Do you listen to the program “On the Media” from WNYC and hosted by Brooke Gladstone and Bob Garfield? It’s the only news program I can stand to listen to these days. The newest program, called “The Game Has Changed,” is well worth the listen for the DKos community, with lots of ideas and advice to take to heart in our discussion and analysis of Trump.
In its own words, the program addresses, “. . . the ethics and repercussions of leaking an unverified dossier, how Donald Trump is changing the rules of journalism, and Rebecca Solnit on finding hope in the dark.” You can hear On the Media here.
The program includes interviews with
Will Oremus, a writer for Slate, on Buzzfeed’’s decision to publish “the dossier” and the “sticky ethics” that decision presents.
George Lakoff, a cognitive linguist, on the taxonomy of Trump’s tweets — in other words, how to analyze the techniques Trump uses in his tweets.
Lakoff identifies these Trump tweeting techniques:
- Pre-emptive framing
- Diversion
- Trial Balloon
- Deflection
- Arguing from the specific to the general
- Direct vs. systemic causation
Lakoff advises journalists to handle Trump’s tweets by telling the truth first, then mentioning and dissecting the tweet, and, finally, continuing to go back to the substance and truth.
Nathan Robinson, the editor-in-chief of Current Affairs, on what drives Trump’s tweets and how journalists should triage their attention to what Trump says and does to establish a “hierarchy of significance among lies.” Robinson has a new book coming out on January 20 entitled Trump: Anatomy of a Monstrosity. What timing!
Ned Resnikoff, senior editor at ThinkProgress, on how Trump’s constant lies, large and small, “make it impossible to establish fact.” Resnikoff explains that the purpose and volume of Trump’s lies is to mess with reality and is “directly hostile toward democratic government.” Listeners also learn from him about Putin’s brain, Vladislav Surkov, who promotes this strategy of disinformation.
Rebecca Solnit, writer, historian, and activist, on her book Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities. Solnit wrote this book in response to the election of George W. Bush and our entanglement in the war in Iraq. By encouraging people to act rather than give in to despair, the book is even more applicable to our situation today.