The Media Got The Election Wrong, But They Seem To Be Reeling
If you watched the returns from the election on television, the look on the faces of the news media was a mixture of disbelief and bewilderment. The next day, all of the networks reported Trump’s “surprise” victory was a “shocking upset” or sent “shockwaves” across the country. Here again, we are witnessing how the press tries to spin the news and manipulate the perspectives of the public.
In order for something to be an “upset,” it has to be unexpected. The main street media may have been unprepared for Trump’s victory, but many of us were. I, for one, was confident of the outcome in Florida and on numerous occasions had to reassure Republicans that all was well in Florida.
Since Trump’s announcement of his candidacy last year, the news media never took him seriously and discredited his chances for success. Even on election night, Fox’s Charles Krauthammer picked Mrs. Clinton to win. It was beyond his imagination that an outsider, like Trump, could make it to the Oval Office.
This makes Donald Trump either the smartest man alive or the luckiest. I tend to believe the former and not the latter as he understood the mood of the country and tapped into the angst of the Silent Majority.
This shock and awe by the news media means they were horribly wrong about the election, were relying on fallacious data from tainted polls, and underestimated an outsider taking down one of the most preeminent insiders in Washington. To their way of thinking, it just couldn’t happen.
The disbelief of the press carried forward to Democrats who openly wept when they discovered Mrs. Clinton had lost. It also turned into anger as young people took to the streets in protest of the new President-elect. I place the responsibility for provoking this culture war at the feet of the news media who didn’t report the news accurately and supported one side of the political spectrum, and demeaned the other. It was far from “fair and balanced.”
It seems the media is less concerned with reporting the news fairly as opposed to spinning their pseudo-intellectual points of view. No wonder they have lost the trust of the people.
Now we will start a new administration with a press corps that will either clean up its act or provoke an adversarial relationship with President Trump. Frankly, I think it will be necessary for our new president to take the press to the woodshed for some attitude readjustment. I wouldn’t blame Trump if he closed the press room in the White House and put the media outside on park benches. It would be fitting they be given quarters that suit their professional stature.
Keep the Faith!
