US press gets a hammering over Trump and race

Up until now the major US newspapers, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, have been hot on the track of Donald Trump, on occasions seeming to be so wholly obsessed with alleged wrong-doings and poor leadership that the White House has felt besieged by what they would call the unfair, biased, anti-Trump liberal press. Now suddenly the Democrats are berating these newspapers, especially The New York Times, for being too soft on Trump on the question of racism, or more pointedly, the president's perceived racist stance against illegal immigrants stirring up hatred and leading to the sort of shooting massacres witnessed over the weekend. Well, ok, The New York Times published a rather poor attempt at being even-handed in a headline post the massacres which said Trump called for unity over racism. They realised the headline had the mood of the nation all wrong and changed it after the first edition. But the Democrats, especially Beto O'Rourke, long-shot presidential candidate, got so angry he came out with the classic three-word question to the media: "What the f...?" O'Rourke whose home town is El Paso where the first massacre took place, accuses Trump and his anti-immigrant rhetoric of motivating white supremacists to grab their semi-automatic rifles and go on a shooting rampage. He cited Trump's accusation of Mexican immigrants being rapists and criminals. I don't think anyone can accuse these three great newspapers of failing to take Trump to task on every issue that has been raised in the last 18 months, from Russia collusion to immigration to The Wall to alleged business improprieties etc etc. But a newspaper, unless it's a rant sheet, has to be as objective as possible. That's essential for good reporting. Columnists can accuse Trump of being a racist. But reporters and also editorial writers have to provide a broader perspective. It's not a question of being fair to Trump, it's about reporting everything accurately. If Trump says he is not racist but wants unity in the country that needs to be reported as well as comments from those who claim the president is a racist bigot. The New York Times headline did not reflect the news story. "Trump urges Unity Vs Racism", the headline that appeared after the weekend massacres, will have massively pleased the White House but was clearly inadequate because it failed to sum up what had happened and what was reported by the paper's correspondents. So it was an error of judgment. But O'Rourke's "What the f...?" was stupid. Newspapers don't get it right every time. But don't forget, ever since he came to the White House, Trump has been railing against the media, accusing papers such as The New York Times of being Fake Newspapers. Why? Because of their relentless pursuit of the truth behind the Trump phenomenon. So, O'Rourke, don't make enemies of the media. Otherwise they might turn round and ask, perhaps in a headline: "O'Rourke, What The F...?"