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Since November 7th, 2020 - the day Joe Biden was declared President-elect, following a contentious, controversial and consequential presidential election - there have been several newspaper and magazine articles that have asked the question, "Without Donald Trump in The White House, what will CNN and MSNBC do?"
Most recently - on Monday, December 14th - The New York Times noted in a column by John Koblin and Michael M. Grynbaum that
"CNN and MSNBC thrived during the Trump years, reaching new heights in ratings and revenue while devoting countless prime-time hours to criticizing a White House antagonist their viewers just could not quit." Over the last four years, MSNBC and CNN, without question, skyrocketed to astronomical altitudes with big bucks and record ratings. But these two cable television networks have much more to offer, and skeptics need to embody more confidence in the professionalism of journalists who can provide quality programming that will arouse, animate and attract their viewers.
So what will CNN and MSNBC do after Donald Trump's been evicted from The White House? In a word...plenty!
CNN was founded in 1980 by Ted Turner, whose brilliance to create the first
24-hour, all-news TV network, molded this broadcasting giant and business genius in to icon status. Although many industry executives and financial wizards thought Turner - to put it bluntly - was nuts to invest his dollars and time in to a cable media outlet that would air nothing but news around-the-clock, it was Turner who - to this day - has been laughing all the way to the bank as he counts his money. The success of CNN made Turner in to a bona fide mogul who, in 1996, sold CNN, as part of Time Warner's acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System, for which - according to the network he created - Turner raked in a nice, tidy sum of 7.34 billion dollars in stock. But when Time Warner merged with AOL in 2001, the company's stock prices plummeted as the dot.com bubble burst. The New Yorker magazine says Turner was Time Warner's top individual shareholder and The New York Times says he lost about 7 billion dollars when Time Warner's stock dropped 60 percent. Before the tumble, the philanthropic Turner gifted 1 billion dollars to establish the United Nations Foundation. And although I salute Ted Turner for his generosity and admire him as a media guru, I don't see eye to eye with him when he shoots off his mouth and is offensive. At least with Turner, when he gets in to hot water with people, he has apologized for some of his insulting remarks and provocative comments; something that Donald Trump would never do. As for Turner's tremendous financial loss from Time Warner's stock, I won't be playing any violins for him. Business Insider says Turner owns 15 ranches in 10 states totaling just under 2 million acres, which makes him one of the largest individual landowners in North America. Forbes says Turner's Real Time Net Worth - as of Saturday, December 19th, 2020 - is 2.2 billion dollars. It's been 40 years that CNN's been broadcasting and it will continue to prosper for 40 more years or 400 more years. CNN, and MSNBC too, along with the people who run these networks, plus the anchors, correspondents, producers and other personnel, do not need Donald Trump. There will be other news that will keep viewers watching. Oh I know both CNN and MSNBC have been much more successful these past four years than previously. In large part, it's because on-air hosts, commentators and analysts have been able to speak their minds. By doing so, they represent - with charisma (sometimes) and articulation (always) - the thoughts of liberals, progressives and other Democrats, who - from their dens, bedrooms and living rooms - concentrate intently on their every syllable. Attacking Trump's lack of responsibility, his ineptitude and incompetence, his egotistical, narcissistic and arrogant conduct, and his repulsive and repugnant rhetoric has given the audience tuning in to MSNBC and CNN a feeling of contentment and gratification. However, if these two networks don't run the Trump bandwagon off the road, but instead allow it - and its pompous pilot - to travel the media highways over the next four years, just so they can make mega millions of dollars, then they can't bitch and moan that "Trumpism" is alive and well and living in the United States. It will be their fault for helping to give more ammunition to an evil monster whose political and public life need to be buried, not enabled and empowered.
Come 2021, it will be MSNBC's 25th year of broadcasting, having been launched in 1996, and, as with CNN, MSNBC - which, in reality, is the NBC News Network - can also flourish with voluminous victory and without needing Donald Trump to do so. Obviously MSNBC and CNN are in operation to amass huge ratings and a boatload of money. That's a given. But I emphatically disagree with anyone who thinks that these organizations are in business to get those big ratings through "creating outrage," which is exactly how some people describe the mission of both CNN and MSNBC. Neither of these networks create outrage. The people who make the news - such as Trump and his political allies - are the ones "creating" the "outrage." And as long as there are human beings in a divided, polarized nation, and in a world that is filled with so much vile hatred, there will unfortunately and tragically be "outrage."
Earlier in this column, I referenced an article from The New York Times. "The Gray Lady" has been around since 1851 and is recognized as America's "national newspaper of record." If for no other reason but longevity - although it's been awarded with 133 Pulitizer Prizes in its history; more than any other newspaper - The New York Times has been triumphant as a journalistic powerhouse for nearly two centuries; no matter what's making the news. What I don't think certain people understand, is that good reporters can always dig up stories - not the so-called "fake news," but actual, truthful stories - that will bring interest to readers and viewers. And there's no reason that bad news is "All the News That's Fit to Print." Whether print journalists or broadcast journalists, the same applies.
