Larry D. Lauer

The lesson of Trump rallies… Somehow this reality-show star and real estate con-man was able to attract people and media coverage to his rallies by simply being outrageous, vulgar, brutal, and unethical… and by promising miracles where factories were closing and jobs were being lost. They needed a savior, and he needed followers who felt they had nothing to lose by signing on.

When news media can’t help themselves… When your business includes covering compelling public events, it is very tempting to cover ones that promise large audiences, excitement, surprises, follow-up interviews, and next day stories. But sometimes, such events turn out to be snake oil salesmen willing to provide compelling headlines in order to get gobs of free publicity.

Let’s face it, election rally coverage made Mr. Trump even more of a star, and it was only much later that responsible journalists looked back and asked, “What the hell were we thinking?” Almost daily television and print coverage had actually turned out to be effective free publicity for an habitual liar and demagogue… and the demagogue won the election!  

The case of Roger Stone…  Here is a self-described “dirty trickster. He has said it’s better to be a known scoundrel, than unknown. Much of his clowning has been only to attract cameras. As with the presidential election, there is a danger that reporting too much of the fluffy aspects of his antics will only help him realize his celebrity dreams.

Right now, it’s more important than ever that only the hard news moments of the Stone indictment be reported. The status of journalism has been on the line. Simply put, will the news media be able to resist the entertainment temptations of covering the whole jolly Roger show?