(Washington Times) Over two years ago, New York Times media columnist James Rutenberg suggested that “normal standards” didn’t apply when journalists covered Donald Trump, who had just won the Republican nomination for president. Dean Baquet, the newspaper’s executive editor, publicly agreed.
“Because the Times is the liberal media’s bell cow, the floodgates were flung open to routinely call Trump a liar, a racist and a traitor. Standards of fairness were trashed as nearly every prominent news organization demonized Trump and effectively endorsed Hillary Clinton. This open partisanship was a disgraceful chapter in the history of American journalism,” writes New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin, who added that the “warped coverage continued and became the media wing of the resistance movement.”
Mr. Goodwin dismissed the recent effort by 350 newspapers to collectively discredit or criticize President Trump through editorials, saying the push was driven by “self-interest and rank partisanship masquerading as principle.” Such relentless hostile coverage, the columnist said, damages both the nation and journalism itself by fueling political polarization and denying the public any positive news about the economy and other issues.