SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Comedian Jon Stewart called on the news media to put aside its "narcissism" and focus on President Donald Trump's policies more than his attacks on the press. (Photo: @douglasernst/Twitter)
Watch: Jon Stewart Explains Why Journalists Too Eager to Take Trump's Bait Is Undermining Coverage of Disastrous Policies
"He is able to tune out everything else and just get people focused on the fight. And he's going to win that fight."
Oct 31, 2018
Former "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart distilled President Donald Trump's ability to control the political news cycle in an interview on Tuesday evening, explaining that the president has often succeeded in distracting the corporate news media from his damaging policies by launching direct attacks on the press itself.
Speaking with CNN's Christiane Amanpour along with fellow comedian Dave Chappelle, Stewart argued that journalists feel personally "wounded" by Trump's victory in 2016 and the hateful rhetoric he employs at his rallies, particularly his comments attacking the press.
"I think that journalists have taken it personally," Stewart said. "They are personally wounded and offended by this man. He baits them."
Watch:
While not defending Trump's repeated statements that journalists are "the enemy of the people" and that they print "fake news" or arguing that the media should cover the Trump administration without remarking on the inhumanity of many of its policies and actions, Stewart called on reporters to resist engaging with the president on a personal level.
Stewart's comments came a day after CNN reporter Jim Acosta, a frequent target of the White House, challenged Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to name the journalists who the president sees as "enemies of the people."
"What he's done well, I thought, is appeal to their own narcissism," Stewart added. "They take it personally and now he has changed the conversation to not that his policies are silly or not working or any of those other things, it's all about the fight. He is able to tune out everything else and just get people focused on the fight. And he's going to win that fight."
Amanpour resisted briefly, saying, "It's hard for us to be dispassionate when the words from the White House are aggressive against us."
But on social media, journalists and media critics agreed with Stewart's assessment that some in the press have focused on the president's attacks on their industry to the detriment of other newsworthy issues.
"There are many valid and important examples of when the media needs to cover itself and raise objections--like last week, when a Trump supporter allegedly sent a bomb to CNN--but it's also true that this can go too far," wrote Aaron Blake at the Washington Post. "There is a difference between asking whether it's appropriate to call the media the 'enemy of the American people' and grandstanding about it. There is a difference between making this a story and making it a constant story at the expense of other very important ones."
"And just because the president invites you to write about yourself a lot doesn't mean that you need to or even that it helps your cause," he concluded.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Former "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart distilled President Donald Trump's ability to control the political news cycle in an interview on Tuesday evening, explaining that the president has often succeeded in distracting the corporate news media from his damaging policies by launching direct attacks on the press itself.
Speaking with CNN's Christiane Amanpour along with fellow comedian Dave Chappelle, Stewart argued that journalists feel personally "wounded" by Trump's victory in 2016 and the hateful rhetoric he employs at his rallies, particularly his comments attacking the press.
"I think that journalists have taken it personally," Stewart said. "They are personally wounded and offended by this man. He baits them."
Watch:
While not defending Trump's repeated statements that journalists are "the enemy of the people" and that they print "fake news" or arguing that the media should cover the Trump administration without remarking on the inhumanity of many of its policies and actions, Stewart called on reporters to resist engaging with the president on a personal level.
Stewart's comments came a day after CNN reporter Jim Acosta, a frequent target of the White House, challenged Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to name the journalists who the president sees as "enemies of the people."
"What he's done well, I thought, is appeal to their own narcissism," Stewart added. "They take it personally and now he has changed the conversation to not that his policies are silly or not working or any of those other things, it's all about the fight. He is able to tune out everything else and just get people focused on the fight. And he's going to win that fight."
Amanpour resisted briefly, saying, "It's hard for us to be dispassionate when the words from the White House are aggressive against us."
But on social media, journalists and media critics agreed with Stewart's assessment that some in the press have focused on the president's attacks on their industry to the detriment of other newsworthy issues.
"There are many valid and important examples of when the media needs to cover itself and raise objections--like last week, when a Trump supporter allegedly sent a bomb to CNN--but it's also true that this can go too far," wrote Aaron Blake at the Washington Post. "There is a difference between asking whether it's appropriate to call the media the 'enemy of the American people' and grandstanding about it. There is a difference between making this a story and making it a constant story at the expense of other very important ones."
"And just because the president invites you to write about yourself a lot doesn't mean that you need to or even that it helps your cause," he concluded.
Former "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart distilled President Donald Trump's ability to control the political news cycle in an interview on Tuesday evening, explaining that the president has often succeeded in distracting the corporate news media from his damaging policies by launching direct attacks on the press itself.
Speaking with CNN's Christiane Amanpour along with fellow comedian Dave Chappelle, Stewart argued that journalists feel personally "wounded" by Trump's victory in 2016 and the hateful rhetoric he employs at his rallies, particularly his comments attacking the press.
"I think that journalists have taken it personally," Stewart said. "They are personally wounded and offended by this man. He baits them."
Watch:
While not defending Trump's repeated statements that journalists are "the enemy of the people" and that they print "fake news" or arguing that the media should cover the Trump administration without remarking on the inhumanity of many of its policies and actions, Stewart called on reporters to resist engaging with the president on a personal level.
Stewart's comments came a day after CNN reporter Jim Acosta, a frequent target of the White House, challenged Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to name the journalists who the president sees as "enemies of the people."
"What he's done well, I thought, is appeal to their own narcissism," Stewart added. "They take it personally and now he has changed the conversation to not that his policies are silly or not working or any of those other things, it's all about the fight. He is able to tune out everything else and just get people focused on the fight. And he's going to win that fight."
Amanpour resisted briefly, saying, "It's hard for us to be dispassionate when the words from the White House are aggressive against us."
But on social media, journalists and media critics agreed with Stewart's assessment that some in the press have focused on the president's attacks on their industry to the detriment of other newsworthy issues.
"There are many valid and important examples of when the media needs to cover itself and raise objections--like last week, when a Trump supporter allegedly sent a bomb to CNN--but it's also true that this can go too far," wrote Aaron Blake at the Washington Post. "There is a difference between asking whether it's appropriate to call the media the 'enemy of the American people' and grandstanding about it. There is a difference between making this a story and making it a constant story at the expense of other very important ones."
"And just because the president invites you to write about yourself a lot doesn't mean that you need to or even that it helps your cause," he concluded.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.