OPINION:
When White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced last week that the briefing room is now open to reporters for “new media,” including podcasters and websites, she was acknowledging the power and reach of these outlets, which was demonstrated in the election when President Trump made himself available to outlets that were ignored by the Kamala Harris campaign.
The “legacy media” are in decline, and the new media are surging. Part of this concerns evaporating trust in what many regard as biased coverage by The New York Times — from which broadcast news frequently takes its marching orders — and other major newspapers and networks that reflect built-in biases. Two weeks after Mr. Trump’s inauguration, a guest essay titled “Trump Is Already Failing” appeared in The Times. “That’s the Key to a Big Democratic Rebound.” Is anyone other than the liberals who read The Times paying attention to Democrats’ real problem? It appears not.
Chuck Todd has been with NBC News for 18 years and is resigning. The former host of “Meet the Press” once said he would never have a guest on the program who didn’t believe in “climate change.” Liberal Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus has resigned from the paper’s editorial board to focus more on her column. The Post has laid off 100 employees, and 25,000 subscribers have canceled their subscriptions, outraged that the paper declined to endorse Ms. Harris. The Post continues to lose money.
On “The View,” co-host Sunny Hostin blamed Mr. Trump and those who voted for him for last week’s collision between an American Airlines commercial jet and an Army helicopter. These and other outrageous and biased claims may feed the anger of many anti-Trumpers. Still, they do nothing to improve the media’s credibility or increase their subscriptions, advertisers and ratings. As reported by the conservative Newsbusters.com, “The leftist media began (the week) by attacking President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees and dumping on his (inauguration) moment. They then proceeded to libel Trump and Elon Musk as a bunch of fascist Nazis while tossing final bouquets to Joe Biden.”
Then there was the legacy media cover-up of the Biden family’s business dealings, Mr. Biden’s cognitive decline and the infamous Hunter Biden laptop.
During cultural transitions of the past, die-hards tried to keep the future from happening. People opposed to civil rights legislation to protect minorities from discrimination may be the most obvious recent example, but there are many others. There were those who resisted the transition from horses to motorcars. Some thought the telephone was a fad and that man was not made to fly. Some Hollywood moguls believed TV wouldn’t last. Some people once opposed coffee and refrigeration. Now, driverless cars are raising alarms.
The one constant among resisters to change is that they are left behind when change comes. This is a continuing problem for much of the legacy media. Most seem incapable of self-reflection and have an ideological view that resembles “eat your vegetables because they are good for you.” Their attitude seems to be that news consumers should swallow whatever they offer, whether they like it or not.
This doesn’t mean the media should avoid questioning the policies and pronouncements of Mr. Trump or anyone in his administration. It does mean that their approach should not be one of “he can do no right.” (Yes, some conservative media think Mr. Trump can do no wrong, which is equally bad.) It also means when Mr. Trump and other Republicans succeed, that success should be acknowledged instead of ignoring it and moving on to new rounds of cynical questioning.
It may be too late for legacy media to redeem themselves, given the leftist bent of many within that cocoon. If they go the way of previous outmoded and irrelevant things, they will have only themselves to blame.
A free press is essential to a strong America. The arrival of new media may be journalism’s savior.
• Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (HumanixBooks).
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