Our glorious history of beating up the media
Jul 3, 2017, 5:29 AM | Updated: 8:52 am
Former President Richard Nixon. (AP Photo/Henry Burroughs. File)
(AP Photo/Henry Burroughs. File)
President Donald Trump is, of course, not the first to be mercilessly pummeled by the media, nor the first to make it a campaign issue.
“Words like erratic, irrational, and incomprehensible are not ordinarily used to described the carefully-studied military decision of the nation’s commander in chief, and it pours out of the television set and the radio in a daily torrent.”
Even before Watergate, the media was pummeling Richard Nixon over the war in Vietnam. And the job of punching back went to Vice President Spiro Agnew.
“But you are the vice president, they say to me. You should choose your language more carefully. Nonsense. I’ve sworn that I’ll uphold the Constitution against all enemies both foreign and domestic.”
This was back in 1969 – when just three TV networks could control the agenda.
“A raised eyebrow. An inflection of the voice. A caustic remark dropped in the middle of a broadcast can raise doubts in a million minds about the veracity of a public official or the wisdom of a government policy.”
And he had a good point. Back then the news was beamed one way – from New York to everywhere else.
“Every elected leader in the United States depends on these men of the media. Whether what I said to you tonight will be heard and seen at all is not my decision. It’s their decision.”
Not anymore. How different might history have been if instead of using Agnew, Nixon could simply have used Twitter.
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