Did the Media Create Trump?

[Commentary] Just a month after Donald Trump announced his run for president, people were already blaming “the media” for creating his candidacy. That theme has been sounded again and again, by NBC News, which claimed last summer that TV news’ blanket coverage of his campaign was “fueling“ it, the Wall Street Journal, which early on charted the saturation coverage cable news was affording him, Slate, which in late fall called him a product of “conservative media,” and Salon, which has published at least three pieces on the topic of media culpability.

All this damnation is actually flattering to the media, when you think about it. Most journalists hold a low view of how much influence and sway they have over the world they write about. Whether exposing wrongdoing by corporations and government in multi-part investigative series or championing an underappreciated novel, play or painting on the arts pages, they’re generally disappointed in the lackluster response by the public. You’re more likely to hear them say, 'I have so little influence' than 'Who am I going to crown president today?' Alas, for all its power, the media did not create Donald Trump. Prior to campaign 2016, he already existed as a cultural force, enjoying greater name recognition than any of the other Republican candidates. Nobody can deny that Trump has shrewdly gamed the media for maximum exposure. But Trump’s skills at attracting publicity do not make a very good paternity case against the media.