T Dog’s Think Tank: Bad times on media row

Journalists under fire from Trump, the left, and even Mayor Johnson as journalism’s prestige continues to sag

If you thought the 2024 Chicago White Sox had a rough year, the media had it worse. 

Daily attacks on the Fifth Estate have become commonplace in the last few weeks leading up to the Presidential election. And it’s not just coming from former President and current Republican nominee Donald Trump but also from supporters of Democratic nominee and current Vice-President Kamala Harris. And if that weren’t enough, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson joined in, attacking reporters and the local media during a recent news conference.

On his Truth Social platform, Trump stated that CBS should “lose their license” and that 60 Minutes should be taken off the air, accusing the newsmagazine of maliciously editing Harris’s interview. Trump also threatened to take similar action against ABC after claiming he was treated unfairly by the moderators during the Presidential Debate on September 10. In the past, he threatened NBC’s license over SNL sketches making fun of him and the network’s news division’s unfair coverage of him. Trump has made attacking the media an art form, calling news coverage against him “fake news” and the press “enemy of the people”.

The complaints have received a surprisingly supportive reception from FCC Republican Commissioners Nathan Simington and Brendan Carr, both Trump appointees. “The FCC does not and will not revoke licenses for broadcast stations simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes content or coverage,” said Democratic FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenwarcel, taking the same stance Republican Chairman Ajit Pai took when he ran the agency during Trump’s time in office. 

But Republicans aren’t the only ones having issues with the media. 

Over the past year, left-leaning individuals – especially supporters of President Joe Biden and Harris, have blasted news organizations for “sanewashing” Trump as outlets weren’t accurately describing his odd behavior in recent weeks on the campaign trail, including slurred speech, media-grabbing stunts, and showing possible signs of dementia. The criticism stretched from national publications such as the New York Times, Politico, Axios, and the Washington Post to network newscasts to local stations owned by broadcast groups – including the five network-owned news stations in reliably blue Chicago. 

And local pols have also joined in on the fun. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson slammed the media at a disastrous press conference on October 7 when he announced his picks for the Chicago Board Of Education, replacing those who resigned – practically all of them, calling an ABC 7 reporter “disrespectful” for asking a question about how he was going to finance a $300 million “payday” loan for Chicago Public Schools as Black clergy behind him booed the press every time they asked a question Johnson didn’t like, using tactics similar to what Republican Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance did recently. 

The media hatred has even filtered down to the lowest levels of government. Earlier this year, Dolton Mayor Tiffany Heynard referred to Chicago media as “fake news” after two local stations uncovered tons of corruption in the south suburb. And in Oklahoma and Florida, Republicans have bullied Nexstar-owned stations as a former Parents Television Council staff member who works for the Oklahoma Board of Education called Oklahoma City’s KFOR an “illegitimate news operation”.  Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tried to forcefully remove pro-abortion ads from a Tampa station and others around the state, even going as far as threatening to arrest station executives. 

These events highlight one thing: people really dislike the news media, no matter what political party they support.

According to a recent study, just 31 percent of Americans trust the news media – the lowest on record, with the number hitting a peak of 72 percent – in 1976. The number has been steadily falling since, hitting 50 percent in the 1990s, at the height of the Clinton administration.

Not surprisingly, the decline coincides with the rise of media consolidation, with fewer companies thanks to mega-mergers and numerous newspapers closing. The media can be used as punching bags by everyone because they can’t snap back due to a journalist’s code of conduct. Politicians know this, which is why they blame the media for everything. They are masterful at playing the victim, and their supporters believe them.

It’s a tactic Chicago Mayors have long used. Harold Washington, Chicago’s first Black mayor, did not have a great relationship with the then-white press corps. Rahm Emanuel also had testy exchanges with the media, though he defended the press after an overzealous Chicago Police officer threatened to “terminate the First Amendment” after two reporters were detained at a local hospital. In 2008, Mayor Richard M. Daley slammed the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times in a memorable press conference after they criticized a planned children’s museum in Grant Park. Lori Lightfoot’s treatment of the media was defined by a stunt in 2021 where she wanted to be interviewed by only Black journalists. 

Although the FCC does not license broadcast networks, it does license individual local TV and radio stations. ABC, NBC, and CBS own stations primarily in the nation’s largest markets, usually found in blue states. If Trump wins the White House and takes the Senate, the Republicans on the FCC will have a 3-2 majority and won’t be the independent agency as it was intended. This could have devastating circumstances for CBS parent Paramount Global and Skydance, whose pending deal could be held up if he takes control as the FCC must approve the transfer.

Even though Trump called the 60 Minutes editing “the biggest scandal in broadcast history”, it was actually the RKO/General Tire scandal, which forced the company to give up the license to its Boston TV station in 1980 – eleven years after another local station in the city lost theirs. License revocation is very rare in television as it happened two other times – to WLBT Jackson, Miss. (in a case I’ve documented many times on this site) and Spanish-language WSNS Chicago in 1990 in a complex and confusing case involving the former pay-TV channel ONTV, which signed off five years earlier. 

What’s disappointing is the corporate owners do not seem interested in defending their networks, stations, and reporters from these authoritarian attacks. That’s because many CEOs are Trump supporters as Republicans would likely be more receptive to easing current rules on the books regarding regulation so they can buy more TV and radio stations despite linear TV’s continued decline. The downside for them? If they run afoul of Trump, they could get in trouble with his administration and jeopardize any potential deal they want to make. So, if you’re wondering why the networks and local stations are “sanewashing” Trump, well, there you go. 

There is a lot at stake in this upcoming election, and whether we will even have a free press depends on the outcome. Judging by the polling, America may be looking to eliminate the norms our country holds dear, and that’s unfortunate. The Fifth Estate doesn’t even care to know this, as their corporate owners are ready to sacrifice the journalistic freedoms upon which their financial models are built in exchange for giving Trump positive press coverage.