The public doesn't understand the risks of a Trump victory. That's the media's fault

[babylonsister]

The public doesn’t understand the risks of a Trump victory. That’s the media’s fault
Margaret Sullivan
With democracy in the balance, the press must relay the crucial importance of this election and the dangers of a Trump win
Thu 9 Nov 2023 06.11 EST
Last modified on Thu 9 Nov 2023 12.02 EST


Whatever doubts you may have about public-opinion polls, one recent example should not be dismissed.

Yes, that poll – the one from Siena College and the New York Times that sent chills down many a spine. It showed Donald Trump winning the presidential election by significant margins over Joe Biden in several swing states, the places most likely to decide the presidential election next year.

The poll, of course, is only one snapshot and it has been criticized, but it still tells a cautionary tale – especially when paired with the certainty that Trump, if elected, will quickly move toward making the United States an authoritarian regime.

Add in Biden’s low approval ratings, despite his accomplishments, and you come to an unavoidable conclusion: the news media needs to do its job better.

The press must get across to American citizens the crucial importance of this election and the dangers of a Trump win. They don’t need to surrender their journalistic independence to do so or be “in the tank” for Biden or anyone else.

more...

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/09/trump-president-democracy-threat-media-journalism

[patricia92243]

1. What never fells to astonish me is that the media would be the very

first thing Trump would go after. You would think they would be bending over backwards to not see the demise of their own livelihood.

[JohnSJ]

2. It sure is

[Bundbuster]

3. At least The Guardian gets it. A Must Read

Of course they're not a corporate American "news" company.

[Silent3]

4. For everyone one dismissing the polls, even more so after Tuesday, what they don't get...

...is the polls are more than accurate enough to tell us that a HUGE portion of the public does not at all grasp the risk of a second Trump presidency. Not by a long shot.

That should deeply frighten you, even if you think (probably correctly) that Biden's chances of winning are much better than polls are telling us.

Even badly designed polls would be showing Trump trailing by double digits if so many would-be American voters weren't ignorant or tuned out or simply nasty enough to know what Trump is all about and actually want that for this country.

There's no good excuse for an adult American to need for the election to be closer to understand how hugely better Biden is than Trump, for a responsible adult American to need good "messaging" from Democrats in order to be adamantly against Trump the way any sensible, decent human being should be, without any special effort being needed to convince them of that.

[pansypoo53219]

5. ratings trump democracy all the time.