It’s Time for the TV Networks to Challenge Trump

[Commentary] In a huge country like the United States, it is hard to exaggerate how much television counts during national political campaigns. And it isn’t just personal appearances that matter: it is how much overall attention each candidate (and his or her proposals) receives.

For months now, Donald Trump has been virtually ever-present on cable-news networks and broadcast-network political shows. Indeed, it is probably safe to assume that no Presidential candidate in U.S. history has received as much free air time as Trump has. Often, he has nothing new to say. And unlike virtually everybody else, he doesn’t even have to turn up in the studio to be interviewed. If his schedule doesn’t permit it, or he can’t be bothered to schlep around midtown Manhattan, the producers of many shows, including some of the flagship Sunday-morning programs, allow him to call in by telephone. A Trump interview generates ratings, and ratings generate advertising dollars. That gives Trump great leverage. When he wants some publicity for his latest wheeze, he can usually have his pick of broadcast venues. When he threatens to boycott a particular show, or even an entire network, as he has done on several occasions, it is a consequential matter for the folks running the networks. Often, they buckle to his demands.

So, what can be done? I don’t have the answer: I’m not sure anyone does. But it would be reassuring if there were more evidence that senior people in journalism, particularly at the TV networks, were grappling with it. As Trump has maneuvered his way to his current position, the GOP isn’t the only prominent American institution that has been in denial about its role in enabling him.

[Cassidy has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1995]