Thin-Skinned

“[J]ournalists have taken it personally. They’re personally wounded and offended by this man. He baits them, and they dive in. And what he’s done well, I think, is he’s appealed to their own narcissism, to their own ego. 

“And the journalists stand up and say, ‘We are noble. We are honorable. How dare you, sir?’ And they take it personally. 

Now he’s changed the conversation to not that his policies are silly or not working or any of those other things; it’s all about the fight. He’s able to tune out everything else and get people just focused on that fight. And he’s going to win that fight.” 

—Jon Stewart, comic oracle, in interview with Christiane Amanpour, “Stewart: Trump will win the ‘fight’ against journalists,” CNN, Oct. 30, 2018. (Start at 1:50)

• Editorial Note: Bait and switch, America.




PeezPix
 

Sonoma Street

FREE! Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email This free “service” is sent to 2,000,000 or so subscribers around the planet more or less every weekday morning during WORD season. If you have recovered from whatever illness led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard