Americans want more media, not less: poll

NEWS AND OPINION:

President-elect Donald Trump is a perfect example of a man who is the master of his media — thriving in the restless, texting, tweeting, snapchatting world we now live in. Americans are not far behind. While social critics once predicted that mass media would disrupt and undermine the nation, a surprising new survey reveals that the public is just as enamored of information as their Mr. Trump. Bring it on.

“The large majority of Americans do not feel that information overload is a problem for them,” says John B. Horrigan, a senior analyst for the Pew Research Center, which conducted the poll.

Here’s what they found: 81 percent of American appreciate “lots of information” and access to it while 80 percent say it’s easy for them to determine which information is “trustworthy.” Another 79 percent say the avalanche of information makes them feel like they have more control of their lives, 77 percent say they enjoy having so much information at their fingertips while 67 percent say that having more information at their disposal actually helps simplify things.

So much for the fears that society is at the mercy of its technology, media tools, gadgets and electronic amusements.

“People for the most part see information as something that helps them manage their lives and are confident in their abilities to determine the trustworthiness of information,” notes Mr. Horrigan.

TRUMP’S TACTICAL TWEETS

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“The media used to control the message. Now, they do not. President-elect Donald Trump’s words drive the media insane because he says them on Twitter, and because his words are so foreign to their liberal sensibilities,” writes U.S. Army Capt. David Danford, an instructor in strategy at West Point, and a contributor to The Federalist.

“One might understand this best in terms of John Boyd’s famous OODA Loop. Used by military tacticians, the Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act loop describes the cycle in which opponents operate during a fight. Whoever can cycle more quickly gains the initiative and controls the fight. Whoever cycles more slowly remains off-balance, constantly having to re-observe and re-orient to circumstances dictated by the enemy,” he continues.

“The media cycles more slowly. Trump retains initiative by constantly feeding their hysteria and confusion with a steady diet of controversial tweets. Each new tweet grabs their attention and they restart the process. Like clockwork, every 24 to 48 hours, just as the hysteria is winding down, Trump releases a new comment to spool the media back up. And all the while Trump is moving on,” the officer says. “With their heads spinning, Trump’s opponents cannot see what they themselves are doing. The media cannot avoid talking about Trump all of the time, and each tweet drives a wedge between them and the American people.”

The late John Boyd, incidentally, was an Air Force colonel, fighter pilot and acclaimed military strategist who developed and perfected his OODA Loop concept from 1976 to 1995.

BEST IN MEDIA?

Pollsters tells us that Americans hate the news media for many reasons. But some in the press universe are more valuable than others, says Mediaite.com, which has compiled a year-end list of the “Most Influential People in News Media.” There are 77 names on the roster, many hailing from broadcast, but with a respectable number from print and online sources.

“We gave it a shot,” Mediaite explains.

Here are the Top 10: In first place, CNN president Jeff Zucker, followed by Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, New York Times political editor Carolyn Ryan, veteran online newsman Matt Drudge, Fox News host Sean Hannity, NBC/MSNBC chairman Andy Lack, MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski, Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, ABC host George Stephanopoulous and CNN anchor Chris Cuomo.

MOORE’S EDICT

“Disrupt the Inauguration.”

— Filmmaker Michael Moore in a tweet Wednesday, promoting the planned “mobilization” of protesters against President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20 by the DC Welcoming Committee, which describes themselves as “a collective of experienced local activists and out-of-work gravediggers acting with national support.”

The organization will have much company on Inauguration Day. MoveOn.org, ANSWER Coalition, Progressive Independent Party, Women March on Washington and other groups are also planning assorted gatherings — along with Bikers for Trump, which also have a permit to be present on the formal inaugural route.

TIME’S UNTIMELY TRUMP TRANSLATION

Talk about mixed messages: Consider Time magazine’s less-than-cordial rationale for granting President-elect Donald Trump their annual “Person of the Year” designation.

“It’s hard to measure the scale of his disruption. This real estate baron and casino owner turned reality-TV star and provocateur — never a day spent in public office, never a debt owed to any interest besides his own — now surveys the smoking ruin of a vast political edifice that once housed parties, pundits, donors, pollsters, all those who did not see him coming or take him seriously. Out of this reckoning, Trump is poised to preside, for better or worse,” wrote Time’s editor-in-chief Nancy Gibbs, in an explanation of the publication judgment of Mr. Trump.

“For reminding America that demagoguery feeds on despair and that truth is only as powerful as the trust in those who speak it, for empowering a hidden electorate by mainstreaming its furies and live-streaming its fears, and for framing tomorrow’s political culture by demolishing yesterday’s, Donald Trump is TIME’s 2016 Person of the Year,” Ms. Gibbs concluded.

Mr. Trump’s simple, classy and very presidential response, to NBC: “It’s a great honor. It means a lot.”

POLL DU JOUR

• 71 percent of Americans say it is appropriate for search engines like Google to remove “fake news stories” from their content.

• 66 percent say the person reading the news is responsible for ensuring they aren’t exposed to fake news.

• 63 percent say social media sites are responsible for ensuring readers aren’t exposed to fake news.

• 55 percent have started reading a news story and later realized it was not real.

• 49 percent see “fake news” while online at social media sites at least once a day.

Source: A Morning Consult poll of 1,605 U.S. adults conducted Dec. 1-2.

• Churlish remarks, grand pronouncements to jharper@washingtontimes.com.