US media take the Trump bait

POLITICAL POWER, in the Trump era, sets and manipulates the media agenda, most of the time said  US journalist Jon Lee Anderson on Thursday, April 21.

He was speaking  on “Real journalism in The Trump Era”  at the University of Panama where he was presented  with the Gabriel García Márquez Award from the Foundation for New Ibero-American Journalism (FNPI)

“They condition the public on a topic and accommodate the media agenda,” he said.

He was referring to the United States and the administration of Donald Trump, but the arguments could easily be extrapolated to different parts of the region, reports La Prensa.

“The leaders impose the agenda and almost always we continue as hamsters. We rarely get off the wheel,” he said.

He cited Ronald Reagan as an example when he warned that what happened in El Salvador in the 1980s would have serious consequences in the United States and in the world, and as a result justified indirect intervention. Political support would be the most appropriate term.

Anderson explained that Trump writes in his social networks on an issue and the media, like innocent fish, bite the hook and make it news.

“Trump has not killed anyone yet, but his words kill”. said  Anderson.

“He has dedicated himself to destroying the public space,” said the reporter, who has covered armed conflicts in all continents and has conducted countless interviews with individuals such as Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, Augusto Pinochet and García Márquez himself.

He said that, as a result of that agenda imposed by Trump and other leaders, there is much news that is left untold. And that, precisely, should be the target of the media.

“The culture of ‘I like’ does not represent anyone,” he said.

Anderson also participated this week in a workshop on investigative journalism at the Casa del Soldado, organized by the Forum of Journalists for Freedom of Expression and Information and the Editorial Workshop Coalition.