A long time ago in a galaxy not so far away, I wrote a list of New Year’s resolutions for the mainstream media. It was a year into Donald Trump’s first term, and I thought the media needed to change the way they approached Trump.
In that first list, I suggested that media outlets give Trump the benefit of the doubt, prioritize accuracy over being first, and stop condescending to readers and viewers. As we’re getting ready for Trump 2.0, it’s time for more resolutions, so here’s a new list.
1. Drop the “literally Hitler” nonsense already.
The attempts to portray Trump as the second coming of Adolf Hitler have long past their best-buy date. Those canards aren’t convincing anybody who isn’t already 100% sure that Trump is the devil incarnate.
Everybody knows that the mainstream media is lousy with Trump hate, but the extreme rhetoric just looks foolish. Even at his worst, Trump is no authoritarian, and he’s not buddy-buddy with other dictators. He also doesn’t allow abject hatred to drive him like men like Hitler did.
If they want to be even the least bit serious about “turning down the temperature,” the media needs to start with Trump. Otherwise, the rhetoric looks like projection and hypocrisy.
2. Stop acting like everyday Americans are major outliers in society.
One of the things the mainstream media does more than anything else is act like the vast majority of Americans are weird people who live on the fringes of society. I’m not just talking about conservatives or churchgoing people but also people who live their lives without obsessing over politics or cultural causes all the time.
Most Americans want to come home from work, have dinner, take the kids to baseball practice and piano lessons, and live their lives. They don’t want to march for abortion or raise money for the ACLU. Not everyone lives in the partisan left’s activism bubble, and the media should recognize that.
There’s a corollary to this resolution, which brings us to the next item on our list.
3. Stop acting like the outliers are everyday Americans.
I’m not just talking about promoting the political junkies above those who don’t live in that world; I also think the media needs to quit trying to portray the “freaks” of our society — the trans goons, the BLM militants, the head-shaving blue-bracelet chicks, and more — as the mainstream voices of America.
Of course, the left-wing press wants to “normalize” these people (remember, they’re “just like you”) as often as possible, but if the media understood that Americans don’t want the freaks shoved in their faces all the time, they might realize that we’re more tolerant than they give us credit for.
4. Cover infighting in both parties equally.
The mainstream media practically drools anytime there’s an internecine squabble in the Republican party. The slightest disagreement between members of the GOP can dominate coverage for days, but the Democrats’ infighting doesn’t get nearly as much coverage.
If the media would cover both parties’ family struggles more equally, we might be more willing to buy the claims of objectivity. Maybe.
5. Understand that parents want to be responsible for their kids.
Our biggest cultural fights these days stem from the fact that parents want to raise their kids and wrest control from schools, cultural tastemakers, and bureaucrats. Nobody in the media seems to get this.
Most parents aren’t content to give up the sacred responsibility of raising their kids — especially to a woke culture that flies in the face of these parents’ most cherished beliefs. If media outlets sided with parents more often, it could restore some of the trust the mainstream media has lost.
It’d be nice if the media would make these New Year’s resolutions, but I’m not holding my breath.