The Society of Professional Journalists - of which I am a member - says, "The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Ethical journalism strives to ensure the free exchange of information that is accurate, fair and thorough. An ethical journalist acts with integrity. Journalists should be honest and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information. Give voice to the voiceless. Recognize a special obligation to serve as watchdogs over public affairs and government. Seek to ensure that the public's business is conducted in the open, and that public records are open to all. Never deliberately distort facts or context, including visual information." MSNBC and CNN generally live up to the SPJ's Code of Ethics everyday. But in a rare instance when they make a mistake, they own up to it and they apologize.
There's never a need for professional journalists to fictionalize or falsify reporting. In a country of more than 331 million people, there's news happening practically every minute of everyday. On a much smaller scale - a very long time ago - I created a local news show when I was news director of a small radio station. I called the program, Good News. I - and the radio station - made a ton of money (figuratively speaking) from the show. The sales department and I had waiting lists a mile long (so to speak) with the names of local businesses that wanted to advertise on the program. The entire broadcast featured nothing but good news. It was a ratings smash hit. MSNBC and CNN will find and present captivating and compelling stories, and it won't matter whether they're covering bad news, good news, items of controversy, or feel-good-warm-and-fuzzy events and issues, they will keep their viewers engaged.
The SPJ also says, "Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy." The SPJ says journalists should "support the open and civil exchange of views, even views they find repugnant." But the operative word in the SPJ sentence is "civil." Therefore, my hope for CNN and MSNBC is that they will not give Donald Trump free publicity by permitting him to use their "airwaves" (really their cables) as an opportunity to keep his name and face on their networks. Trump is not at all "civil," thus allowing him to take advantage of their services would be tantamount to sinful.
Shortly after The Daily Beast reported in November that three sources confirmed Trump is considering a run for The White House in 2024, I'm on the record for writing that Trump will NEVER really seek the presidency again. As I wrote then, Trump may SAY that he's running, he may ANNOUNCE his candidacy and even start a campaign, but he won't in actuality be running for president. Trump's strategy will be that he simply wants everyone to THINK that he's going after the brass ring for a second time so that all the media attention will be focused on him. And that's exactly what Politico's White House correspondent and associate editor Anita Kumar reported more than two weeks later on December 14th. "Trump has probably no idea if he will actually run, but because he only cares about himself and his association with the party has only been about his ambitions rather than what it stands for, he will try to freeze the field and keep as many people on the sidelines," a former White House aide told Kumar. "Just for the sake of keeping his options open and, yes, keeping the attention all for himself." Trump - as I wrote in the past - will USE the press so he can make more money and basically manipulate the mainstream media and social media. Whether one hates Trump or loves him, there's no debating that he is the "Mozart of manipulation;" a virtuoso at deceit, falsehoods and betrayal. After all, that is what Trump has done for five-and-a-half years since June 16th, 2015 when he rode down the Trump Tower escalator to announce he was pursuing the 2016 Republican nomination. But no one - or few people, I should say - really took Trump seriously at first in 2015. However, his insidious skills enticed and enthralled a base of supporters. To this day, I'm baffled by the tens of millions of people who remain fascinated by Trump. I'm positively perplexed that he was somehow able - with his treacherous artistry - to win the GOP nomination. And if I live to be 1,000 years old, I will still be mind-boggled how Trump ever won the presidency.
Just think how different our country
would be today if former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was president and
not Donald Trump. First and foremost, the coronavirus crisis would not
have been mishandled. As this column is published, the Johns Hopkins Univeristy of Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center says more than 315,000 Americans are dead from COVID-19 and more than 17.6 million others have gotten
sick from a disease that Trump at first called a "hoax," and later
claimed would "disappear" like a "miracle." Meanwhile, Statista reports that according to the World Health Organization, there were nearly 236,000 new coronavirus cases in the United Staes on Friday, December 18th. And The Washington Post says, "our country is losing an American every 33 seconds to COVID-19." Let me repeat that a different way. There's "a death every 33 seconds" because of the coronavirus. So if you're not staying home unless you absolutely have to go out, if you're not social distancing when you do leave your home, if you're not keeping people out of your house or apartment who do not live there and who you cannot trust implicitly that they are following all the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and if you're not wearing a mask when you do go out, then in plain, simple English, you're stupid. You're risking your own life and the lives of others. Have a heart. If you don't care about yourself, care about your loved ones and friends.
As I would think you'll remember, Comey issued an inappropriate and unwarranted letter to Congress on October 28th, eleven days before the election, that influenced certain voters to not vote for Hillary Clinton. But there was no justification for Comey's correspondence, whereby he wrote, "In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation" in to the private email server that Secretary Clinton used while she was in office in the Obama administration. Comey also communicated to Congress that the FBI could not yet determine "whether or not this material may be significant or not." Thus, Comey's words caused some voters to question if Mrs. Clinton should occupy The Oval Office. He then waited - perhaps intentionally or possibly coincidentally - until there were only two days to go before the November 8th, 2016 election. That's when Comey released a statement reaffirming what he asserted in July 2016 that there was no evidence of illegal wrongdoing by Secretary Clinton and, therefore, since she did not break the law, there was no reason to recommend criminal charges against her. But by that point, the damage was done.
