The liberal hosts and pundits on Tuesday’s Morning Joe discussed once again the role of the mainstream media in the post-election stage concerning the Trump transition’s relations with the Republican Party as well as the future of the Democratic Party. Frequent panelist Mike Barnicle stated that “it saddens me to say this, but the media took a bigger hit in this year's election process, and over the past two years than any one of the political parties.” This was quickly met with a snarky dig as host Joe Scarborough added “and they deserved it!”
Scarborough began the conversation by saying:
"[T]his is a problem with what I have been saying about the media, Mike. The media is doing nobody any favors by painting Trump's followers as ‘bumpkins’ who they have to examine under a microscope -- I have seen people that have got the story wrong from the beginning saying ‘I am going to go out to the country’, and they will drive, like, an hour and a half out to Pennsylvania, and then drive back to Midtown Manhattan. Mika's point is a great one, that the very people that Elizabeth Warren has been fighting for her entire life are the very people who elected Donald Trump that feel a disconnect from this Democratic Party.”
Barnicle also emphasized that “there’s a reason why people go on Facebook for news, unfortunately. I really regret saying that but you can’t ignore the facts” before Scarborough made his own points:
“[F]or most of America, the mainstream media has been reporting fake news over the past year and a half, because they have read every single day, ‘Donald Trump can't win’, and -- the best and the brightest in the media profession, ‘Donald Trump can't win, he has a 1% chance of winning the nomination, Donald Trump can’t win, he’s got a 5% peak he can’t get above 20%, Donald Trump can’t win because of this, because of that’, now that's the message they have read every day and seen on TV every day from the mainstream media and to them, going up, following up on Mike's point, that looks like fake news because it was fake news. They were wrong from the beginning, their assumptions were wrong from the very beginning and their assumptions polluted their reporting.”
Willie Geist then responded:
“I would say the same thing for the media and for Democrats on the left, which is that there has not been a lot of learning in the last month about what happened and it's looking to blame for other places why Donald Trump was elected, and not looking within and saying, did we cover this wrong or if you’re a Democrat, ‘did we talk to the wrong people – did we have the wrong message?’ There are two separate groups, obviously but they’re both guilty of the same thing which is, not looking inward after this election and looking outward for other reasons of why it fell apart.”
Barnicle then advised the media not to lose “the innate ability to do a critical thing when you are gathering news or looking for votes, listen, listen to the people you are trying to represent if you are a politician, and listen to the people you are trying to record for what their feelings are for a news story – listen…”
Before moving on, Scarborough asked:
“What role do people play in the media? There's a place for what David Corn does, and Joan Walsh does, and Paul Krugman does - that's very important, and that is to be aggressive and pushing forward and questioning every single thing that Donald Trump does, just like it happens on the right, but for The Times, The Post and the mainstream media, they need to step back and take a collective breath, press reset and become the great institutions that they once were!
Here is the excerpt from the November 29th discussion on Morning Joe:
MSNBC’s Morning Joe
11/28/2016
6:40:03 – 6:43:07 AM
JOE SCARBOROUGH: This is a problem with what I have been saying about the media, Mike. The media is doing nobody any favors by painting Trump's followers as ‘bumpkins’ who they have to examine under a microscope -- I have seen people that have got the story wrong from the beginning saying ‘I am going to go out to the country’, and they will drive, like, an hour and a half out to Pennsylvania, and then drive back to Midtown Manhattan. Mika's point is a great one, that the very people that Elizabeth Warren has been fighting for her entire life are the very people who elected Donald Trump that feel a disconnect from this Democratic Party.
MIKE BARNICLE: You know, to the initial point that you referenced there, and it saddens me to say this, but the media took a bigger hit in this year's election process, and over the past two years than any one of the political parties.
SCARBOROUGH: …and they deserved it!
BARNICLE: There’s a reason why people go on Facebook for news, unfortunately. I really regret saying that but you can’t ignore the facts…
SCARBOROUGH: Willie, how silly does the media look after the election talking about all these stories about fake news on Facebook, which drive me crazy --
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: …and doing a cross-country tour on how they got it wrong.
SCARBOROUGH: Despite the fact for most of America, the mainstream media has been reporting fake news over the past year and a half, because they have read every single day, ‘Donald Trump can't win’, and -- the best and the brightest in the media profession, ‘Donald Trump can't win, he has a 1% chance of winning the nomination, Donald Trump can’t win, he’s got a 5% peak he can’t get above 20%, Donald Trump can’t win because of this, because of that’, now that's the message they have read every day and seen on TV every day from the mainstream media and to them, going up, following up on Mike's point, that looks like fake news because it was fake news. They were wrong from the beginning, their assumptions were wrong from the very beginning and their assumptions polluted their reporting.
WILLIE GEIST: I would say the same thing for the media and for Democrats on the left, which is that there has not been a lot of learning in the last month about what happened and it's looking to blame for other places why Donald Trump was elected, and not looking within and saying, did we cover this wrong or if you’re a Democrat, ‘did we talk to the wrong people – did we have the wrong message?’ There are two separate groups, obviously but they’re both guilty of the same thing which is, not looking inward after this election and looking outward for other reasons of why it fell apart.
BARNICLE: …and somehow losing the innate ability to do a critical thing when you are gathering news or looking for votes, listen, listen to the people you are trying to represent if you are a politician, and listen to the people you are trying to record for what their feelings are for a news story – listen…
(....)
6:47:06 – 6:47:37 AM
SCARBOROUGH: The question is, what role do people play in the media? There's a place for what David Corn does, and Joan Walsh does, and Paul Krugman does - that's very important, and that is to be aggressive and pushing forward and questioning every single thing that Donald Trump does, just like it happens on the right, but for The Times, The Post and the mainstream media, they need to step back ---
BRZEZINSKI: Press reset!
SCARBOROUGH: --- and take a collective breath, press reset and become the great institutions that they once were!
