Note to News Media: Just Stop!

Marine 1 used as a political prop.

Just a brief comment.  I just watched the half hour CBS Evening News broadcast with Norah O’Donnell and I believe Major Garrett providing commentary on Trump’s return from Walter Reed to the White House.  There was no news in the entire half hour, just pictures of Walter Reed, Marine 1 in the air, and the helicopter landing on the South Lawn.  For a full half hour.  To be fair, O’Donnell and Garrett were very critical of Trump, repeatedly noting that this was essentially a political stunt, timed for prime time on the east coast.  But they gave Trump the full half hour; not a word about the election, Biden, the tropical storm heading towards Louisiana, or any other news of the day.  Toward the end of the show O’Donnell commented that Trump was a master of using the media; I don’t have an exact quote, but she essentially said something like “Look how he’s taken over our coverage for the entire prime time news.”  AARRGGHH!!!!!

This applies to all the networks and news channels, not just CBS — I just happened to be watching that channel.  But hey, guys, think about what Norah just said:  Trump didn’t make you devote the entire evening news to his bullshit theatrics — that’s a choice you (or actually, your editors) made.  Come on — he can’t force you to cover an event that had no inherent news value — only you and your team can make that decision.  You can tut-tut about his actions all you want, but YOU ARE THE ONES WHO ARE ENABLING HIM!!!!!  Haven’t you learned anything in 4 plus years?  

Just stop!