Trump and the media

Bill Clinton's former labor secretary Robert Reich has an editorial at the Moyers & Co. website titled, "Trump’s Seven Techniques to Control the Media", with the more telling subtitle, "Tyrants always try to suppress a free press; here's Trump's playbook."

This isn't just a game for tyrants. Presidents since Lincoln have tried to control the Media's message.

But if Reich is truly calling Donald Trump some kind of despot, then we should expect to see a list like this:

1. Jailing journalists.
2. Banning private news companies and installing a state media operation.
3. Using propaganda methods such as posters and ads to sell the government's message. 

Instead, Reich gives us these:

1. "Berate the media". This is a fool's game, which most presidents have learned better, although some still try it. If anything, Trump should thank these progressive idiots in the MSM for working so hard against him. Considering the low opinion the public has of the MSM, they did him a huge favor. 

2. "Blacklist critical media". Government bureaucrats do this, so why not presidents?

3. "Turn the public against the media". Considering how low the Media has rated in public opinion polling for many years, long before Trump ran for president, this is just a case of Trump providing confirmation bias to the public. The MSM made their own bed in this one.

4. "Condemn satirical or critical comments". Saturday Night Live is part of the Media? Yeah, and Jon Stewart is a serious journalist. Cut me a break.

That said, this does show Trump to be rather thin-skinned.

5. "Threaten the media directly". As Reich describes it:

Trump said he plans to change libel laws in the United States so that he can have an easier time suing news organizations. “One of the things I’m going to do if I win … I’m going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money.”

During the campaign, Trump specifically threatened to sue The Times for libel in response to an article that featured two women accusing him of touching them inappropriately years ago. Trump claimed the allegations were false, and his lawyer demanded the newspaper retract the story and issue an apology. Trump also threatened legal action after The Times published and wrote about part of his 1995 tax return. 

Trump will have a hard time with this one, as public figures (especially presidents) are afforded little protection. Between the First Amendment and legal precedent, new laws won't get much traction, and will likely get overturned on appeals.

6. "Limit media access". This one is almost funny. Reich starts out with:

Trump hasn’t held a news conference since July. He has blocked the media from traveling with him or even knowing whom he’s meeting with. 

Earlier in the same editorial, Reich said this:

Last week, Trump summoned two dozen TV news anchors and executives to the 25th floor of Trump Tower to berate them for their reporting about him during the election. For 20 minutes he railed at what he called their “outrageous” and “dishonest” coverage. 

While it may not fit the definition of "news conference", the Media seemed to walk away with news:

According to an attendee, “Trump kept saying, ‘we’re in a room of liars, the deceitful, dishonest media who got it all wrong,’” and he called CNN a “network of liars.” He accused NBC of using unflattering pictures of him, demanding to know why they didn’t use “nicer” pictures. 

Another person who attended the meeting said Trump “truly doesn’t seem to understand the First Amendment. He thinks we are supposed to say what he says and that’s it.” 

"Limit media access" and "berate the media" don't work together. So which is it?

7. "Bypass the media and communicate with the public directly". Obama tried the same thing (remember his White House videos?). Presidents used to make "whistle stop" train tours of the country for the same purpose.

Reich defends this as a problem thus:

The word “media” comes from “intermediate” between newsmakers and the public. Responsible media hold the powerful accountable by asking them hard questions and reporting on what they do. Apparently Trump wants to eliminate such intermediaries.

The problem here is the MSM has abused this privilege by failing to hold the powerful accountable (see Barack Obama's entire presidency). In addition, modern social media allows politicians to communicate directly with the public. If the public is wise (big "if"), they can turn around and see what political analysts have to say about what the politicians are telling us, instead of having the message relayed incorrectly by the media.

Frankly, Reich's entire editorial reeks of bias. It is Trump's right to communicate in any way he sees fit. Although Trump has plenty of flaws, nothing Trump is doing so far fits the definition of "tyrant".