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Are You Wrestling With Trump Fatigue?
Mother Jones ^ | October 17, 2017 | Monika Bauerlein

Posted on 10/22/2017 10:38:31 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

Last week I returned from a big journalism conference, and it cemented a hunch I’ve been ruminating on for a little while now: A lot of the chatter in the hallways was about data suggesting that readers have started paying less attention to the quick-churn news cycle. Web traffic to news sites appears to have declined across the board from the spikes after Trump was elected.

That’s a problem for a lot of an industry that derives most of its revenue from the ad impressions that load every time you click on a story, whether or not you end up actually reading it.

But it might also be good news—if it means that as a society, we’re ready to engage with the news in a different, less frantic way.

Before I unpack that, though, I’ll level with you: I also suspect fatigue is a big reason we’re behind on our fall pledge drive. We need to pick up the pace to make our $200,000 budget, so even if—especially if—you’re feeling like it’s just too much right now, I hope you’ll keep reading and that you’ll support Mother Jones’ journalism with a tax-deductible donation today.

Now let’s dig in on the question of fatigue, because it’s a real concern—and our team isn’t immune from it either. From Charlottesville, devastating hurricanes, and the mass shooting in Las Vegas to attempts to kick millions off of their insurance or reversals on DACA (to name just a few—travel bans! North Korea! Iran!), it’s been a tough run.

So as counterintuitive as it seems, let’s think back to a moment we all remember very precisely: The night of November 8, 2016. That moment when it became clear that Donald Trump would be our next president.

People dealt with that night a lot of different ways, but I’ve heard one thing from almost everyone I know: We all felt our compass very intensely that night. We felt it in our bones. We were really connected to our values, and we knew that our values demanded that we pick up our tools and start hammering away at what seemed like the daunting task of advancing democracy, justice, and progress.

Here’s how a former tech executive put it to me at an event recently: “I realized that night that I couldn’t outsource participation. I couldn’t leave democracy to other people.”

As people thought about what democracy means to them, many of them found their way to journalism—including Mother Jones. We saw tens of thousands of new subscribers and supporters sign up, and we took that as a mandate: to reconfigure our priorities, to double down on the work that is most critical now, to be worthy of the trust that our audience—you!—places in us.

Nine months in, if we feel a little overwhelmed, it’s for good reason: They want us to be. The more they get us thinking it’s impossible to keep up, the less we can pull back and keep eyes on our compass. So whenever I battle the fatigue that is inescapable at times like this, I try to think back to that moment, when we all knew it would be a long slog, and we couldn’t afford to feel hopeless. (You can let me know how you’re feeling and hear from fellow readers at the end of this article.)

And there’s one other thing we realized at that moment: We could no longer keep going the way we were. That’s where I come back to the changing patterns in news consumption. Maybe it’s a good thing that we’re no longer frantically clicking on every outrage-inducing link in our Facebook feed. Lots of you have told us that you are unplugging a bit—not from the issues, but from the blur of headlines. That you are taking the time to read more deeply, and to connect with others for real (yes, even face to face) conversations.

And it turns out that by doing this, you may be fighting the propagandists in the most effective way there is. Last year, the nonpartisan research organization RAND released a study of messaging techniques used by Kremlin-controlled media, known as the “Firehose of Falsehood.” Here are their two main takeaways: Russian propagandists utilize “high numbers of channels and messages, along with “a shameless willingness to disseminate partial truths or outright fictions” that “entertains, confuses, and overwhelms the audience.”

Sound familiar? It’s very similar to what we’ve been seeing from Trump and his allies in the last year and a half.

But the propagandists’ worst nightmare is for the audience—us—to hold on to our grounding. The study concluded that the best way to counter deception and media manipulation is getting ahead of the lies with accurate information, and exposing the propaganda as such—because fighting it case by case, story by story, is a daunting, and losing battle.

It’s a tall order, and I won’t pretend we can do it on our own, but Mother Jones—and most journalism—exists to make it harder for the firehose of falsehood to work. If that’s what you want, I hope you’ll join us with a tax-deductible donation to help us reach $200,000 so we can keep digging up facts and get them to millions of readers for free. We only have two weeks left in our pledge drive, and we still need to raise about $100,000 to stay on track.

We can’t let Trump-era politics become the new normal. But we also can’t respond to every development as a brand new, hair-on-fire crisis. By recognizing the playbook, and refusing to let it work you up or beat you down, we can hold on to the strength and wit we’re going to need for the road ahead. That’s what we’re committed to—and I hope you’re with us.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on Trump fatigue, because when I say being a reader-supported nonprofit means we answer only to you, that’s not empty rhetoric. We not only need to double down on fact-finding reporting during times like these, we also need to listen and learn from you.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Computers/Internet; Politics
KEYWORDS: blogs; media; resistance; trump
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Poor snowflakes. Perhaps they will melt and evaporate away.
Maybe, if they are sooooo fatigued, they could just quit focusing on hating him so much and unpucker a bit and live their lives.


