Journalists, stop falling for gas lighter in chief

Why are relations between President Trump and the press so bad? There are two reasons. One is that Trump is a Republican, and the press consists overwhelmingly of Democrats. But the other reason is that Trump likes it this way, because when the press is constantly attacking him over trivialities, it strengthens his position.

One of the changes going on with Trump is the renegotiation of various post- World War II institutional arrangements. For decades, the press got special status because it was seen as both powerful and institutionally responsible. ( And, of course, allied with the Democrats, who were mostly in charge of setting up those postwar arrangements.) Press quarters inside the White House and daily briefings made it easy for everyone to get together on the story of the day.

The news media’s “insider” status is going to fade, with Trump’s people even talking about moving journalists out of the White House, and ignoring their existing pecking order in news conferences. The news media are going to be treated as an enemy by the Trump administration until further notice.

In fact, Trump’s basically gaslighting journalists. Knowing how much they hate him, he’s constantly provoking them. White House spokesman Sean Spicer’s remarks on the inaugural crowd size were all about making the media seem petty and negative.

Trump knows that the news media aren’t trusted very much, and that the less they’re trusted, the less they can hurt him. So he’s prodding reporters to do things that will make them less trusted, and they’re constantly taking the bait. Trump has more media experience than probably 99% of the people covering him. ( As Obama operative Ben Rhodes gloated with regard to selling a dishonest story on the Iran accord, the average reporter the Obama White House dealt with was “27 years old, and their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns.” In Rhodes’ words, “They literally know nothing.”)

What should the press do? It can keep responding the way it has responded, or it can change its approach. The killer countermove isn’t to double down on anti- Trump messaging. The countermove is to bolster its own trustworthiness by acting ( and being) more neutral and sober, and by being more trustworthy. If the news media actually focused on reporting facts accurately and straightforwardly, on leaving opinion to the pundits, and on giving Trump a clearly fair shake, then Trump’s tactics wouldn’t work, and any actual dirt they found on him would do actual damage. He’s betting on the press being insufficiently mature and self- controlled to manage that.

If we had a better press, we’d be much better off as a nation. As long as the news media are mindlessly partisan and bereft of selfdiscipline, capitalizing on that is just good politics.