Oh for fuck’s sake this is NOT YOUR JOB:
Later in August, after a brief lull in his insults, Trump again attacked Kelly on Twitter, prompting Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes to issue a statement demanding Trump apologize. Trump responded by saying, “I do not think Megyn Kelly is a quality journalist.”
“It’s the Megyn Kelly effect,” said one MSNBC producer. “If you push back too hard, it will only hurt you. It’s only going to hurt your show, your brand, your image, because for some reason, Donald Trump is more impervious to these attacks than a typical politician.”
It’s not your job to worry about how challenging Trump makes your brand look, you fatuous gasbag. Go do something else for a living, or at least henceforth and forever more cease calling yourself a journalist or claiming in any way to be part of the machinery of democracy. Seriously, fry this bullshit. Oh, holding politicians accountable hurts your brand? THAT IS YOUR BRAND. When you are being out-fact-checked by Megyn Kelly it is time to sit DOWN.
And this is ridiculous:
According to two sources familiar with the call, the Trump campaign, citing security concerns from Secret Service, dictated to the networks that their camera crews can only shoot Trump head-on from a fenced-in press pen.
Under the Trump campaign’s conditions, camera crews would not be able to leave the press pen during Trump’s rallies to capture video of audience reactions, known in the industry as “cutaway shots” or “cuts.” Networks would also not be able to use a separate riser set up to get cutaway shots.
The terms, which limit the access journalists have to supporters and protesters while Trump is speaking, are unprecedented, and are more restrictive than those put on the networks by the White House or Hillary Clinton’s campaign, which has had Secret Service protection for its duration.
Facing the risk of losing their credentialed access to Trump’s events, the networks capitulated. They did, however, get one concession: When Trump finishes speaking, one person with a camera is allowed to exit the press pen to capture him shaking hands on the ropeline while he exits. That footage is then shared among the networks.
Wow, way to stand up for yourselves. You really negotiated a badass concession there. High five.
Why do you need credentialed access? Trump is more media-hungry than any other candidate before him, but this applies to every other media-managing candidate as well. It’s not like they’re not gonna return your calls. You don’t need to get a shiny badge no matter what Mr. Candidate Daddy Media Manager says. In fact, you’ll probably do better work if you don’t have one.
I went to the DNC in Denver in 2008 without credentials, and while it might have been personally exciting and personally a lot of fun for me to be in the room while famous politicians were paraded past me for scheduled interviews, there wasn’t a damn thing I could have gotten from inside that was of value to our readers that I couldn’t also get from outside. In fact, being outside was a shitload more interesting. If you aren’t being kept busy with “media availabilities” and being spoonfed rehearsed quotes, you get to find your own stories.
Yeah, you have to do some more chasing and yeah, you have to be creative, and yeah, wow, that’s really really hard work. Woe is you.
Look. This isn’t 1940. There are a billion other ways to cover these rallies, up to and including getting some damn tickets, and sitting on the floor like everybody else. The fucking things are livestreamed. You can shoot decent (not great, but decent) video from a handheld or your phone, and with the sheer volume of cell phone video you’re gonna show anyway from people who send it in, there’s absolutely no point to agreeing to any of this.
There’s no point to negotiating if the prize you’re after has no value. At least don’t trot out its value as the reason you can’t do your job right. Oh, poor baby, you have to stay in the press pen. Um, no you don’t. They’ll take your access away and be mean? TOO BAD. Stop acting like choices you make are things you were forced to do. We all know it’s bullshit now, and we don’t have any patience for it.
You can tell Trump and his people to get bent. It just takes balls as big or bigger than Megyn Kelly’s.
A.