Chief White House strategist Steve Bannon’s demand on Thursday that the media should “keep its mouth shut and just listen for awhile” reflects the new Trump administration’s weakness and not its strength, media observers and journalism scholars told TheWrap.
“If Bannon didn’t care, then he would ignore all of it,” Al Tompkins, Poynter Institute’s senior faculty for broadcasting and online, told TheWrap.
“The opposite of love is not hate — it’s apathy. It matters and they know that this press coverage is killing their credibility,” Tompkins said. “Even their own supporters have to be raising questions.”
But media experts said that while Bannon’s tirade was harsh and confrontational — he told The New York Times, “The media’s the opposition party” — slamming the so-called fourth estate is nothing new in presidents even before the notoriously press-tweaking Donald Trump.
“This isn’t the first time the administration has attacked the media,” said Bill Wheatley, former NBC News executive and adjunct professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. “I remember when Spiro Agnew called us ‘nattering nabobs of negativism.’ We were under attack during the Nixon administration. We just need to do our jobs. That’s what it’s all about.”
Political commentators and academics have been sounding alarm bells over the issue for some time, with some comparing the new administration’s tactics to those of tyrants of yesteryear.
Veteran newsman Dan Rather has been posting daily observations on Facebook, telling Americans that “these are not normal times.”
University of California at Berkeley professor and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich has published a regular stream of watchdog tweets and blog posts, worrying that Trump is trying to “take over the truth.”
Trump’s fascistic tendencies are evident in almost everything he says and does as president. Last night in a… https://t.co/ZbKfInwOdR
“Donald Trump follows a simple strategy to take over the truth,” argued Reich in an article published in Salon earlier this week, saying Trump follows a two-step strategy.
“Step 1: Disparage the press and lie about them,” wrote Reich. “Step 2: Threaten to circumvent the press and take the ‘truth’ directly to the people,” he added.
“Independent press must find the truth, report it and hold Trump accountable for his lies,” he said in an effort to rally journalists to be vigilant in covering the new administration.
But perhaps surprisingly, Tompkins added, “I’m not worried. I believe there has not been a time in my life when journalists have mattered more, when things have moved as fast as they’re moving now.”
He continued: “The role of journalism is essential because the role of the government right now is so unclear. You have a massive exodus at the State Department, a pending trade war with Mexico and the pending dismantling of a very large health insurance system and it’s all happening too fast for regular citizens to make sense of it, so we need journalists now more than ever.”
Wheatley was also more sanguine: “My view is, steady as she goes. Our job is to find out things and report them and let the chips fall where they may.”
And despite his rage at mainstream media outlets, even Bannon admitted that he faithfully reads… The New York Times.
16 Media Winners of 2016, From Steve Bannon to Gretchen Carlson (Photos)
The bizarre last year featured a wild presidential election, the toppling of a pioneering cable news titan and a new host of pundits who have emerged as household names. Check out 16 winners in media from 2016.
Jack Abernethy and Bill Shine
Shine and Abernethy were named co-presidents of Fox News Channel after Shine’s mentor, former CEO Roger Ailes, stepped down in disgrace amid numerous accusations of sexual harassment. They not only survived the storm, they now run the network, which was the most-watched in all of basic cable for 2016.
Gretchen Carlson The former Fox News host was courageous enough to go public with sexual harassment claims against then-CEO Roger Ailes, who was arguably the most powerful man in media. Ailes stepped down in disgrace while Fox News settled with Carlson and even issued an apology.
Max Kellerman The man who was chosen to replace Skip Bayless on “First Take” is now the co-star of one of ESPN’s biggest brands. The boxing expert who played himself in “Creed” had as considerable a career upgrade as anyone in sports media this year.
Marty Baron The editor of the Washington Post has been a respected journalist for years, but when Live Schreiber portrayed him in the Academy Award winning film “Spotlight” it took Baron’s renown to a whole new level.
Donald Trump Like it or not, Trump essentially used the media to defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election with a ton of free publicity, news-making tweets and polarizing rhetoric.
Hulk Hogan The former professional wrestler received $31 million plus a share of distributions from Gawker’s recent $135 million sale to Univision when he successfully sued the media gossip site for publishing portions of a sex tape in which he was featured.
Steve Bannon The multifarious media mogul went from running Breitbart, a far-right news organization, to Donald Trump’s campaign as CEO. After winning the election, Trump named him the chief strategist and senior counselor of his incoming administration.
Van Jones The political activist-turned CNN pundit became a star on Election Day when he coined the term “whitelash,” referring to voters who came out against diversity and President Obama’s eight years in office.
Fox News’ Primetime Lineup Let’s face it, 2016 was a terrific year for the Fox News primetime team. Bill O’Reilly has the No. 1 cable news show and the No. 1 book in America, Megyn Kelly emerged as a household name and Sean Hannity was the only major news host to believe in Donald Trump's presidential prospects. Not too shabby.
Kellyanne Conway Conway was brought in by the Trump campaign to help soften his image, and she went on to become the first female campaign manager to ever win a presidential election. Conway emerged as the likable voice of reason among the Trump campaign and even received the “Saturday Night Live” treatment when Kate McKinnon parodied her frequent TV appearances.
Brian Stelter CNN’s senior media correspondent and “Reliable Sources” host was among the network’s most-solicited specialists in 2016 when Donald Trump forced media news to essentially mirror political news.
Andy Cohen The “Watch What Happens: Live” host produces Bravo's extremely successful “Real Housewives” series and even joined pal Anderson Cooper for a nationwide tour in 2016. On top of all that, Cohen was rumored to be replacing Michael Strahan on “Live!” with Kelly Ripa, but he’s too busy for another gig.
Ashleigh Banfield The veteran journalist first made 2016 news when she read an emotional letter written by the Stanford rape victim live on the air. In October, CNN promoted Banfield to primetime, where she replaced Nancy Grace on HLN.
Gabriel Sherman The New York Magazine editor literally wrote the book on Roger Ailes back when most observers thought now-disgraced Fox News CEO was a stand-up guy. Sherman was proven right about Ailes in 2016 and was out in front of the story with a ton of scoops surrounding Gretchen Carlson's claims of sexual harassment against the Fox News co-founder.
David Fahrenthold The Washington Post reporter was on fire throughout the election cycle and even broke the story of the infamous hot mic moment when Trump was caught saying he inappropriately touches women.
Chris Wallace The “Fox News Sunday” host was praised for his performance as moderator of the final debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the first Fox News personality to do so. He was even parodied on “SNL” by Tom Hanks.
The MSNBC show deserves recognition for taking Trump seriously from Day 1. In fact, the show survived accusations that it was too friendly with Trump before turning on him and touching off a Twitter feud with the then-candidate. Now, Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough are back in Donald's good graces and have as loyal a fan base as any show on cable news.
Click here for those media members who didn't have as prosperous a 2016 with TheWrap's list of the year's media losers.
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As a roller coaster year winds down, it’s time to declare who came out on top in the industry
The bizarre last year featured a wild presidential election, the toppling of a pioneering cable news titan and a new host of pundits who have emerged as household names. Check out 16 winners in media from 2016.