The Nation's Joan Walsh took a shot at the corporate media for their constant need to placate Trump and the people who voted for them.
November 26, 2017

During a discussion about Trump's ever-ncreasing reliance on fringe and conspiracist right-wing media--along with the usual suspects like Breitbart and Fox "News"-- the panel on MSNBC's AM Joy wrapped up the segment with a bit of commentary by The Nation's Joan Walsh on the rest of the media's constant desire to placate and suck up to Trump and his voters, even as he's attacking them, as we've seen him do constantly with CNN.

REID: Is the media taking Donald Trump seriously yet, or is he still being treated in a sense as an object of entertainment?

WALSH: I think it's both. I think that a lot of news organizations, including the Times, are trying to have it both ways, and there are reporters there who do keep a line open to him and therefore in some ways are maybe not as tough on him as other parts of the newsroom.

I mean, I think we see that with television as well. Even CNN, which he hates, I think has, you know, periodically tried to suck up to him, or, you know, take his voters more seriously. You know, all of the stories we've seen about why we need to understand Trump voters and no one's out, going out, except maybe you and me, asking black women...

REID: Hello!

WALSH: … asking why are black women so smart and fabulous that you saw what this man was? Ninety-four percent of you knew and voted for Hillary Clinton. Where are those stories, Joy?

REID: There are no stories of black women looking longingly out the window, Eric, wondering what happened after the election.

BERNARD: I was one of them. I want to throw my hat in. I said, we got it right, you got it wrong.

As Walsh rightfully noted, she and Reid are the exceptions out there. Unlike most of her counterparts on the Sunday shows, Reid regularly fills her panels with minorities, women and people of color and she also does a very good job dismantling liars who come on and attempt to spew right-wing talking points that, sadly, are left unchallenged by the majority of the hosts of these political programs.

Kaz Weida at Rantt recently did a profile of the ignored Clinton voters out there. I won't hold my breath waiting for most of our corporate media to follow her lead anytime soon: The Forgotten Hillary Clinton Voter: A Profile Of The Not-So-Silent Majority:

November 9th is a date that will live in infamy for many Americans, a moment that looms large in our country’s psyche. Some of us were huddled around televisions, speechless in disbelief. Others slid into bed, hoping that they’d awake from the bad nightmare of a Trump Presidency in the morning. Many, myself included, tucked children into bed, frightened for the future we had suddenly thrust upon them.

When America awoke that day life seemed surreal. The atmosphere was heavy with the subdued nature of some sixty-five million Americans, quietly brushing against each other on the way to work, suddenly terrified to look one another in the eye. The loss felt deeply personal. Millions more had been “with her” and yet Hillary Clinton would not be the 45th President of the United States. The light at the end of the tunnel had vanished.

The majority of Americans were given the clear picture of a woman who would assume the highest office in the land. A woman who didn’t have to be attractive or likable. A woman who could simply work earnestly, and let her resume and her passion carry the day. Instead, a reality TV star and con man who had never once demonstrated the competence necessary to lead would be elected to our nation’s highest office.

In the aftermath, the media ran piece after piece on Trump voters casting them in a sympathetic light, favoring hot takes about so-called “economic anxiety” over the very real anxiety of the Clinton voters fearing for their future. Ignored by the media and bombarded by taunts from Republican family and friends, Clinton voters took refuge in online groups, looking for reassurance that the world they had help build hadn’t been destroyed.The Resistance was born from this banding together, forged from the fire to fight back for the country they love. Instead of celebrating a broken glass ceiling, they had to pick up shattered dreams of equality and soldier on together. Who were they and what did they care about? These were the people Rantt News wanted to give a voice to.

Instead of seeking to shed light on the over-reported on Trump voter, we at Rantt News decided to spotlight the majority. We opened a survey soliciting Clinton voters who’d be willing to answer a few questions. Why did they vote for Hillary? How did they feel about living under a Trump Presidency? What did they think needed to be done to move forward as a country?

Preparing for only 100 or so participants, we received impassioned responses from 1,500 Clinton voters from all across the country. And as we read through the comments, piecing them together with dozens of photos, a clear picture began to emerge. It’s a story we’re honored to tell of the 65 million Americans who would march to the polls tomorrow and vote for Hillary Clinton all over again. This is their story. Read on...

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