Dear News Media:
Ignore him and he will go away. That was my parents’ advice for dealing with a troublemaker. It is simple and effective advice. And this is exactly how you must deal with Donald Trump starting on January 20, 2021. The moment Trump ceases being president, it is your responsibility to – very simply – stop covering what Trump does and says. If you do that, he will go away and quickly become irrelevant, and that might just allow this country to avoid further political and societal destruction. If, on the other hand, you continue to cover Trump – giving him the free publicity that he necessarily requires – he will not go away, and the damage to the United States may become irreversible.
Except for his presidential powers, which will very soon end, the entire source of Donald Trump’s power and influence is media attention. This has always been the case, going back to when “The Donald” was just a clownish, self-promoting wannabe socialite. Except now, he is no longer a Kim Kardashian or carnival sideshow. Four years as president of the United States has elevated and transformed Donald Trump into an existential danger. Like fascist demagogues before him, Trump has managed, utilizing a message of hate, a talent for con artistry and propaganda, and a giant megaphone, to trigger people’s worst impulses and channel them into a destructive force that is turning a nation against itself.
And it must be said: You, the news media, have been instrumental in the creation of this monster. It is understandable that you have covered him as president. But this began years earlier, with your coverage of Trump’s “birther” claims which he used to gain attention for himself while undermining Barack Obama’s presidency. Then, you enabled Trump’s election itself. With the near-constant media coverage of Trump in the 2016 election, especially during the primaries, you provided him with the necessary publicity and legitimacy that paved the way for him to defeat his Republican challengers and prevail over Hillary Clinton. And the media attention currently afforded him as president has been like oxygen to a fire. We now have a five-alarm inferno.
Beginning on January 20, 2021, it is incumbent upon you to cut off the oxygen and unplug the power source. Ceasing media coverage of Trump is the single most critical thing that needs to occur if our democracy is to be saved. And it is entirely within your control.
Once Donald Trump is a private citizen, you have no obligation to cover him as news, any more than you are obligated to run stories about George W. Bush painting. Do not continue to be Trump’s publicist. Do not continue to be the vehicle for his destructive efforts. Do not cover any of his future rallies. Do not display a split screen of whatever Trump is doing on Inauguration Day with Joe Biden taking the oath of office.
If something that happens to Trump after he is president is truly newsworthy, coverage is justified. But it is critical to apply a high bar in determining what is newsworthy, since we know Trump will do everything he possibly can to remain in the spotlight. News is only news because you make it so. Your greatest challenge will be resisting the temptation to attract a few more eyeballs, a few more clicks. For the sake of the country, you must resist that temptation.
Undoubtedly, Fox News and the more radical propaganda outlets will continue to talk about Trump, at least for a time. But without the legitimacy of mainstream news coverage, any such messaging will quickly become forgotten noise. Even for Fox News, the stories that gain traction and become actual news are the ones covered in the other, mainstream media.
It bears repeating because it is so important: The power is in your hands, and so is the responsibility. Do you have the will and moral fortitude to do the right and necessary thing and resist covering Donald Trump? We should all hope so. Because – without any exaggeration or hyperbole – our civilization could very well depend on it. Resolve now and do not waver, and maybe you will end up saving us all.