One year after the Comey letter, on October 28th, 2017, Hillary Clinton told CNN, "I was on the way to winning until a combination of Jim Comey's letter on October 28th (2016), and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me, but got scared off. If the election had been on October 27th, I'd be your president." Truer words have never been spoken.
Despite all of the above facts, how the hell did Donald Trump do it? How did he beat Hillary Clinton? It'll be the mystery of the 21st Century how a man who insulted people, offended people, conned people, threatened people, and, of course, maliciously lied to people, could become president of the United States.
As for a 2024 campaign, Trump might hold his rallies (and his base will come...some of it...for awhile). Trump might make his speeches (and his loyal groupies will listen and cheer him on...some of them...for awhile). But if Trump continues to spew his venom and his vulgarities, many of his one-time devotees will start to abandon him and knock him off his pedestal of profanity and perversion. That is
grades and gold stars without cooperation by the Senate. There is, though, a longtime
relationship - of sorts - between McConnell and Joe Biden, so the Kentucky
Republican may compromise at times and work with the Delaware Democrat. But unless Democrats are in the driver's seat in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, the kind of championship
achievements for President Biden and his administration that I'm confident can be accomplished, won't happen. America cannot afford to be legislatively stagnate for the next four years. We must advance with across the board leaders who are on the same page, and who are on
track to help everyone in our country, not just the privileged few. Furthermore,
it might be a rocky start for our 46th President, as Senate Republicans are likely to put up obstacles to block the confirmation of some of Mr. Biden's cabinet nominees. Therefore, it is vital for Democrats and Independents in Georgia to vote their hearts out to elect both Ossoff and Warnock. That way, there'll be a 50/50 tie in the Senate, which will give Vice President Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote.
All of the above being said, MSNBC and CNN need to focus on anything and everything that has nothing to do with Donald Trump. They must ignore him. They must forget he ever existed. They must make him a non-entity. Whether Fox News gets back in to bed with Trump, full force, or if management decides for the future to get behind a more mainstream Republican - one who has a decent demeanor and not a savage and sinister streak - time will tell. But if the cable networks of CNN and MSNBC - as well as the broadcast networks of ABC, CBS and NBC - are suckered in to being brainwashed - just as Trump's rooters have been since 2015 - then shame on them all. And that goes for social media too. Twitter and Facebook need to ban Trump the first time he posts a lie about President Biden or distorts the truth about anything that would create a negative and noxious narrative when the facts prove that Trump is deliberately dishonest. Of course under normal circumstances, any political candidate should be granted the same airtime or other press coverage that is received by his or her opponents. But with Trump, these are not normal circumstances. Obviously the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives everyone the right of free speech. But rewarding Donald Trump with media exposure when he's dictating a diatribe of deceitful and devious claims, under an umbrella of unscrupulous undertakings, should not be tolerated. Trump's virulent verbiage would be absorbed by those who worship him. And his reprehensible rants would motivate and energize Trump's fanatical followers, which would certainly electrify a 2024 political campaign. We, as a nation, cannot withstand the possibility of a Trump resurgence at any time in our future. That is if he ever really goes away at all.
We cannot allow Donald Trump to mastermind another poisonous and perilous scheme that could keep him - in certain people's eyes - relevant in the media and on the political scene. We, the people of the United States, as a whole, must crush Trump like the brutally barbarous, bombastic bug that he is, and metaphorically stomp him to death politically and as a public figure, so he is no longer germane to the conversation. But I have faith that responsible media outlets will act
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.
Please express your personal opinions by following the instructions printed at the top of this column. And thank you for reading The Controversy.
Photo credits:
1 - Daily Express (President-elect Joe Biden and Donald Trump)
2 - The New York Times (Journalist John Koblin)
3 - The New York Times (Journalist Michael M. Grynbaum)
4 - The Associated Press (Media Executive Ted Turner)
5 - Anita Kumar via Twitter (Journalist Anita Kumar)
6 - Justin Sullivan/Getty Images (Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton)
7 - Yves Herman/Reuters (Donald Trump)
8 - NBC News Screenshot (Former President Barack Obama)
9 - Fox News Screenshot (Former FBI Director James Comey)
10 - Jessica McGowan/Getty Images and Megan Varner/Getty Images (Democratic Party Nominee for the U.S. Senate Election in Georgia Jon Ossoff and Democratic Party Nominee for the U.S. Senate Election in Georgia Raphael Warnock)
11 - Andrew Harnik/The Associated Press (President-elect Joe Biden)
12 - Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call (President-elect Joe Biden and Senator Mitch McConnell)
13 - USA TODAY (Vice President-elect Kamala Harris)
14 - Jim Watson/Getty Images (Donald Trump)
15 - Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle (President-elect Joe Biden)
Copyright 2020 Gary B. Duglin and TheControversy.net. All Rights Reserved.
