Op-Ed: Vet Journalist -- 3 Years Ago Trump Said MSM Is 'the Enemy of the People'; He Was Right
President Donald Trump faces the media outside of the Oval Office during a news briefing on Nov. 25, 2019, to introduce Conan, the military dog that chased Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to his demise down a dead-end tunnel in Syria last October. (Tom Venesky for The Western Journal)
By Tom Venesky
Published July 11, 2020 at 10:01am
I was standing in the Rose Garden when my suspicion was confirmed: The establishment medias grudge against President Donald Trump is real, and its the basis for their bias.
Im a longtime journalist, and last November I went to the White House to cover the traditional delivery of the Christmas tree that is displayed in the Blue Room. The annual event is a light-hearted affair, and it makes for an easy holiday story.
Not long after first lady Melania Trump received the tree and the ceremony concluded, an impromptu press briefing was announced for the Rose Garden, so I joined a rush of reporters as we lined up outside of the West Wing before heading into the courtyard.
Trump called the gathering to introduce Conan, the dog that chased Islamic State leader leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to his demise down a dead-end tunnel in Syria last October.
As reporters clamored for space, Trump exited the Oval Office, stood next to the dog and said, Hes trained that if you open your mouths, you will be attacked. You want to be very, very careful.
Trump grinned as he made the remark, but among the reporters around me who stood silent, stone-faced and solemn, the joke fell flat.
It was clear that, when it comes to covering Trump, the establishment media has no time for banter or humor when that coverage is based on disdain and rooted in bias.
Mind you, the Rose Garden incident wasnt the first time I had witnessed the establishment medias personal dislike of Trump. After spending more than 20 years in newsrooms, I know bias and subjectivity when I see it, and in the case of Trump, the two nasty elements are intertwined in todays journalism.
While examples of bias from the national establishment media have been widely and frequently publicized, the same problem is prevalent inside the smaller newsrooms of cities and towns across the country. Having worked in such environments, its easy to understand why the president simply cant get a fair shake from that media.
Anywhere.
In March 2016, when the Republican Primary was heating up, I was working for a mid-sized daily in pivotal Pennsylvania, and I landed an exclusive interview with Donald Trump Jr. that should have been Page 1 material for the newspaper.
During the interview, Trump Jr. and I spoke at length about his passion for the outdoors, his connection to Pennsylvania and life on the campaign trail with his father. The next day, when the story ran on Page 3, I was shocked to see that my editor had tweaked the first paragraph in a major way, adding the word controversial before a reference to the elder Trump.
While the addition of a single word might not seem like a big deal, in this case it was very telling that a newspaper editor would describe someone as controversial in what otherwise was a straight news story.
In journalism, the use of such a term is dangerous. Just because some people might think a person is controversial, it doesnt mean everyone feels that way. The fact that my editor thought it was OK to use such a disparaging generalization showed he was unable to put aside his personal dislike for Trump in the name of objectivity.
And the examples didnt end there.
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