Posted on 04/07/2020 10:35:44 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Monday evening, Anderson Cooper greeted his ever-dwindling CNN audience with a stark and damning condemnation of the president of the United States and his daily Coronavirus Task Force briefings.
"What you mostly heard was the president. And what you saw was a hijacking. A hijacking of the task force press conference by a president determined to rewrite the history of his early and reprehensibly irresponsible response to this virus," said Cooper. "What the president showed us today is what the nation’s top scientists have to deal with every day- a president who now uses these briefings as a reelection platform, an opportunity to lie, to deflect, to attack, to bully, and cover-up his own deadly dismissals of the virus for crucial weeks."
Of course, Cooper's own network has refused to carry these press briefings for its audience, so Cooper is using his platform to explain to CNN's uninformed viewers his interpretation of the briefing rather than allowing them to watch the content themselves, without editorial interruption, and decide for themselves.
Later in the program, Cooper contended that the White House has not provided key details in its plan to deliver key resources to states that are fighting on the front lines of the COVID-19 battle. Sadly, those details had been revealed during the past several briefings, but Cooper apparently only watches CNN so he was, like his viewers, woefully uninformed.
Cooper's original point that these press briefings are being "hijacked" by the president is a bit off the mark, of course, but deserves analysis.
The briefings are certainly being hijacked, but not by the president. The president can't hijack his own briefing. It's his briefing. But Cooper's assertion tells you everything you need to know about the real problem here.
Cooper and his peers think these briefings are theirs. They think the briefing room is for them. They think they get to make the rules and if the president or his staff don't adhere to them, they are out of line.
Anyone outside of Washington, D.C. and anyone who didn't waste tens of thousands of theirs or their parents' money on a journalism degree know that the truth is the exact opposite.
These are presidential briefings and the reporters are there to record the information delivered at them to the American people.
The briefing room and the functions that happen within it are managed and controlled by the executive branch of the American government. The president runs that branch of government.
The rules within that room are not set by the reporters or the embarrassing White House Correspondents' Association, they are set by the administration.
If anyone is hijacking these briefings, it's the reporters, not the president.
Watching the briefings on a daily basis, the American people have been able to see the president and his able team deliver information to the American people about this unprecedented situation. They've seen a mix of doctors, scientists, cabinet members, military personnel, members of Congress and business leaders step up and discuss how the American government is mobilizing to confront these challenges.
They aren't always right and they sometimes contradict each other, but the information is delivered directly to us in a way that we can understand and digest.
Then, the president opens up the briefings to questions from reporters. That's when the hijacking takes place.
The reporters tasked with covering the White House are specifically trained with one skill set: political reporting. As a journalist, it's an important tool to have in your arsenal on most days when you're covering any White House, but these days, we need more than that. We need reporters who understand public policies that connect needs in a health crisis with the tragic results of a forced economic shut down like the one we are experiencing now. We aren't getting that.
We're getting questions that are designed to drive a political wedge between Trump and the doctors on his task force. They're designed to deliver a contentious exchange between the president and a reporter that will then provide 40-second video fodder for the prime time news cycle. They're designed to provide b-roll footage that Joe Biden's fledgling campaign can stitch into a deceptively edited television ad.
The reporters at these briefings are doing what they're paid to do. They are political reporters and they are focused on these briefings from a partisan, political perspective. Fine. But most Americans aren't really interested in that right now. So, these political reporters should stop hijacking these briefings. Right, Anderson?
Are you kidding? Watching Trump smack them around is the reason America tunes in.
Though I do wish they’d ask Birx and Fauci more hard questions about bad projections and not just throw gotchas at Trump.
Why are they even allowed to ask questions about subjects that have nothing to do with the virus? Just tell them they can ask only about that.
The US has the most fake news media in the world.
many on the left are a loathsome, vile pack of wild dog faced pony soldiers
May their disgusting evil vileness amount to massive defeats this November and following midterms
At least Anderson and his entire audience are within the social gathering guidelines of less than 5 people.
All by design. I sense Trump has tired of the exercise, and there’s probably hope among the reporters they can get him to snap.
I really wish there was a way for Trump and his team to get out the necessary information without the reporters present. It would make the daily updates to the point.
The press can do the hitman/gotcha stuff in other meetings later.
Right now they are being allowed to channel all their hatred into the press conferences, even though it has nothing to do with the virus. Tell them the only subject is the virus and the response, and just don’t answer questions that don’t relate to it.
China and Islamic news agencies first. But the US media is not far behind.
Yes!!
FIREWORKS! President Trump Blasts ABC's Jon Karl, "You're a Third-Rate Reporter!" (Video)
Leftists are delusional.
I can’t emphasize this enough.
‘Journalists’ see this as another opportunity to show us their a&^… instead of their character or professionalism.
It’s irresistible to them...and just more boring ‘reruns’ for everyone else.
It’s kinda’ fun, but I turn off the conference when the questions start. I do think each reporter, prior to asking a question, should state their name and affiliation. Or with so few there, their name/affiliation should be posted on the screen.
The reporter’s questions don’t reveal any further information. It is either already discussed or off-topic. Total waste of time other than as entertainment to see who wins the stupidest question/comment award.
Trump LOVES these briefings.
He WINS every time he appears.
When the enemy shows his ass to the world, that’s not a bad thing. A friend from the UK who’s paid no attention to US politics before said “My God, your reporters are just awful!”.
The room needs an older nun with a thick ruler and when the kids act up with their disrespectful condescending questions she slaps them on the knuckles. Clearly, they were never taught manners from their besties, i.e. their parents.
Third rate reporter, low rent journalist. Hat tip to Freddy Fender. :)
Everyone else sees his disgusting pederast face, and changes the channel.
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