Thank you to Margaret Sullivan, for finally we see in print a critical analysis of the failure of the fourth estate in the 2016 presidential campaign. As an educator, I find the fraud of Trump University and the unethical stealing of students’ money, retirees’ savings, empty promises of knowledge and future gain, all claims by the candidate would be enough to disqualify anyone from any position anywhere, except perhaps a seat in jail. The height of all that is unethical, without focus and questioning, the media and the public gave Trump a pass, while the lawsuit from those defrauded resulted in a $25,000,000 settlement. This is the theme that could have been repeated and dwelled upon. All the while the media focused instead on former Secretary of State/ Senator/First Lady Hillary Clinton’s emails, over and over, allowing the urban myth of untrustworthiness ubiquitously and repeatedly spread, adding to the mantra weaving its way into every media outlet and public discussion. No unethical fraud by candidate Trump repeated by the media, just repetition of candidate Clinton’s emails so it settled in the public’s mind as the candidate is untrustworthy. Yes, we need the media to question, not accept, question falsehoods, and as Senator Al Franken’s says, not accept “pivots” from public servants until we find answers to questions politicians don’t want to answer, and uncover the truth.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/this-week-should-put-the-nail-in-the-coffin-for-both-sides-journalism/2017/08/16/77c6668a-8292-11e7-b359-15a3617c767b_story.html?outputType=comment&commentID=washingtonpost.com%2FECHO%2Fitem%2F67655713-f5bf-4a00-876a-c8555afbdced