Blasting big media

LARRY ANDERSON
Larry Anderson

Every new Republican president will be compared to Ronald Reagan by those old enough to know why. It is a natural thing because Reagan was arguably the most successful president of recent times.

I was, am, and will always be a Reaganite as he was among the last of the Greatest Generation, but also because of his formidable political skills, his affable, confident personality, and his understanding of the powers and limitations of his office.

Reagan was wildly popular; people felt he was on their side because he was.

Today this country is unwisely divided because there is no Reagan to make us feel as positive as he was. Trump is working at it, but his skill set is completely different than that of Reagan. For that, Trump should not be blamed.

The media collision during Reagan’s tenure has turned to bitter animosity during Trump’s. Things said and done by the left via social media, big media, and even the lowly entertainment industry is extreme to the point of being nonsensical. The goal is to marginalize Trump so the president’s failure will follow.

Reagan had a lengthy background in radio and television and was an accomplished speaker and debater. He didn’t come across as angry, didn’t lecture, and didn’t lose his temper or sense of humor when attacked by liberal media. Many of those who disagreed with him still liked him (not the far left, of course).

Reagan understood his function as president was to make the country safer, better and more opportune. Trump wants that too.

Trump’s message is becoming more refined, but he is far more accustomed to directing others than seeking media approval. We will have to be more patient with the Donald.

Reagan managed big media with the ease of long experience while George W. Bush allowed way too much criticism to slide without defense. Donald Trump does neither. When it comes to media excess, Trump would rather confront politically crafty and/or dishonest journalism than let it go.

That is what he should do. The country is in a new age.

It doesn’t bother me that Trump is confrontational with big media. While the media is protected by the First Amendment from government control, there is nothing that says media is sacrosanct. When the president’s work is reported dishonestly or incorrectly, Trump has the responsibility to call the media out. If behaviors persist, he is right to scold so the public hears.

Networks, cable news, and/or big newspapers and magazines are not shielded from criticism by presidents or citizens. Media has interested consumers and a responsibility to be forthright. If it can’t do that, it has nothing to complain about when those misrepresented point that out.

In a recent press conference, Trump made it clear his media concerns were about the people not getting accurate information. Media analysis made it sound like Trump’s response was about him alone.

That in itself is dishonest and underlined what Trump was trying to get across to a crowd of stone-faced journalists who could hear insult aplenty but not truth. Understand, it isn’t just Trump’s brusque manner liberal media finds offensive; it is the fact he exists in a political environment within which said media was supposed to have way more influence than it actually had last election.

Trump’s position, it seems to me, isn’t that his administration doesn’t goof, gaffe or goose the comfortable. It is everything he does is described as failure, the work of a political amateur who was elected illegimately and who wants to govern dictatorially.

That is pathetic propaganda, and it comes from the left. We had an election.

Trump’s goal, some insist, is to silence the media. Said commentator Kathleen Parker: “Remember, the enemies of freedom always silence the reporters first.”

Well, in America reporters can’t be silenced. They are rightfully protected by the most remarkable governmental document in the world. Parker knows that, but one of the tools of liberal media is planting fear in the minds of citizens who will vote again one day.

Big media would do a better job if political ideology didn‘t trump honesty.

That was Trump’s point, I think, at the press conference, but for most of big media, it will remain business as usual to Trump‘s frustration and citizens’ detriment.

Larry W. Anderson is a retired educator, author and lifelong Northwest Missourian.