Jay Rosen’s reporting principle
As tedious as it is commenting on Donad Trump’s latest verbal atrocities, as well as on the relentless 2024 horse-race coverage in the press, it would be far more tedious seeing Trump abolish the United States if given half a chance. Or any Republican Trump wannabes, for that matter.
I’m already musing about bumper stickers. ABOLISH AMERICA | VOTE TRUMP.
Four words. NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen has a six-word formulation for how the press should be reporting the 2024 presidential race instead of its reflexive horse-race framing: “Not the odds, but the stakes.”
That’s my shortand for the organizing principle we most need from journalists covering the 2024 election. Not who has what chances of winning, but the consequences for our democracy.
Rosen thinks (in this case, anyway) Axios gets it right.
Hundreds of people are spending tens of millions of dollars to install a pre-vetted, pro-Trump army of up to 54,000 loyalists across government to rip off the restraints imposed on the previous 46 presidents.
- The screening for ready-to-serve loyalists has already begun, driven in part by artificial intelligence from tech giant Oracle, contracted for the project.
- Social media histories are already being plumbed.
What’s happening: When Trump took office in 2017, he included many conventional Republicans in his Cabinet and key positions. Those officials often curtailed his behavior and power.
- Trump himself spends little time plotting governing plans. But he is well aware of a highly coordinated campaign to be ready to jam government offices with loyalists willing to stretch traditional boundaries.
If Trump were to win, thousands of Trump-first loyalists would be ready for legal, judicial, defense, regulatory and domestic policy jobs. His inner circle plans to purge anyone viewed as hostile to the hard-edged, authoritarian-sounding plans he calls “Agenda 47.”
- The people leading these efforts aren’t figures like Rudy Giuliani. They’re smart, experienced people, many with very unconventional and elastic views of presidential power and traditional rule of law.
Behind the scenes: The government-in-waiting is being orchestrated by the Heritage Foundation’s well-funded Project 2025, which already has published a 920-page policy book from 400+ contributors. Think of it as a transition team set in motion years in advance.
- Heritage president Kevin Roberts tells us his apparatus is “orders of magnitude” bigger than anything ever assembled for a party out of power.
“I am more worried for America today than I was on January 6,” Michael Luttig tells the Guardian. The retired federal judge we met during the January 6th Committee’s televised hearings in 2022 adds, “For all the reasons that we know, his election would be catastrophic for America’s democracy.”
Trump’s recent Nazi-adjacent speeches attacking people he considers “vermin” seem to have awakened reporters from their stupor. Some of them. For now.
Washington Post: Trump calls political enemies ‘vermin,’ echoing dictators Hitler, Mussolini
Former president Donald Trump denigrated his domestic opponents and critics during a Veterans Day speech Saturday, calling those on the other side of the aisle “vermin” and suggesting that they pose a greater threat to the United States than countries such as Russia, China or North Korea. That language is drawing rebuke from historians, who compared it to that of authoritarian leaders.
Nazis? Dictators? How dare you?! Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung made plain how ridiculous that comparison by “snowflakes” is, saying, “their entire existence will be crushed when President Trump returns to the White House.”
Nope, no All-American fascists around here, eh?
Press critic Dan Froomkin hopes that Post headline and story from late Sunday marks a pivot:
I sensed a tonal switch, which I hope and pray will be permanent, from covering Trump as a plausible future president to covering him as a dangerous demagogue.
Some senior editor made the call and I hope there’s no looking back.
Rosen cites Dan Rather’s”not the odds, but the stakes” assessment from his substack:
Recently, reporters are becoming bolder in demanding Republicans state that the 2020 election wasn’t stolen. That is a positive trend and should be followed up with questions about Trump’s attacks on democracy and the rule of law.
This is not simply an election between a Democrat and a Republican or an incumbent and a challenger. This is not primarily about weighing polls and voter enthusiasm in battleground states. This should not be reduced to comparing advertising dollars or voter registration numbers. This is about a vote that will decide the future of our nation in ways unlike any since the Civil War.
Trump isn’t hiding his intentions. There is no excuse for minimizing the threat he poses. What’s at stake in the upcoming election is the continuity of America’s precarious experiment in democracy.
That Big Orange Taxi means to take away your old freedoms. Know what you’ve got before it’s gone. Tell your friends what’s at stake. If nothing else, make a bumper sticker.*
*The management of Hullabaloo is not responsible for damage to your vehicle.