In pondering why it is that some of us have a different perspective on President Trump, Jack Nkutha (Mercury, September 4) raises a vital question concerning the control over and dissemination of information.
It is well known that the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Time magazine along with CNN, NBC and other major cable networks exercise enormous influence in the managing and publishing of news and opinions. As such, they constitute and represent what is known as the Establishment in the US.
For decades the media have been influential in determining the rise and fall of American politicians. In 2016 they were adamant that Hillary Clinton should be the heir apparent to the White House. So, Trump, whose financial independence and ability to tap into voter neighbourhoods that Hillary described as “deplorable,” became the target of a campaign of denigration in order to cripple him politically Trump’s Electoral College victory over Hillary (318 to 232 votes) was an unprecedented upset for the US mainstream media and liberal Establishment. They resent it bitterly and are determined to savage the Trump Administration out of revenge Of course, as Jack Nkutha points out, Trump is a flawed character and needs to control his impulsive tweets. However, he is not the failure the mainstream news media try to portray. What Jack Nkutha and other sceptics need to do is to widen their exposure to news and opinion. By reading sources like the Washington Times and Newsmax.com
Mr Nkutha will learn a great deal about the positive side of the Trump Administration which will afford him a more balanced outlook.
Sent into The Mercury and published, 6 September 2017.
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