, George Packer contends that journalists “will have a special challenge” in the era of President-elect Donald Trump. “We’re living,” he writes, “in a world where facts instantly perish upon contact with human minds.”
Contra Packer’s contention, “human minds” — the best minds around, I say — are no more inclined to dismiss facts today than they were in the past. Conspiracizing has always been a part of American politics. Thethere’s a high probability that Trump was recruited by the KGB in the late 1980s and remains a Russian asset. It is what it is.
Virtually every conspiracy theory and evidence-free allegation will get a hearing in the legacy media, just as long as it’s aimed at the right person. And, indeed, the effort to delegitimize the court continues with conspiracies about Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. We need to report on corporate malfeasances, but for the 20 years I’ve been in journalism, and perhaps going back to Watergate, reporters have seen themselves as crusaders in the fight against those on the wrong side of the ideological divide. A good journalist would be happy to take down anyone who is abusing power. But what we have are progressive activists.