Media columnist Michael Wolff says journalists are “having a nervous breakdown” as they attempt to cover President Trump.
The Hollywood Reporter columnist and Newsweek writer told CNN’s Brian Stelter on “Reliable Sources” Sunday that the press goes into a “fit of apoplexy” after every move from the White House — an overreaction he said damages the media’s credibility.
“As we try to go after his credibility, our credibility becomes equally a problem,” Wolff said. “I think individual journalists are, in many cases, having a nervous breakdown.”
Oh the irony of that statement by Wolff in February 2017….was he talking about the BBC’s Nick Robinson or indeed himself?
‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’…..the normal mental state at BBC Towers where they all believe it is Trump who is the mad one and yet it could be they, stuck in their bubble, constantly patting each other on the back telling themselves how great they are and how wrong everyone else is, who are the deluded ones.
Here’s the Spectator on a newish arrival on the BBC’s News Quiz…a right-wing comedian…
I just exulted to my wife that Simon Evans had been on Radio Four’s The News Quiz. He’s a very funny man, Evans, but is also regarded as Britain’s only right-wing comedian. There are actually quite a few others – Leo Kearse, for example.
Anyway, Evans was in excellent form, defending Donald Trump and describing the NHS as a Socialist Utopia which did not work. The audience wasn’t sure what it should do, and Evans was of course ribbed for his opinions by the other three panellists and indeed the compere. Which is when I thought: hang on, why should I be grateful to the BBC for allowing one single representative of majority opinion on air? And yet it was such a breath of fresh air. Not because I’m a conservative, but just for the sake of diversity of opinion.
This is the thing. You think the BBC news programmes are bad? It is away from the news programmes that the BBC really shows its bias. And so we end up being grateful when someone who speaks for the majority – or at least a very large minority – actually gets airtime.
The BBC’s reporting of Trump shows perfectly their fall from grace, the corruption of their journalistic principles and their innate bias as they fail to stand aloof from the fray and instead join in shouting insults and abuse, telling lies, deliberately misinforming the audience, using their power and influence to target their chosen enemy, in this case Trump, though it could be you if you’re white and working class. Jon Sopel’s attempt to get in some smart-alec comments aimed at Trump during a press-conference is one example of the failure to maintain professional standards and impartiality but his reaction is pretty much standard across the BBC….yesterday we had a US feminist on the Today show being allowed to continually call Trump a sex attacker on a par with Harvey Weinstein…no challenge from the presenter. It seems anything goes as long as it heaps abuse upon Trump…this morning was no exception as extraordinarily and disgracefully the Today show gave up its prime slot at 08:10 to the author of a book that was written with the express aim of trying to discredit, vilify and demonise Trump in order to persuade people that he is unfit to be President.
Naturally it was the BBC’s goto presenter when they want someone to spread false stories maligning people and events that the BBC abhors [such as Brexit or the US election] , Nick Robinson, who was more than happy to conclude that Trump was ‘childish, stupid and unfit for office’...that he might be ‘dangerous in the White House’ and that the book might serve to back up claims about Russian collusion [lol….over a year and zilch evidence of that and yet the BBC keeps on insisting it’s true] and that it will help build a case for impeachment.
So Robinson is telling us that the book is a credible and serious source of information on Trump rather than what it really is, a classic hatchet job as the Swamp strikes back….you just have to look at the author’s photo to know which side he bats for….and it ain’t Trump’s….
Even the anti-Trump Washington Post casts a very doubtful eye over Wolff’s claims of probity and ‘truth’….
“Much to the annoyance of Wolff’s critics, the scenes in his columns aren’t recreated so much as created — springing from Wolff’s imagination rather than from actual knowledge of events. Even Wolff acknowledges that conventional reporting isn’t his bag.” An editor who worked with Wolff told Cottle, “He is adroit at making the reader think that he has spent hours and days with his subject, when in fact he may have spent no time at all.”
Robinson tried his hand at being a journalist ticking that box with a few questions about the book’s authenticity but then, having dabbled with due diligence, carried on regardless and treated the book’s narrative as very real, very true and very influential….despite the author admitting himself that he coudn’t confirm anything he’d been told is true and that he knew a lot wasn’t as much information he was given contradicted other information…he generously says he published it all anyway and wants the public to decide…so slinging as much mud as possible regardless of truth in the hope that the lies will grab the headlines…and indeed he admitted as much…his game plan was to get people repeating the slurs as much as possible in order that it will ‘up-end the Presidency’. And the BBC is worried about the Russians and fake news [or indeed real news as the Clinton emails were damning real news about her and the Democrats]?
The BBC of course was happy to help out in slinging that mud pressing the idea that Trump is mentally unstable, stupid and unfit for office and should be impeached but just consider Michael Wolff’s premise that he bases his argument upon…that Trump is not leading, that he doesn’t listen, he is uncurious about events and is not engaged in the problems of the world.
