Media insiders are debating if we are seeing the end of democracy, which is making Mother Jones Washington, DC, Bureau Chief David Corn concerned about the media “normalizing Trump’s outrageous conduct.”
At a private event, Corn casually got into a discussion with a “media poohbah” about the challenges the media is facing under President Donald Trump.
“My interlocuter pooh-poohed my premise,” the Bureau Chief said the poohbah then declared “that the American experiment was not at risk: ‘We are strong and resilient. There’s no need to worry.’”
“We’ll be fine,” this person said.
“For a moment, I assumed they were joking. Then I realized they weren’t.” Corn said, “Time for another drink, I told myself and offered a plausible excuse for moving along.”
“As I headed toward the bar, I was disturbed.” Corn then thought to himself, “If this highly educated, well-informed media person of, no doubt, a somewhat liberal bent—no Trump supporter—doesn’t see the threat, that’s worrisome.”
With the subject line “I couldn’t believe my ears” Corn’s newsletter railed against the “We’ll be fine,” approach to Trumps policies.
“I fear many in the media have adopted this attitude. Too often, they normalize Trump’s outrageous conduct and the threat he poses to the nation. But that’s not me and my colleagues at Mother Jones.” Corn said. “We know that the future of American democracy is at stake right now and that journalism should ferociously cover and reflect the crisis at hand.
“That’s why I’ve been busy these past few months breaking stories on Trump’s war on life-saving government programs, his nonstop disinformation operation, his corruption, his embrace of authoritarianism, and his extremist appointees, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Kash Patel, and Tulsi Gabbard,” Corn said.
“These are perilous times, and I will not normalize the dangerous conduct and policies now emerging from the Trump White House.”