Balance Of Power Unbalanced
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Gary [email protected]
Republican In Name Only that I am, I just feel like he’s too far to the right for my tastes.
But I have to give him credit.
He called it just right with regard to media coverage of Donald Trump.
When Cruz was running against Trump in the primary, one of his arguments was that Trump would be excoriated by media once it became clear he was the nominee.
He argued that media would give Trump a pass during the primary because they wanted him to win. They wanted him to win the primary because they believe he would provide the easiest path to victory for Hillary Clinton in the general election.
But once the primary was over, look out. The media would do their best to undermine Trump any way they could.
It didn’t take long.
First, legendary Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward announced the Washington Post has assigned a team of 20 reporters to dig into everything Trump for the past few decades.
Can’t wait to see what they come up with.
And just this week the New York Times came out with a front-page story on Trump going back to his boarding school days – “Crossing the Line: How Donald Trump Behaved with Women in Private.”
The article starts out by describing how a model – Rowanne Brewer Lane –, then 26 years old, met Trump at a pool party at Trump's Palm Beach, Fla., estate, Mar-A-Lago.
The NYT reported that Trump had barely met her when he asked her to change out of her clothes and gave her a bikini to put on.
Then, quoting Brewer Lane, “He brought me out to the pool and said, ‘That is a stunning Trump girl, isn’t it?’”
This was the lede to the story and the NYT characterized the encounter like this:
“But the 1990 episode at Mar-a-Lago that Ms. Brewer Lane described was different: a debasing face-to-face encounter between Mr. Trump and a young woman he hardly knew. This is the private treatment of some women by Mr. Trump, the up-close and more intimate encounters.”
This was the anchor for the rest of the story that ran to more than 4,000 words. It was an interesting read, with content going all the way back to Trump’s boarding school – New York Military Academy.
That was the all-boys school where Trump was referred to as a “ladies’ man,” the NYT reported. I’m not kidding. They had photo grab from the 1964 yearbook showing Trump holding hands with a girl. Under the photo was the caption, “Ladies’ Man: TRUMP.”
But interestingly, the lede of the story, Brewer Lane, immediately took to the airwaves to say the NYT had completely misrepresented her comments.
Far from feeling “debased,” as the NYT characterized her, Brewer Lane told Fox News Channel, “They spun it to where it appeared negative. I did not have a negative experience with Donald Trump.
She went on:
“He never made me feel like I was being demeaned in any way” she said, calling the article “very upsetting.”
She actually characterized Trump as “polite” and “charming” during the Mar-A-Lago encounter.
She added:
"The New York Times told us several times that they would make sure my story that I was telling came across, they promised several times that they would do it accurately, they told me several times and my manager several times that it would not be a hit piece and that my story would come across the way that I was telling it and honestly and it absolutely was not. They did take quotes from what I said and they put a negative connotation on it. They spun it to where it appeared negative. I did not have a negative experience with Donald Trump.”
As for Trump’s comment about her being “a stunning Trump girl,” Brewer Lane said, “I was actually flattered by that, not demeaned. That’s what I told the Times and they spun it completely differently.” She characterized Trump as a “gentleman” and said she planned to vote for him.
I get what the NYT was trying to do here: Provide context and support for the narrative that Trump is a womanizer.
Problem is, they totally blew it, because the aftermath was all in Trump’s favor.
Trump unleased a series of Tweets:
• That was an amazing interview on @foxandfriends - I hope the rest of the media picks it up to show how totally dishonest the @nytimes is!
• The @nytimes is so dishonest. Their hit piece cover story on me yesterday was just blown up by Rowanne Brewer, who said it was a lie!
• Wow, Rowanne Brewer, the most prominently depicted woman in the failing @nytimes story yesterday, was on @foxandfriends saying Times lied
• With the coming forward today of the woman central to the failing @nytimes hit piece on me, we have exposed the article as a fraud!
Then, in classic Trump fashion, one of Trump’s attorneys on Monday suggested that Trump may sue the NYT over the article.
On Tuesday, another Trump attorney said that while he didn’t think there would be litigation, he was calling on the NYT to retract the story and apologize.
The NYT stands by the story and won’t do either.
So here’s my takeaway:
In an attempt to besmirch Trump, the NYT expends weeks of considerable reporting resources to tell its readers something the vast majority of them already knew – Trump is a boorish womanizer.
Seriously, is this surprising to anyone? This is news? This is some groundbreaking revelation?
As if that’s not bad enough, then – astonishingly – the very first woman the NYT chose to quote says she has been aggrieved all right. But not by Trump, by the NYT!
So Trump, while railing against the unfairness of the media, rachets up his own level of media attention and wins the PR war hands down.
Hey, big media, if you guys are going to bring Trump down, you’re going to need a better strategy than this.
