President Donald Trump boasted about the ratings of his daily live news conferences on the coronavirus Sunday, and suggested that the large viewer numbers rather than the misleading remarks he has made during them are fueling discussions in the media about ending the practice of broadcasting them live and unfiltered.
Because the Ratings of my News Conferences etc. are so high, Bachelor finale, Monday Night Football type numbers according to the [New York Times], the Lamestream Media is going CRAZY, Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon.
Trump followed that tweet with four others that quoted a New York Times story that referred to the presidents daily briefings as a ratings hit.
But while Trump is framing the debate about whether his briefings should be broadcast live as stemming from envy or political ambition in the liberal press, in reality the arguments from columnists and staffers at CNN and MSNBC have centered on Trump showering the public with dangerous misinformation and spreading false narratives about the state of the coronavirus pandemic.
As the Times reports, Trumps daily press briefings on coronavirus are attracting huge numbers: 8.5 million on cable news, which is, in fact, roughly the viewership of the season finale of The Bachelor. (That doesnt include viewers on broadcast television or online streaming, which likely increases that figure by millions more, if not tens of millions more, people who are watching the briefings.)
Trump sees this as an opportunity to brag a sign of his popularity and, theoretically, public trust in his leadership in a time of crisis.
The problem with that line of thinking is that many people are not tuning into the briefings because of Trump, but because they want to keep up-to-date on coronavirus and the USs policies on it. During these briefings its not just Trump who speaks, but his coronavirus task force, which includes top public health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci, the widely respected director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Deborah Birx, a physician noted for her work combating HIV/AIDS and the White Houses coronavirus response coordinator.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused an economic crisis, policy chaos at home and abroad, and widespread physical and mental suffering around the globe it would make sense that millions are tuning in to hear the nations top officials provide clear, accurate information on the latest.
Its precisely the critical importance of conveying accurate information in a time of crisis that has spurred many political analysts and members of the press to argue that its dangerous to present Trumps words to the public through live broadcasts. Trump has made dozens of false claims during the briefings, including overstating the potential of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for Covid-19, and falsely saying that anyone who wants to be tested for coronavirus infections can be.
Voxs Matt Yglesias has argued against live broadcasts of Trumps briefings on the basis that theyre ersatz rallies held for political purposes rather than bona fide attempts to inform the public:
Its never good when politicians lie. But in a public health crisis, you have a lot of people seeking accurate information and some of those people turn toward the news media. Its important for those of us working in the media to try to provide that information.
When a person turns on the television and sees the president of the United States giving inaccurately optimistic assessments of the progress of testing, vaccine research, and treatment it encourages people to be less careful with their hand-washing and social distancing than they otherwise might be. That costs lives.
And while offering a post-briefing fact check is better than nothing, it doesnt really undo the harm of showing it in the first place. Whats called for is news coverage that incorporates the fact that the president is saying things, but that focuses on providing people with accurate information there are not currently Covid-19 treatments that scale very well, leaving hospitals at risk of becoming overwhelmed and unable to offer ventilators to everyone who needs them, making it morally urgent to do everything possible to slow the spread of the virus until a more comprehensive testing regime can be put in place.
When prominent members of the media and news anchors like MSNBC host Rachel Maddow have argued against television networks broadcasting Trumps briefings, its not because theyre upset that someone they oppose politically is getting a lot of attention. Its that the politician involved is exploiting that attention for political gain and hurting the public with falsehoods.
Link:
Trumps coronavirus briefings are popular, but not for the reasons he thinks - Vox.com
