Photograph Source: Matt Johnson – CC BY 2.0

These days when I’m asked how I’m doing, I usually reply, “I’m fine until I start following the news.” It’s all so depressing. Donald Trump is everywhere. On front pages as well as in social media, DJT dominates. A day doesn’t go by without headlines mentioning something involving Trump. Tariffs? Attacks on the Federal Reserve or some other congressionally established institution? ICE? A recent court ruling for or against him? His Nobel Peace Prize quest? One could ask if his omnipresence is intentional. Does he set out to dominate the 24/7 news cycle or is his presence merely a reflection of his frenetic pace? “Attention, not cash, is the form of power that most interests him,” Ezra Klein wrote in the Times. Whether intentional or not, his media presence buries deeper stories. He diverts our attention from anything else.

Trump stories appear, then quickly disappear. Today’s headlines have their own limited time cycle. We are now focused on Trump’s firings at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the fate of Susan Monarez as well as pressure on Jerome Powell and Lisa Cook at the Federal Reserve. What will be next? Will the next Trump headline bury the CDC story or the one about the Federal Reserve? Already we have trouble finding information about what happened to the U.S. Institute of Peace where its president, George Moose, was escorted out by local police.

Like an avalanche, Trump news gathers speed and buries everything in its path only to pop up in another place. It’s exhausting, and overwhelming. As for intentionality, the former Trump chief adviser Steve Bannon described the strategy in 2018, “The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.”

I asked a former CNN executive if true journalism is over with Trump’s domination. This is his response:

“Those believing journalism is on its last legs are mistaken. Certain people will always seek out information from reliable sources. There’s the catch: the seekers are fewer and fewer. There are also fewer and fewer reliable sources, some thriving, others fading away.

It’s true that media houses are distancing themselves from news output. The priority for executives is keeping the cash flowing. Venture capitalists and hedge funders have no interest in sending money to newsrooms. Crypto and AI is far more interesting. Sure, those products may be nothing more than 21st Century buggy whips and hula hoops, but buyers are lined up.

Some observers wax prolific about a declining audience for journalism. The more experienced know the true importance of readers, viewers and listeners who remain supportive of media outlets as opposed to those needing an hourly dose of celebrity, glamor or hate. Some media proprietors have made the lowest common denominator their choice.”

The former CNN executive is optimistic about the future of media, although he has seen and lived through several media outlets disappearing. There are those of us who do believe in fact-based media outlets. But are we enough to keep the media ship afloat? A recent story by David D. Kirkpatrick on “How much is Trump profiting off the Presidency?” in The New Yorker is an excellent example of the kind of long-term reporting that is needed.

But there is a difference between longer articles in a weekly magazine – even The New Yorker now has a New Yorker Daily – and the 24/7 news cycle which feeds “an hourly dose of celebrity, glamor or hate.” DJT and his people have been able to appeal to a sizeable audience. “We want our news, and we want it now” is the current reality. The 24/7 news cycle gives instantaneous satisfaction; Trump fulfils that need.

This is how the former CNN executive sees Trump’s relation to the media:

“Donald Trump was chosen by Robert Thomson, chief executive of News Corp. Mr. Thomson understands the media business better than all the rest. Mr. Thomson found a true believer in the power of television with highly addicted viewers, typically those offended by smart people. This was – still is – the Fox audience. The money flowed in from cable TV subscriptions and advertisers selling cheap goods.”

The relationship between Trump and the media is perfectly symmetrical. He wants to be front page every day. The media believes he sells. The result is that the public gets its dose of Trump news daily. So whether or not Trump sets out to headline the daily news, he manages to be there. The media can’t get enough of him – witness Maggie Haberman’s ongoing fascination with DJT in the Times. Nor is this something new. An Axios graphic in September, 2017, showed “The insane news cycle of Trump’s presidency in 1 chart.”

How to get out of Trump’s dominated news? “How do you push back against a tidal wave?” political communication expert Dannagal Young asked. Besides retreating to some island with no connections, I began an experiment. At social gatherings I count the minutes before the conversation turns to Trump. Talk about the hot weather and climate change? An interesting movie or song that just came out? A book that’s worth suggesting to others? See how long it takes before the subject turns to Trump.

I’m not saying that Trump should be ignored. What I am suggesting is that his media domination is part of his personality and program. Being front and center is essential to who he is and how he functions. “[Trump’s] desire for that attention is so deep, it’s coming from such a deep place, he needs it so pathologically,” observed Chris Hayes, author of The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource.

Ignoring Trump may be one way of countering him and what he stands for. But I cannot promise not to read about him or write about him. What he is doing to the United States and the world cannot be ignored, and that’s not Maggie Haberman-like fascination.

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