ed columnists, editorials and FactFinding outlets) to do that.

[Denzil_DC]

6. There was a shortlived Twitter account that reformatted Trump's tweets as official WH statements:

Link to tweet

Real Trump Press Sec @TrumpTweetsWH

May 30, 2017: Statement by the President on the Constant Negative Press Covfefe.

(yes, Covfefe was intentional and a small people know it)

Luckily, there's an official WH archive account that preserves his tweets for posterity (https://twitter.com/POTUS ).

For greater impact and to clarify about what's going on, I think it should adopt the formatting used above.

In the era of newsroom budget cuts, even mundane tweets can be blown up into stories, as there's no need for legwork and research, just a few mouse clicks.

I guess if the president makes any public statement, it's supposed to be a big deal, despite the fact you currently have a gibbering self-obsessed wastrel occupying that post.

[mopinko]

7. report them, fine. but

dont give them the whole fucking A block.
give them 60 seconds at the end of the show.

or be like rachel, dont report what they say, watch what they do.

dont let them suck up all the oxygen in the room.

[sharedvalues]

36. Watch what they do! Dont report what they say!

Such an important idea. Thanks for putting it here.

[dalton99a]

8. His idiocy must be reported.

[sharedvalues]

9. Yes!! Yes! Lies should be ignored

The media has this stupid fiction that is a relic from he 1950s that if a public figure says something it is news.


That is frankly asinine.


When someone demonstrates his only goal is to distract and lie, the media DOES NOT need to report on it. Because if they do, they are helping to distract.



The job of the media is to drive truthful public debate to advance our society. If the president is trying to prevent that, the media should do their job: REPORT THE TRUTH. If truth means ignoring the president because of his history of lies and distraction, they should ignore him.

[DonViejo]

15. Pure unadulterated BS.

The media has the responsibility of reporting what he says; truths or lies.

[sharedvalues]

43. Columbia Journalism Review says media should report facts

Not repeat lies.

https://www.cjr.org/criticism/trump_birtherism_lie_media.php

Seriously — there is a big change going on in media as the media starts to realize their old dictum, that reporting words is enough, isn’t valid in an environment when the GOP and Trump are trying to exploit journalists.

This has been widely discussed in CJR. Krugman has been saying this for nearly two decades. Jay Rosen is a good read about it.


Media is changing. The old rules came about when the news, from CBS to the NYT, didn’t need to worry about making money. And when journalists were respected by everyone. And the government wasn’t thought to lie. And Limbaugh and Fox and blatant GOP liars did not exist. It’s a new world. (CJR has argued that the 1920s and today are similar and the 50s-70s were the aberration).

[MousePlayingDaffodil]

16. No, what is a "relic" from the past is the arcane notion . . .

. . . that "a free press" is "fourth branch of government." To my ear, hearing someone say the "job of the media is to drive truthful public debate" is pretty frightening.

[JonLP24]

23. If they are going to report on "facts" they should be reporting all the facts

Give a history lesson on tax cuts explaining it is a failed policy going back to the horse and sparrow theory it just leads to rich getting richer and more monopolization. They are setting us back by treating this as giving credibility to the Republicans.

There is a reason why I like Vice or Frontline because they give a lot of context but even they leave out or omit facts.

[doc03]

26. If they didn't report them we wouldn't

know how f. Ing crazy he is.

[Beartracks]

27. Or, at least, call it for what it is: bullshit.

Repeating isn't reporting.

Fancy yourself a journalist? Then explain why Trump's tweets are lies, and why he does it.

==========

[Martin Eden]

42. Call a LIE a LIE, every time!

Rethugs are able to shape public opinion by repeating lies big and small over and over and over again.

A prime responsibility of the Fourth Estate is separate fact from fiction in the public mind.

Trump tries to bury us with the sheer avalanche of his lies. We get fatigued and eventually complacent, which normalizes what should be totally unacceptable to the voting public.

The mefia neefs to be the first line of defense against this.

[SunSeeker]

41. Or better yet, report that the President is tweeting BULLSHIT.

I hate it when they report what the tweet says as the headline. That is just being his megaphone. Most people don't read past the headline. The headline should be "President tweets vicious lie at 4 am."

[Skittles]

44. evidence our so-called "president" is off the rails WILL BE REPORTED

if they call it what it is they become FOX NEWS