(Probably due to the increased clicks, the LA Times has expanded this series from four to six installments. This one does not pack the punch of the first three, but is perhaps setting up the next two. I will post these diaries until they are finished, so you have an easy route to them from your favorite blog, DKos...)
The forth installment has as its lede —“Trump’s War on Journalism.”
The times begins by cataloging the Orange Ogre’s insults and flip dismissals of the press and notes that these pronouncements are popular with his rabid followers.
“Trump’s strategy is pretty clear: By branding reporters as liars, he apparently hopes to discredit, disrupt or bully into silence anyone who challenges his version of reality. By undermining trust in news organizations and delegitimizing journalism and muddling the facts so that Americans no longer know who to believe, he can deny and distract and help push his administration’s far-fetched storyline.
It’s a cynical strategy, with some creepy overtones. For instance, when he calls journalists “enemies of the people,” Trump (whether he knows it or not) echoes Josef Stalin and other despots.
But it’s an effective strategy. Such attacks are politically expedient at a moment when trust in the news media is as low as it’s ever been, according to Gallup. And they’re especially resonant with Trump’s supporters, many of whom see journalists as part of the swamp that needs to be drained.”
They end by promising to not to give in to Drumpf’s bullying but to continue their impartial investigations on the news pages as well as presenting their unvarnished opinions in the editorial section.
As I said, this installment is not as satisfying in tone as the first three, but I suspect the final two will address the mushrooming scandals currently dominating the headlines, and, hopefully, how they see this all playing out...