The Media Have Been Doing Exactly What They Condemn Trump for Doing
Media Commentary
In 2017, one month into the presidency of Donald Trump, the
Washington Post announced the newspaper’s new, portentous motto: “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” It was an early sign of the self-regard journalists would embrace during the Trump years, as well as a hint of the toxic codependent relationship they formed with him.
Four years on and despite all their protestations about Trump’s frequent norm violations and abiding hostility to journalists, the mainstream media still need him to remain in the public eye, if only to continue to play a crucial role in the story they have been telling themselves: that they are responsible for saving democracy.