Meanwhile, I wonder what the NYT and WaPo will dig up on Hillary Clinton?[[In-content Ad]]
Republican In Name Only that I am, I just feel like he’s too far to the right for my tastes.
But I have to give him credit.
He called it just right with regard to media coverage of Donald Trump.
When Cruz was running against Trump in the primary, one of his arguments was that Trump would be excoriated by media once it became clear he was the nominee.
He argued that media would give Trump a pass during the primary because they wanted him to win. They wanted him to win the primary because they believe he would provide the easiest path to victory for Hillary Clinton in the general election.
But once the primary was over, look out. The media would do their best to undermine Trump any way they could.
It didn’t take long.
First, legendary Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward announced the Washington Post has assigned a team of 20 reporters to dig into everything Trump for the past few decades.
Can’t wait to see what they come up with.
And just this week the New York Times came out with a front-page story on Trump going back to his boarding school days – “Crossing the Line: How Donald Trump Behaved with Women in Private.”
The article starts out by describing how a model – Rowanne Brewer Lane –, then 26 years old, met Trump at a pool party at Trump's Palm Beach, Fla., estate, Mar-A-Lago.
The NYT reported that Trump had barely met her when he asked her to change out of her clothes and gave her a bikini to put on.
Then, quoting Brewer Lane, “He brought me out to the pool and said, ‘That is a stunning Trump girl, isn’t it?’”
This was the lede to the story and the NYT characterized the encounter like this:
“But the 1990 episode at Mar-a-Lago that Ms. Brewer Lane described was different: a debasing face-to-face encounter between Mr. Trump and a young woman he hardly knew. This is the private treatment of some women by Mr. Trump, the up-close and more intimate encounters.”
This was the anchor for the rest of the story that ran to more than 4,000 words. It was an interesting read, with content going all the way back to Trump’s boarding school – New York Military Academy.
That was the all-boys school where Trump was referred to as a “ladies’ man,” the NYT reported. I’m not kidding. They had photo grab from the 1964 yearbook showing Trump holding hands with a girl. Under the photo was the caption, “Ladies’ Man: TRUMP.”
But interestingly, the lede of the story, Brewer Lane, immediately took to the airwaves to say the NYT had completely misrepresented her comments.
Far from feeling “debased,” as the NYT characterized her, Brewer Lane told Fox News Channel, “They spun it to where it appeared negative. I did not have a negative experience with Donald Trump.
She went on:
“He never made me feel like I was being demeaned in any way” she said, calling the article “very upsetting.”
She actually characterized Trump as “polite” and “charming” during the Mar-A-Lago encounter.
She added:
"The New York Times told us several times that they would make sure my story that I was telling came across, they promised several times that they would do it accurately, they told me several times and my manager several times that it would not be a hit piece and that my story would come across the way that I was telling it and honestly and it absolutely was not. They did take quotes from what I said and they put a negative connotation on it. They spun it to where it appeared negative. I did not have a negative experience with Donald Trump.”
As for Trump’s comment about her being “a stunning Trump girl,” Brewer Lane said, “I was actually flattered by that, not demeaned. That’s what I told the Times and they spun it completely differently.” She characterized Trump as a “gentleman” and said she planned to vote for him.
I get what the NYT was trying to do here: Provide context and support for the narrative that Trump is a womanizer.
Problem is, they totally blew it, because the aftermath was all in Trump’s favor.
Trump unleased a series of Tweets:
• That was an amazing interview on @foxandfriends - I hope the rest of the media picks it up to show how totally dishonest the @nytimes is!
• The @nytimes is so dishonest. Their hit piece cover story on me yesterday was just blown up by Rowanne Brewer, who said it was a lie!
• Wow, Rowanne Brewer, the most prominently depicted woman in the failing @nytimes story yesterday, was on @foxandfriends saying Times lied
• With the coming forward today of the woman central to the failing @nytimes hit piece on me, we have exposed the article as a fraud!
Then, in classic Trump fashion, one of Trump’s attorneys on Monday suggested that Trump may sue the NYT over the article.
On Tuesday, another Trump attorney said that while he didn’t think there would be litigation, he was calling on the NYT to retract the story and apologize.
The NYT stands by the story and won’t do either.
So here’s my takeaway:
In an attempt to besmirch Trump, the NYT expends weeks of considerable reporting resources to tell its readers something the vast majority of them already knew – Trump is a boorish womanizer.
Seriously, is this surprising to anyone? This is news? This is some groundbreaking revelation?
As if that’s not bad enough, then – astonishingly – the very first woman the NYT chose to quote says she has been aggrieved all right. But not by Trump, by the NYT!
So Trump, while railing against the unfairness of the media, rachets up his own level of media attention and wins the PR war hands down.
Hey, big media, if you guys are going to bring Trump down, you’re going to need a better strategy than this.
Meanwhile, I wonder what the NYT and WaPo will dig up on Hillary Clinton?[[In-content Ad]]
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