Trump and his media enemies
I’m as much a proponent of meaningful anti-trust enforcement as anyone. Obviously, it’s a huge part of the structural imbalance in our economic system. (I recommend Matt Stoller’s new book “Goliath” on this subject.) But using anti-trust to punish media companies that Trump doesn’t like is not good.
Recall that he intervened to deny Amazon a $10 billion Pentagon contract to wreak his revenge against the Washington Post. And there was good reporting that he interfered in the ATT and Time-Warner merger in an attempt to make them spin off and weaken CNN. The New York Times reported in 2017 that “White House advisers have discussed a potential point of leverage over their adversary, a senior administration official said: a pending merger between CNN’s parent company, Time Warner, and AT&T.” The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer later reported that Trump actually did try to make National Economic Council director Gary Cohn, block the merger.
Cohn apparently refused to follow Trump order but somehow the Justice Department did block the merger anyway. It lost in court, however, and when the House Judiciary Committee tried to investigate what went on the White House refused to cooperate, as usual.
Can’t believe @ATT keeps the management after yet another @CNN ratings dive. Nobody watching, NO CREDIBILITY! Maybe they should make changes at AT&T? https://t.co/jdCLuNWEEQ— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2020
Trump attacking CNN for its credibility is absurd, of course. The fact that he did it by retweeting an obsessive conspiracy theorist who lied about CNN’s ratings (they’re fine) makes it even more gobsmacking than usual.
Trump has not made as much headway in controlling the independent media as he hoped. But give him the mandate of a second term and see what happens.
I’m not even sure he’d have to do anything. If he wins there’s every chance the media will simply give up and kowtow to their new overlord.
Don’t tell me you couldn’t see it happening.
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