The propaganda masquerading as news we saw in Milwaukee will not fly here in Chicago.
I watched in astonishment as the difference between mainstream channels (like NBC and CNN) and Republican media partners (like Fox and Newsmax) simply vanished.
Before the Republican convention is too far in the rearview mirror, I think its important to take a few minutes to talk about the utter failure of mainstream media outlets to truthfully cover Donald Trump and the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last week.
As readers know, I have been a harsh critic of specific media failures, like the unbalanced coverage of Joe Biden’s age. But what happened in Milwaukee was altogether the worst journalism I have ever seen.
In fact, I don’t think it was journalism at all. I watched in astonishment as the difference between mainstream channels (like NBC and CNN) and Republican media partners (like Fox and Newsmax) simply vanished. That difference was journalism. And in its place were a series of handmaidens eager to platform lies, amplify mistruths and generally allow themselves to be used.
Maybe they were just intimidated. Reporters at the scene of the assassination attempt just days earlier noted that Trump supporters almost immediately blamed the press for the shooting, shouting things like “this is your fault” and “you’re next” at them. The MAGA media then took up the charge; in the hours between the shooting and the start of the convention, attacks on the news media were nasty and widespread. As CNN’s Oliver Darcy wrote:
“Despite the accuracy of the news media’s reporting on Trump, supporters of the former president have moved to vilify and scapegoat journalists for the heinous attack, sending anti-media attitudes to alarming heights.”
To be clear, journalism does not own any culpability for causing this terrifying and heinous event. But these right-wing attacks clearly had an impact afterwards. The solid reporting of the shooting incident quickly morphed into something that left core journalism values on the sidelines.
I find it especially concerning that there has been little clamoring for credible, official information on Trump’s injury. The press has seemed content to quote Trump himself, despite his long history of lying about his health, his family and disgraced former doctor Ronny Jackson.
This retreat from good journalism then colored the coverage of the Republican convention. Consider these:
NBC news canceled one of its regular round-table political talk shows.
NBC anchor Lester Holt did a cringey interview with President Biden.
CNN allowed Republicans to tell lies in live interviews with little or no pushback.
Lie-filled speeches littered prime time coverage, but fact-checks came hours later in less-watched time periods. Digital media often posted fact-checks in the middle of the night.
Beltway tipsheets Politico and Axios, along with many TV anchors, went big on the “Trump’s a changed man” fiction with little to no follow-up when none of that proved true.
Softball questions were the norm.
Newspapers across the country published false and misleading headlines about Trump’s acceptance speech because they relied on a pre-release version of the speech, not the real-life version.
Two failures stand out above all the rest: 1) NBC’s decision to censor its own programming and 2) the plethora of headlines and news stories that misrepresented the Trump acceptance speech.
NBC had already shown questionable judgment by hiring and then firing Ronna McDaniel earlier this year. Pre-empting “Morning Joe” on the first day of the RNC was equally disgraceful. When the show returned, the hosts were livid and highly critical of NBC.
The Trump post-acceptance speech headlines were some of the worst convention journalism of all time. In 1948, the Chicago Tribune famously ran the headline “Dewey beats Truman.” Since then, every journalist has learned to wait for the actual results. But apparently, that lesson was lost in Milwaukee. No reporter who watched the sweaty Trump speech — with the usual attacks, threats and Hannibal Lecter obsession — would ever say “Trump emphasizes unity” or “Trump takes a unity tone.” Yet that’s the story that went out across the country.
The New Republic correctly asks, “Did the Media Actually Listen to Trump’s Bonkers RNC Speech?” Parker Malloy adds:
“These headlines, and others like them, paint a picture of a dramatically transformed Trump that simply did not match the reality of his speech. They appear to be based more on pre-speech expectations and perhaps early excerpts than on the full content of Trump’s address. This disconnect between headlines and content raises serious questions about journalistic practices. Are deadlines and the pressure to be first trumping accuracy and comprehensive reporting? Are news outlets so invested in the “pivot” narrative that they’re willing to ignore contradictory evidence?”
Going forward, I really don’t think it’s too much to ask for journalists to actually watch speeches and then write the headlines and news stories. Reality over press releases is always the smartest move. As for broadcast coverage, media critic Mark Jacob told me he thinks TV networks should stop running full-length speeches and “be willing to stop showing a speech and cut to fact-checkers in the studio who can explain what’s true and what’s false.”
I think live interviews also require the same level of fact-checking. We’ve seen many TV journalists do powerful interviews using video clips to show politicians past comments. They need to bring that practice to the convention interviews, too.
Next month, there’s another political convention. This one is in my hometown of Chicago. Granted, the Democrats are a pretty normal political party — at least by today’s standards — so the news coming out of this convention should be fairly routine stuff. Still, I have to ask my journalism friends to get back to basics and put facts first. The type of propaganda masquerading as news we saw in Milwaukee will not fly here in Chicago.
Jennifer Schulze is a Chicago journalist reporting on journalism. You can read her columns here and at Heartland Signal. Follow Jennifer on Threads @newsjennifer_schulze or Twitter/X @NewsJennifer.