Now anyone with the slightest passing knowledge of what is going on will know Trump is massively involved, much to the horror of the BBC et al, in world affairs as well as pushing through an ambitious domestic agenda. It is absolute nonsense to suggest he is in some kind of information, action-free bubble where he gives no orders, has no ideas and doesn’t engage in the world around him…a totally bizarre suggestion given Trump’s infamous Tweets on just about everything. However Nick Robinson didn’t see fit to pull Wolff up on that blatant lie, to do so might pull down the whole house of cards so carefully constructed over the course of the interview and instead show Trump was not only engaged but effective and bringing results…..possibly more in a year than Obama did in 8….Trump actually in command and driving through a coherent, intelligent and sensible [and popular] set of policies, foreign and domestic.
Incredibly blatant, partisan and false ‘news’ from our finest, most trusted and most reputable broadcaster which tells us that it is the gold standard that other broadcasters have to aspire to match.
Gutter press more like.
If Mr Trump (I hate it when people presume to ‘surname’ people – does the BBC say ‘Robinson’? I suppose it does say ‘Blair’..) were just a buffoon and no threat they would leave him alone.
Clearly he is slowly, surely, dangerousely undermining and destroying their world and therefore must be stopped at any cost.
Wathcing BBandC is like watching the Wicked Witch screaming as she is sloshed with water in Wizard of Oz.
I say verily unto ye though – keep an eye on what’s going on with the building of the Third Temple (or not) in Jerusalem. Perhaps I’ve seen Raiders of the Lost Ark too many times but the religious world (the big 3) seem to be getting close to something. “I got a bad feeling about this” – Harrison Ford.
Wolff: Thank you for all the extra publicity you’ve given my book, Mr President. It’s made me millions.
Trump: Thank you for the opportunity you’ve given me to demonstrate to the world that the media will publicise any shit about me, however ridiculous, if it fits their narrative. It’s destroying their credibility bigly.
There were the ‘dozens’ the bbc Washington Bureau were queuing up to buy, before embarking on a massive promo campaign.
BBC on Facebook now:
“…could end Donald Trump’s presidency, says author Michael Wolff…”
Uh-huh. maybe if they click their heels together?
Mandy Rice-Davies rules apply.
Their wishful thinking
BBC quotation marks in headline trick, allows them to express their on feelings
On BBCnews FB page they’re running another story about ‘poor drowning refugees being rescued’
..comments are not left/lib
Then another post “hot hot day in Sydney”
..except yesterday I checked all Oz weather, when I looked it was a one day thing spreading to different cities, not a sustained heatwave.
And, even then, what was it that made it hotter back in the 1930s when the previous record was set?
The BBC can lie all it wants but it seizes on ‘records’ as and when it pleases, whether it’s an Airbus spewing exhaust from its engines on a thermometer at Heathrow, or a one-off day in Australia. It’s all used to imply ‘global warming’. But when the USA freezes and iguanas drop out of the trees in Florida, that’s just ‘weather’.
Alan
Excellent article.
At times a person begins to look the character he/she is. Shady and untrustworthy characters end up looking shady and untrustworthy.
It’s ‘bloody nobbling’ in Carmarthenshire!
Where’s all these ‘warmer, milder winters’?????
PS. This was supposed to be a reply to GCooper above!
And there’s more…..
Ski lifts now being installed in the Sahara……. Reports say (c. BBC) that the new resort has great commercial opportunities due to the availability of Solar Energy/Power.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/01/07/cold-snap-brings-snowfall-to-the-sahara-desert-for-the-second-winter-in-a-row/
😀
Why the photo of Hislop ?
Standards at the New York Times appear to have fallen to accommodate Mr Wollf’s book.
It seems “notionally accurate” is now admitted to be a good enough journalistic standard for the MSM.
Clearly the guy at the top is working his DNA magic with editorial there too.
A nifty bit of Trumpy Truthiness meets ‘it’s what he might have said’.
Nice one Maggie, you noodle.
It takes over 1500 old age pensioners to pay the wages of that diminutive little autocue-reader Jon Sopel. His expenses for living in that well-known staunchly Republican Bubble (?) called Washington DC must nearly double that.
And what do we get from such drivel?
That ‘book’ will come back to haunt the bbbc soon.
In other news:
http://tradingaswdr.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/what-carrie-on.html
Going down a storm. Did she wear black?
Compare and contrast
This morning Bloomberg (who are no fans of Trump) lead with the pulling apart of the Fire and Fury
Steve Bannon Issues Apology as Trump Allies Flood the Airwaves
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42597764
On the Beeb website the headlines are awash with luvies bleedin heart solidarity stories
Golden Globe winners in call for change
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-42599841
The Bannon story isnt even covered on the main news page, nor is it the headline on the US page
Bannon attempts to reverse treason remark
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42597764
On social media a Beeb Groupie tried to justify their Trump obsession on a ‘public right to know’ tack. I shared a Glenn Greenwald (hardly a Trump supporter) lament at the state of journalism. To which the counter was ‘everyone knows it is pretty much like that’. I wonder if it was Fran Unsworthless?
