By Lydia Polgreen
In the aftermath of what appears to have been an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, Republicans are accusing the news media of creating an atmosphere that made violence all but inevitable. One widely circulating proof point in this argument is the June cover of The New Republic, which depicts Trump with a Hitler mustache above the headline that declares “American fascism” in red type redolent of the Third Reich.
I’m always hesitant to engage in the game of who started it — that is a question for squabbling children. And yet we would do well to remember that the language of apocalyptic violence has been Trump’s signature throughout his career, long before he descended that golden escalator to declare that rapists from Mexico were invading our country.
From the earliest days of his presidential candidacy, the news media tried in a variety of ways to navigate his norm-busting political rhetoric. I’ve spent some time thinking about Arianna Huffington’s decision in 2015 to consign candidate Trump to the entertainment section of her news site, The Huffington Post.
“Trump’s campaign is a sideshow,” wrote Ryan Grim, who was then the site’s Washington bureau chief. “We won’t take the bait. If you are interested in what The Donald has to say, you’ll find it next to our stories on the Kardashians and The Bachelorette.”
At the time, and after I took over as Huffington’s successor in the aftermath of Trump’s victory, I had a sense of smug certainty that I would never have made such a decision. But given all that has happened since, I have come to think of it differently.
Perhaps it was a prescient if imperfect choice: a failed attempt to cordon off an ugly strain of political rhetoric, safely in the world of paranoid, conspiracy-laden entertainment. Trump was a reality television star. And this was, after all, the time of the Shonda Rhimes TV melodrama “Scandal,” about dastardly Republicans, and “House of Cards,” David Fincher’s soapy saga about diabolical Democrats. Over time I have come to understand the decision as a warning, and a cry for help.
It is worth remembering that the conspiratorial and diabolical cast of mind knows no party, even if it has surfaced more frequently and violently in history on the right. We will spend many years trying to figure out how we got here, and who is to blame. But the urgent business of this moment is finding a path out of this madness.
Media plays a pivotal role in shaping public perception and informing society. With the rise of digital platforms, traditional forms of media, like newspapers and television, have evolved into dynamic online spaces. A key player in this transformation is the Website which serves as a central hub for news, entertainment, and social interaction. Websites allow media outlets to reach a global audience instantly, offering interactive and multimedia content. Social media platforms further amplify the reach of online media, enabling individuals to share, comment, and engage in real-time, making media more accessible and participatory than ever before.