Columns

ECLECTIC RANT: Shooting at Annapolis, MD and Trump’s media bashing

Ralph E. Stone
Friday July 06, 2018 - 12:00:00 PM

We are all saddened, or should be, at the killing of two editors, a sports reporter, a community beat reporter and a sales assistant at the Capital Gazette located in Annapolis, MD. But attention has to turn to President Trump’s history of inciting violence against the media. 

Just after the attack, Trump did offer condolences to those affected and did order the flag at the White House and all flags on public buildings, military posts, naval vessels, embassies abroad and other locations until sunset of the evening of the shooting. 

However, a week after the shooting during a campaign-style rally in Montana, Trump was back to his old media bashing ways calling them "downright dishonest" and "really bad people". 

This raises the question as to whether this a case of a lone shooter with a particular grudge against this newspaper, or is there a correlation between this unfortunate incident and the escalation of this president’s attacks against the media who have the audacity to continually call him and his minions on their lies, or both? 

Consider that according to the Digital News Report, 49% reported as having seen politicos use the term “fake news” the previous week, and only 44% trust news in general. That makes the news media, especially those intensely disliked by Trump (The New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC) fair game. 

The exception, of course, is Trump’s symbiosis with Fox News. Trump and the GOP have finally have their own television channel to distribute Trump’s lies. To further the symbiosis, Trump just formally named former Fox News co-president Bill Shine as White House deputy chief of staff. 

Or for that matter, is there a correlation between the Trump administration and too many Republicans in Congress toward non-Whites, immigrants, the LGBTQ community and women, and the rise of this animus among too many Americans? Trump has invited the bigots to speak and act openly. 

If you don’t vote these Trump-enablers from Congress in the midterms, you haven’t been paying attention, or you just don’t care about the direction this country is taking under Trump.