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The media is part of the problem.
What is the problem? Well, there is a long list. Choose your own.
In the pre-digital era, I used to say that cable news encouraged the fiery rhetoric of lawmakers because many of them wanted to break through the static and get their sound bites on the air.
Things are a thousand times more complicated now with the proliferation of podcasts, group chats, Snapchat, TikTok, iX, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, YouTube and Substack. But the principle remains the same. How do you feel, amidst this deafening noise?
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The media creates an atmosphere of anger – and social media exacerbates it. (Anna Barclay/Getty Images)
It’s a very angry situation now, and some say to President Donald Trump. But he did not create this situation, he just exploited it, constantly attacking journalists, political opponents and campaigning for revenge against his enemies. He is also on the verge of receiving a decade of sentences that expose him as a Nazi, a fascist, a dictator, a danger to democracy and not a very good person.
Another big change is that there are so many journalism stars now, from legacy media outlets to Internet influencers, to the point that some lawmakers have quit (or retired) to become network and cable contributors, even anchors.
That’s why this story in The Atlantic, by Michael Scherer, is so revealing.
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Scherer, who has reported for Time and the Washington Post, says he feels “participated” in a new world of constant attacks. He wrote this after attending the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner where gunfire erupted in the third assassination attempt on President Trump — and he delivered a series of stupid statements that said the attack was somehow “staged,” even though we watched it happen on live television.
You count the political assassinations, from Charlie Kirk to the CEO of United Healthcare, and you see the cycle of political violence getting worse.
Scherer once wrote an essay about Trump comparing himself to Napoleon, Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, without political violence, which sparked a wave of obscene attacks on the president.
Michael Scherer’s article in The Atlantic listed the number of murders, including that of Charlie Kirk. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
Here’s how to do it: “The more a story hits an emotional chord – usually anger or complaint – the more traffic it will tend to attract on social media. I’m in the business of writing long and complex stories full of nuances. Yet I’m at the mercy of platforms that want to turn my words into cortisol and endorphins, usually to people who will never click on a link I’d write, regardless of what I wrote a link to write about. contempt.”
And aren’t most journalists guilty of this to some degree, whether it’s squeezing a short line on the site formerly known as Twitter, or hitting a hot topic on a podcast? That’s part of the climb.
Meanwhile, Kash Patel’s case may be taking a worrying turn.
MS NOW reported yesterday that there is concern among FBI agents that the bureau has “launched a criminal leak investigation” targeting the Atlantic reporter who wrote the offending piece, Sara Fitzpatrick.
That would be strange, because the story had no classified information. It was a negative reflection of his office behavior and drinking habits. This, if accurate, would mean that Patel was in charge of the case when he sued the magazine.
The case against FBI Director Kash Patel may be taking a troubling turn. (Andrew Leyden/Getty Images)
The spokesperson of the bureau denied this issue, saying: “This is completely false. There is no investigation like this and the journalist you mention is not investigated at all.”
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“If proven true,” said Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, “this would represent an outrageous attack on a free press and the First Amendment itself. We will vigorously defend The Atlantic and its staff; we will not fear illegal investigations or other politically motivated retaliation.”
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Take denial for what it’s worth. But remember that in January, the FBI, armed with a search warrant, entered the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, took her iPhone and other devices, as part of a leak investigation and still hasn’t returned them – even though it includes personal information such as her wedding plans. Natanson recently won a Pulitzer.