Wolff wants to sell as many copies of his book as possible, and obviously the more outrageous his claims the more publicity. Lies could be worth millions so of course he will lie. It is yellow journalism.
There is a great cartoon circulating of the media protrayed as a lunatic in a padded cell chained up, with TRUMP written all over the walls using a pen held between their toes, muttering that ‘Trump is crazy!’
They still do not understand his use of irony/trolling. When he hilariously calls himself a stable genius on Saturday they are triggered once again and cannot see how much people are laughing at them.
Wikileaks has just provided the whole book free of charge in PDF format so this ‘author’ will make no more money from it.
me thinks he will go down. not trump.
Interresting thing on Radio Lincolnshire Sunday
8:20am Excited presenter “And we’ll be talking about the book that everyone is talking about, that could bring down Trump”
8:40am The package is played and it’s not the hit job expected
There were 4 segs : a non alarmist BBC intro, Tillerson strongly defending Trump*, a bit from the author, a Trump hating Deocrat guy who basicallt just asserted Trump is crazy ..maybe another seg
..but there was no killer punch
..and afterwards the presenter just moved on in that disinterested way they behave when they don’t support an item
*The fact that the BBC were so balanced as to play the Tillerson seg was a surprise.
The endless Trump Delusion Syndrome does make for very interesting news. I’ve pretty much given up with this country. From regularly watching QT and This Week, I find them now so annoyingly predictable with the panellists trotting out the usual biased crowd pleasing tosh with no one really offering an alternative. And if they do, I can’t bear listening to the other 4 spouting their infantile predictable crap about the public being lied to and Brexit being diminished. Even Portillo on This Week who used to have some balls seems to have lost his spine in his tiresome sniping at Brexit.
Hence it’s the US that I turn to actually watch a politician (though he thankfully isn’t) actually giving something out and being his own man. Hence the likes of Tucker Carlson, Jesse Watters, Ann Coulter, Steven Crowder, Julie Ingraham, Tomi Lahren and Liz Wheeler provide such a greater amount of entertainment.
Add to this watching the likes of Paul Joseph Watson and Saargon of Akaad and checking out this site and Breitbart and I really do have all the exposure to the world that I need. Sometimes I fear that maybe I’m creating the echo chamber that many in the left exist within but whenever I dip my toe into something that will give me exposure to the left’s rhetoric it’s always the same old shit that could be answered or challenged with the same old opinions but never are.
I’ve genuinely lost my respect for the tories apart from the likes of JRM, Bernard Jenkins and Philip Davies for daring to say anything remotely interesting or ‘controversial’. It’s hard to think who might get my vote when the next GE comes.
Never confuse “this Country” with the BBC. That is what they want you to do. Nobody I know has any respect for the BBC. They are a textbook example of the intolerance, greed, and out of touch idleness of an unloved institution that has long ago gone rotton.
rotten
The TRump delusions run very deep . I was with old friends at the weekend and they were obsessing about-how do we get rid of him?
I tried to be kind but it was hard not to send them up. They really think we have influence.
Either the President or somebody on his team has realised that the swamp dwellers are really scared now and is taking the war to them in ways they just cannot cope with. This book will make his base even more secure.
He is delivering. Jobs,wage increases, tough stances on immigration and the bad guys . The Jerusalem embassy was a master stroke .
Forget the BBC. They need to read Sun Tzu -the Art of War.
They made themselves the enemy and are on his ground now and they are nothing .Nothing at all.
You guys know to check Scott Adams on Trump matters ?
1) If journalists are having a nervous breakdown covering President Trump, that says more about them than it does about him. He’s been President for a year and they still haven’t got over it?
2) If President Trump really is disengaged and doing nothing, why would the courts need to constantly block him? How do you block something that hasn’t been done?
I reckon the BBC and other MSM HATE the President. They think they have a monopoly on that word, but they don’t. They HATE him. He deprived them of President H. Clinton and the likes of Huma Abedin.
They will never forgive. So, from day 1, there has been an unprecedented campaign to ridicule him, denounce him, impeach him and probably worse. It will never cease.
He doesn’t appeal to me, but I support his policies, have done from day one. I admire his guts. His energy. And with every Sopel badmouthing, with every hatchet job by the BBC I begin to LIKE the Prez more. By 2020 I anticipate being in love.
I reckon the BBC and other MSM HATE the President. They think they have a monopoly on that word, but they don’t. They HATE him. He deprived them of President H. Clinton and the likes of Huma Abedin.
They will never forgive. So, from day 1, there has been an unprecedented campaign to ridicule him, denounce him, impeach him and probably worse. It will never cease.
He doesn’t appeal to me, but I support his policies, have done from day one. I admire his guts. His energy. And with every Sopel badmouthing, with every hatchet job by the BBC I begin to LIKE the Prez more. By 2020 I anticipate being in love.
And Bannon? He’s also OK.