The election of Donald Trump as US President in 2016 seemed to catch the world napping. Like the vote for Brexit in the UK, there seemed to be a new de-synchronicity – a huge reality gap – between the unfolding of history and the mainstream news media’s interpretations of and reporting of contemporary events. Through a series of short, sharp interventions from academics and journalists, this book interrogates the emergent media war around Donald Trump. A series of interconnected themes are used to set an agenda for exploration of Trump as the lynch-pin in the fall of the liberal mainstream and the rise of the right media mainstream in the USA. By exploring topics such as Trump’s television celebrity, his presidential candidacy and data-driven election campaign, his use of social media, his press conferences and combative relationship with the mainstream media, and the question of ‘fake news’ and his administration’s defence of ‘alternative facts’, the contributors rally together to map the parallels of the seemingly momentous and continuing shifts in the wider relationship between media and politics.
Author(s): Catherine Happer, Andrew Hoskins, William Merrin
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2018
Language: English
Commentary: Really only "a good read" if you are conceited and delusional enough to believe that you "know what’s best" for strangers. If you actually, sincerely believe you "know what’s best for the little people", this screed is for you.
Pages: 275
Tags: Journalism, Media, Trump, War
Preface......Page 5
Contents......Page 8
Notes on Contributors......Page 11
Part I: Killing the Media......Page 16
Chapter 1: Weaponizing Reality: An Introduction to Trump’s War on the Media......Page 17
Chapter 2: Trump and the Press: A Murder-Suicide Pact......Page 37
Part II: Fake News......Page 44
Chapter 3: Turning the Tables: How Trump Turned Fake News from a Weapon of Deception to a Weapon of Mass Destruction of Legitimate News......Page 45
Turning the Tables: The Claim that Legitimate Media Traffic in Fake News......Page 46
Storming the Barricades of Truth......Page 48
What Can Be Done About These Assaults?......Page 49
What Should Not Be Done to Stop Fake News?......Page 50
Where We Go from Here......Page 52
The Unintended Bounce......Page 54
References......Page 55
Chapter 4: Trump’s War Against the Media, Fake News, and (A)Social Media......Page 59
Donald Trump and the Politics of the Spectacle......Page 60
The Apprentice, Twitter, and the Summer of Trump......Page 61
Twitter, (A)Social Media, and Trump......Page 63
The Trump Presidency, Fake News, and the War Against the Media......Page 65
The Trump Administration, Russia, and the Media War over the Trump Presidency......Page 68
Concluding Comments: Trump, Russia, and the Media......Page 71
References......Page 77
Chapter 5: The War of Images in the Age of Trump......Page 80
Misappropriated Photographs......Page 83
Manipulated Photographs......Page 85
The Photo-Opportunity......Page 87
The Inopportune Photograph......Page 88
The Action Shot......Page 90
Conclusion......Page 91
References......Page 93
Part III: Reporting Trump: Building the Brand......Page 96
Chapter 6: ‘Authentic’ Men and ‘Angry’ Women: Trump, Reality Television, and Gendered Constructions of Business and Politics......Page 97
References......Page 107
Chapter 7: Covering Trump: Reflections from the Campaign Trail and the Challenge for Journalism......Page 110
Fear and Disinformation on the Campaign Trail......Page 112
A Media Problem Bigger than Trump......Page 117
Conclusion......Page 119
References......Page 120
Introduction......Page 122
Background......Page 123
Alex Salmond After 2011......Page 124
The Referendum and After......Page 129
A Shared Approach......Page 131
Conclusion......Page 133
References......Page 134
Part IV: The Politics of Performance......Page 136
Introduction......Page 137
Media, Political Celebrity, and Trump......Page 138
Trump As Celebrity Politician......Page 140
The 2007 Crash and the Rise of Populism......Page 141
The Deflation in the Value Popularly Accorded to Knowledge......Page 142
The Recasting of Sincerity and Authenticity......Page 144
Social Media and the Democratisation of Communication......Page 145
Trump and Accountability......Page 146
References......Page 147
Chapter 10: The Big Standoff: Trump’s Handshakes and the Limits of News Values......Page 150
Why Analyse Diplomatic Handshakes As Standoffs?......Page 153
Lesson One: News Values Lead Media to Amplify Handshakes into Geostrategic Moments......Page 155
Lesson Two: The Global Digital Gesture Is Possible......Page 156
Lesson Three: News Media Can Contain These Standoffs, but Not Entirely......Page 158
Conclusion: The Big Standoff......Page 161
References......Page 162
Chapter 11: “Classic Theatre” as Media Against Trump: Imagining Chekhov......Page 165
“Classic Theatre” As Genre: Mediatized Shakespeare in the Park......Page 166
Chekhov in the War Against Trump: Carnival, Song, and Political Aesthetics......Page 168
Historicizing Chekhov: Online Reviews......Page 172
The STC Three Sisters: De-historicizing Chekhov......Page 176
Chekhov and Hope......Page 179
Conclusion......Page 183
References......Page 185
Introduction: Trump’s “Carnivalesque” War......Page 188
Trump As “Grotesque”: Before He Was President......Page 192
President Trump: “Childlike and Naïve”......Page 194
President Trump: “Camp” and “Ridiculous”......Page 195
“Legitimate” Political Comedy: Sophisticated Attacks......Page 197
Conclusion......Page 198
References......Page 199
Part V: Media Out of the Margins......Page 203
Trolling and Politics......Page 204
4Chan and ‘The Great Meme War’......Page 207
Trump and Trolling......Page 214
‘Apply Cold Water to Burned Area’......Page 222
References......Page 225
Chapter 14: Trump, the First Facebook President: Why Politicians Need Our Data Too......Page 230
Hyper-personalisation: Just Good Enough......Page 232
Big Data Politics......Page 234
References......Page 240
Introduction......Page 244
Conspiracy Theory and Political Uncertainty in the Information Age......Page 245
Trump’s Foreign Policy Before and After the Election: Political Uncertainty Rising in the Middle East......Page 247
Four Media Events Covering Trump’s Foreign Policy in the Middle East......Page 249
Trump’s Election......Page 253
Immigration Ban......Page 254
The Bombing of the Pro-Assad Military Airbase......Page 255
The Riyadh Summit Speech......Page 256
Conclusion......Page 257
News Sources......Page 258
Index......Page 260
