Trump and "Falsely"
In the wake of Donald Trump's verdict, a questionable trope goes over the line
In January, 2017, just as Donald Trump was taking office, the New York Times ran a story called “In a Swirl of ‘Untruths’ and ‘Falsehoods,’ Calling a Lie a Lie.” Like its counterpart The Washington Post, the Times made its coverage of Trump front-page news, and treated the decision to include “lie” in a headline — a major change for a paper once so wedded to decorum it referred to “Mr. Hitler” — as a rubicon-crossing moment for media. “Lie” and “falsehood” were supposed to be used “sparingly,” so the message wouldn’t lose “potency,” as Times editor Dean Baquet put it.
After Trump was convicted this week on a Frankensteinian legal concoction deeming him a 34-time felon for paying off a porn star, “lie” and “falsely” seized significant new ground in coverage. Even opinions can be “false” now, and furthermore some remarks can be so dangerous, they won’t even be shown. Experts: Trump Said Bad Thing We Won’t Publish is the standard. Just a weird little sideshow to this week:
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