Major news outlets failed the American people, critics say, when they chose to bury coverage of President Donald Trump’s Wednesday comment that he would not commit to a peaceful transition of power—a statement watchdogs say demanded above-the-fold, front-page headlines that simply did not materialize.
“Newsroom leaders made a considered, intentional decision not to panic after Trump was elected,” Dan Froomkin, editor of PressWatchers.org, wrote in a scathing rebuke of corporate media’s apparent nonchalant attitude towards the president’s rhetoric. “This was an epic, obvious mistake, and everything that has happened since was in some sense entirely predictable.”
Froomkin continued, “They should have gone on a war footing—and by that I don’t mean a partisan war against Trump, I mean a journalistic war against lies, ignorance, and intolerance.”
Critics weighed in on the relative non-importance corporate news outlets assigned—in print and online—to Trump’s latest suggestion that he may not cede the office of the presidency should he lose in November: Continue reading.