41 posted on 10/22/2017 11:19:59 AM PDT by vpintheak (Freedom is not equality; and equality is not freedom!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Die Ministry of Propaganda, die


42 posted on 10/22/2017 11:20:17 AM PDT by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizen Means Born Here Of Citizen Parents - Know Islam, No Peace -No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: HarleyLady27

The night that Trump won, I had to be up at 5am to begin my long commute to my job in Manhattan. Around 4am, I finally wound down enough to where I could doze for about an hour. When it was time to start getting ready for work, I felt like I was gliding on air and just had 10 hours of restful sleep. It’s been pretty much that way since. Whenever I start feeling down about something, I remind myself that Trump won and all is good again!


43 posted on 10/22/2017 11:24:04 AM PDT by SamAdams76
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Not at all. I love all the winning.


44 posted on 10/22/2017 11:32:48 AM PDT by Parley Baer
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To: bboop

“Are You Wrestling With Trump Fatigue?”

No, democrat fatigue.


45 posted on 10/22/2017 11:36:49 AM PDT by Bonemaker
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

My takeaway is they get paid for ad impressions. If you click on their website links, they get paid.

Stop funding the Left.

Do not click on their websites.

Cut your cable tv. They get paid whether you watch them or not. Half of CNN’s revenue is cable subscriber fees. If you pay the cable company, you are funding the Left.


46 posted on 10/22/2017 11:42:20 AM PDT by joshua c (To disrupt the system, we must disrupt our lives)
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To: txhurl

Funny that You mention Wills...

I just twisted mine so tight
My liberal types will hate me
And conservative types will laugh
All the way to the Bank!


47 posted on 10/22/2017 12:01:33 PM PDT by Big Red Badger (UNSCANABLE in an IDIOCRACY!)
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To: Big Red Badger

Unless ,
Of course a Stripper knocks on My Door!


48 posted on 10/22/2017 12:03:12 PM PDT by Big Red Badger (UNSCANABLE in an IDIOCRACY!)
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To: txhurl

I wouldn’t cut any of my kids out of my will because of political leanings.

.


49 posted on 10/22/2017 12:08:30 PM PDT by Mears
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I don’t feel sorry for them. More winning, please.

JoMa


50 posted on 10/22/2017 12:20:53 PM PDT by joma89
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Like in tired of winning?

No, not yet.


51 posted on 10/22/2017 12:23:28 PM PDT by metmom ( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith..)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw6JO_l8NyQ
52 posted on 10/22/2017 12:31:58 PM PDT by higgmeister ( In the Shadow of The Big Chicken)
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To: HarleyLady27

+1


53 posted on 10/22/2017 12:34:50 PM PDT by 4Liberty (MSM = Democrat' PR firm. Mainstream "news" = Fiat news.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

As long as Democrats stay miserable decent people should be happy....


54 posted on 10/22/2017 12:38:24 PM PDT by rrrod (just an old guy with a gun in his pocket.6l)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

“I ain’t no ways t-i-r-e-d”....to quote Hitlery Rotten Criminal.


55 posted on 10/22/2017 12:42:21 PM PDT by july4thfreedomfoundation ("You can't fix America without pissing off the people who broke it".....Bill Mitchell)
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To: july4thfreedomfoundation

President “Trump fatigue”??? These losers haven’t seen anything yet. President Trump likely will have 11+ years remaining during which these lunatics will either have their heads explode or implode. I laugh at their dilemma, ridicule their every utterance and take solace in America becoming GREAT again. What weak, pathetic, sick lunatics.


56 posted on 10/22/2017 12:58:49 PM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Mel Brooks says:
“Don’t be stupid.
Be a Smarty!
Come and Join,
the Nazi party!”


57 posted on 10/22/2017 1:01:32 PM PDT by Doctor DNA
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I have MSM news coverage of Trump fatigue!


58 posted on 10/22/2017 1:21:54 PM PDT by 48th SPS Crusader (I am an American. Not a Republican or a Democrat)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Actualy, Rat fatigue. I think Trump’s doing a great job so far.


59 posted on 10/22/2017 2:25:20 PM PDT by kaehurowing
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
We not only need to double down on fact-finding reporting...

They're math challenged.

0 X 2 = 0

60 posted on 10/22/2017 2:46:11 PM PDT by TigersEye (0bama. The Legacy is a lie. The lie is the Legacy.)
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