Will the Majority Win?
By
George Mitrovich
I am a devoted watcher of MSNBC, the “liberal” cable television network, that ironically helped elect Donald Trump president by giving him hour-by-hour, day-by-day, saturation coverage during the 2016 campaign, and did so to the virtual exclusion of the 15 other Republican candidates who were running.
The New York Times estimated Trump received $2 billion in free air time; nothing like that had ever happened before.
Having never witnessed that kind of coverage of a presidential candidate, any presidential candidate, I became increasingly annoyed with MSNBC, especially with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, who often fawned over Trump.
I happen to know them both, like them both, but that did not keep me from turning off their show, “Morning Joe,” and turning away from MSNBC.
But politics being in my blood, I returned, especially after Trump’s election.
I like MSNBC’s anchors; I trust their analysts, such as David Ignatius of the Washington Post, Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, Michael Schmidt of The New York Times, Eugene Robinson, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist, and the many others of unimpeachable media standing — unimpeachable.
So, if you are among those of us believe Trump is a danger to our democratic institutions, that he has violated our decency and profaned our history, then MSNBC should be your cable television network of choice. Or, if you wonder, why would I watch? They’re all a bunch of “liberals” — no they’re not.
Nicolle Wallace, who has her own show on the network, was President George W. Bush’s communications director; Steve Schmidt, a frequent guest on virtually every MSNBC show, was Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign director in 2008; Senator Ted Cruz’s press secretary, Rick Taylor, is seen several times a week; Mike Murphy, a highly regarded Republican campaign strategist, and Peggy Noonan, who wrote speeches for President Reagan, are network regulars, and, most estimable of all, George Will graces many MSNBC shows with his wisdom (it’s interesting how much more intelligent Will has become since he left the Republican Party).
But rising above all is Joe Scarborough, the former conservative, very, Republican Congressman from Florida, who co-host with Mika, “Morning Joe.”
These conservatives have not abandoned their conservatism, hardly, but they find common ground with their moderate and liberal counterparts in their total contempt for Donald Trump.
That said, if you believe Fox News offers a comparable lineup of Democrats and liberals, my advice is, don’t tell anyone, otherwise they may think you are monumentality ignorant, bereft of your senses, and clueless of the means whereby politics and press is performed in the USA (or before Trump).
However this may seem, it’s not about praising MSNBC, or Joe and Mika, or any of the network’s anchors or analysts, but to take issue with them and other media, including CNN, because it has become all Trump all the time.
Trump has sucked the oxygen out of our world, I get it, but where is the balance in reporting?
Where?
Media focuses on the 90 percent of Republicans who support Trump, but fail to point out Republicans are only 25 percent of registered voters, or 24 or 26, take your pick, while ignoring the 75 percent who constitute the overwhelming majority.
Why?
It’s true, Trump has been great for MSNBC’s ratings, but some of us, however devoted to watching, want some balance in the network’s coverage — and we’re not seeing it.
This issue, media imbalance, focusing on the few at the expense of the many, has been a constant source of annoyance, when recently there was, for me, a breakthrough, a hallelujah moment.
It happened on the “Lawrence O’Donnell Show,” when he and his guest, John Heilemann, discussed the very issue I’ve been writing about, lobbying journalists to provide a broader perspective on, but without success.
I had thought I was alone in pointing this out, that Republicans are disappearing, a true minority party, in danger of following the Whigs, and yet talking heads and political writers have focused on them while ignoring the 75 percent of us who believe Trump is, as I’ve written, “an unmitigated disaster for America.”
Were O’Donnell and Heilemann influenced by my postings? Doubtful. It’s not likely they even know I exist. But, however they came to embrace my argument, I welcome them to the cause — and you should join the cause!
Which brings me to Jeremy Peters of The New York Times:
In a recent front page, above the fold, lead story, in the Sunday edition of The Times, Peters wrote 1,891 words on the 90 percent of Republican voters who embrace Trump; not just embrace him but are furious because media abuses their president, misrepresents their president, is unfair to their president, and lies about their president.
Not only 1,891 words of coverage, but color photos of Gina Anders, Daniel Arnold, and Jeff Butts, all mindless Trumpians.
The glaring error in Mr. Peters article was his shocking failure to mention that Republicans are only a small percentage of registered voters, so why give minority voters major play in the world’s greatest newspaper?
And think of the irony of giving that kind of expansive coverage to people who hate The New York Times, who despise its publisher and family, its editors and reporters, without having ever read the newspaper, because these mindless Trumpians have been brainwashed into believing its all “fake news.”
If The Times’ editors believe by lavishing such coverage on Trump and his supporters would mute their criticism, The Times editors believe in error.
This element of our population cannot be won over by facts or logic, their minds are made up — due in no small part because they believe Trump is in the White House because God placed him there. (That’s not in Mr. Peters’ story, because it never occurred to him to ask those he interviewed if they believe Trump is the president because God wanted him to be president?)
My anger over this imbalance in reporting, this failure to even acknowledge the 75 percent of us who believe Trump is doing untold damage to the country we love, to our standing in our world, despite O’Donnell and Heilemann, will continue, until media acknowledges they have erred in their obsession with the Kool Aide crowd that worships Trump.
Does The Times, for instance have any plans of featuring a comparable article of those who oppose Trump, one replete with three color photographs? Was that even discussed in editorial meetings, either in New York or Washington?
Or, is The Times going to continue this fraud by media of focusing on Trump and his Kool-Aid drinking followers, while ignoring We The People?
I think those of us who are regular readers of The Times — 54-years in my case — should ask the newspaper, do you ever interview people who actually read and support The Times?
And, the same question should go the producers at MSNBC, to get them to admit, 75 percent trumps 25!
___________________________________________________________
George Mitrovch is a San Diego civic leader. He may be reached at, gmitro35@gmail.com.
Category: feature, National News
