Mainstream media fails again

If you’ve been off grid, former president Donald Trump narrowly escaped death at his rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday July 13, 2024, at approximately 6:15 p.m.

Trump’s speech was being live streamed, so video footage of the attempted assassination went viral across social media.

Several mainstream media outlets, however, delayed coverage or reported inaccurately on the events, frustrating the public and inflaming criticism of the legacy media.

When the first bullet clipped Trump’s right ear, narrowly missing his skull, he ducked down at the podium before secret service jumped to his aid.

Onlookers say Trump was calm. The podium microphones picked up his audio. “Get my shoes” he said to one of his secret service agents.

Trump then stood up and turned to his supporters with a bloodied face and fist in the air, mouthing the words “fight, fight, fight” before being rushed off the stage.

Regardless of your politics, the attempt on Trump’s life was morally bankrupt and an attack on democracy. Any sort of violence, political or otherwise, should be condemned.

Trump released a statement soon after the assassination attempt, confirming that he’d been shot, and that one bullet had “pierced” his right ear.

"I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin,” wrote Trump on his Truth Social platform.

The suspected gunman, who was positioned on a rooftop 150 yards away, managed to fire multiple shots at the stage where Trump was standing, before he was neutralised by a secret service sniper.

One person who attended the rally was killed and two other spectators were critically wounded.

Alleged shooter on a nearby rooftop shot dead moments after the failed assassination attempt.

No doubt there will be a lot of speculation about the incident over the coming days and weeks, but it was the coverage by mainstream media that left many fuming.

Left leaning news outlets began downplaying the seriousness of the situation.

USA Today and The Washington Post, for example, both reported that Trump was escorted off stage after hearing “loud noises” at the rally, as if it was something innocuous like balloons popping.

CNN published a headline claiming that Trump had to be rushed off stage after a “fall” as if to imply that he had tripped over.

Another CNN headline claimed that Trump’s speech was “interrupted by secret service” instead of describing it as an assassination attempt.

CNN even criticised Trump for his display of defiance on stage, attacking him for not urging calm.

“That’s not the message that we want to be sending right now,” remarked one CNN commentator.

In my own country, Australia’s free-to-air broadcaster Channel 10 was slammed for taking more than an hour to cover the attempted assassination.

Instead of immediately cutting their regular programming to cover the unfolding attack, Channel 10 continued to air cooking shows.

People jumped on social media to get the latest information, and express their frustration with how politicised and biased mainstream media had become.

One X user mocked CNN’s coverage. “‘Loud noises’ made Trump ‘fall’ which ‘interrupted’ the rally. Thank you mainstream media for never failing to fail.”

Another posted, “Trump gets shot at on live television and this is the headline the mainstream media goes with?! This is what the mainstream media has become - a propaganda machine. They don’t want you to believe what you see with your own eyes.”

A different X user wrote, “Mainstream media is the cancer of society.”

People were glued to X, one of the few social media platforms that provided immediate and transparent access to video, photographic and audio recordings of the attack.

People are cancelling subscriptions to newspapers and cable providers in droves. Mass layoffs, job cuts and hiring freezes have all precipitated the substantial contraction of small and large media outlets and seen massive declines in ratings and audience engagement.

Last year, media companies slashed over 20,000 jobs in the sector, and the culling of journalists has continued into 2024. In January, the Los Angeles Times axed 20% of its newsroom and laid off its entire Washington DC bureau in an election year.

Many people have watched as journalism – once a frank and fearless pursuit for truth – has become a running commentary of consensus statements and government propaganda.

I think legacy media is slowly dying and the coverage of Trump’s assassination attempt has only emboldened my view.

Now, more than ever, independent journalists (like me) need to be funded because we are not constrained by politics, official narratives or advertising revenue.

Now, more than ever, independent journalists need your support.

Maryanne Demasi