Page 29 - aruba-today-20180209

A29
PEOPLE & ARTS Friday 9 February 2018
Mueller memos illustrate media's great divide

By DAVID BAUDER ruption that it should shat- memorably skewered re-
NEW YORK (AP) — If Sean ter the conscience of law- porters. The difference is
Hannity had been working abiding American citizens," the criticism was coming
in the 1970s, his Fox News he said. from outside of the media,
Channel colleague Ger- Flip over to MSNBC at the said Tom Bettag, a Univer-
aldo Rivera believes that same time, and Rachel sity of Maryland journal-
President Richard Nixon Maddow was laughing. ism professor and veteran
would have never needed "That's it?" she asked. "That's television producer who
to resign because of the all they got? That's what all worked at CBS News in the
Watergate scandal. the hype was about?" 1970s.
It's not clear whether Rivera Not only did the memo "There couldn't have been
thinks that's a good thing; not live up to claims made a Hannity in Nixon's time,"
Fox refused to let him speak about it, even by the presi- Bettag said. "There wasn't
about his recent assertion dent, it factually under- an outlet with the reach
on Hannity's radio show. But mined the accusation that that a Fox or MSNBC has
it does speak starkly to the a dossier paid for by Trump that specializes in a specific
power of Fox's most popu- opponents had triggered political point of view."
lar figure and devoted sup- the investigation into the Fox's opinion hosts are par-
porter of President Donald Trump team's Russian ties, ticularly effective in spread- In this Friday, Nov. 6, 2015, file photo, above, MSNBC's Rachel
Trump at a time when the she said. Then she turned to ing their points of view and Maddow speaks during a Democratic presidential candidate
media's partisan divide Fox, whose headquarters is sometimes work hand in forum at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.; In this March 4,
seems wider than ever. across a Manhattan ave- hand with the president. 2016, file photo, below, Sean Hannity of Fox News arrives in Na-
The point is driven home by nue from Maddow's studio. Hannity reportedly speaks tional Harbor, Md. Associated Press
the continuing coverage "They have been hyp- regularly with Trump, the
of special counsel Robert ing and hyping and huff- president watches "Fox &
Mueller's investigation of ing and puffing, working Friends" in the morning and
Trump and, in the past two their audience up into a often tweets reactions to
weeks, about the Republi- frenzy for two solid weeks," their stories. There is time to
can-written memo on the she said. "They have liter- emphasize talking points;
probe. ally built a right-wing public the liberal watchdogs Me-
Fox, CNN and MSNBC, movement that this memo dia Matters for America
which are now more po- must be released, because counted 182 times Fox used
litical talk than news chan- this memo will fix the Trump the phrase "deep state" in
nels, have been consumed presidency, it will fix the December and January.
by the story. On the day the Russian scandal for Presi- "Fake news" is Trump's epi-
GOP memo was released, dent Trump. It will make the thet for stories he doesn't
the different worlds they in- whole thing go away." like; Hannity frequently
habit couldn't have been David Gergen disagrees criticizes the "anti-Trump
more clear. with Geraldo Rivera. The media." In his monologue
"This is Watergate times a Harvard professor and CNN the day the memo was
thousand," Hannity said, analyst worked in Nixon's released, he said that "the
charging the FBI with delib- White House and said his media has been corrupt magazine this week, Jona- backers won't believe it.
erately misleading a feder- crimes were too serious to and lies to you, the Amer- than Chait explains how In the Trump era, the net-
al judge. The "deep state," survive, and he had lost the ica people. At the end of such "deep state" and "re- work has thrived despite
Hannity's term for govern- support of the Republican the day, they are nothing lease the memo" talk can crippling scandals with the
ment officials opposed to party. "The deeper dan- but propagandists." be successful strategically. loss of network chief Roger
Trump, was undermining ger now is that the erosion Polls show the distrust in the For many Trump support- Ailes and personality Bill
his presidency and democ- of trust and the paralysis media and other institu- ers, their man can't lose O’Reilly to sexual miscon-
racy itself. The media, ex- in governing is threatening tions pushed during Trump's no matter what Mueller's duct charges. Hannity’s
cepting him, have been sit- our democracy," Gergen time has had an effect. His investigation finds. If Trump star was once fading at
ting on the sidelines as the said. The press had critics in supporters have remained is exonerated, that's to be Fox, now he’s the most-
scandal unfolds, he said. Nixon's day — his first vice steady, and suspicious. expected. If he's accused watched host in all of ca-
"This is so deep in its cor- president, Spiro Agnew, In an essay in New York of any crimes, many of his ble news. q
Arizona university gets $1.9M to research future of TV news

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona competitive in broadcast in space, what works and
State University's journal- and digital storytelling. what doesn't," said Cronkite
ism school on Thursday was Chief among the goals is Associate Dean Mark Loda-
awarded nearly $2 million the establishment of an on- to. The school also plans to
in funding to research the line hub where newsrooms become a testing ground
future of television news. can see the latest strate- for improved local news
The Walter Cronkite School gies their counterparts else- content and dissemination.
of Journalism and Mass where are trying out. "In an academic space
Communication received "The best way I can de- like ASU, you can fail and
the $1.9 million grant from scribe it is I think it's going understand the progress.
the Knight Foundation that to be a resource where It's very hard to do that in
will provide funding over someone can come to this a corporate environment
three years to fund initia- site from anywhere and This Nov. 14, 2008 file photo shows the Walter Cronkite School of when corporate dollars
tives aimed at ensuring TV get a sense of what new Journalism and Mass Communication, at the downtown cam- and people's jobs are at
pus of Arizona State University in Phoenix.
news companies remain ideas are floating around Associated Press risk," Lodato said. q