I LOVE IT – AT 10:39 A.M. ET:  President Trump is driving the media crazy.  More power to him.  The great Andrew Malcolm examines how the president is shaking up a profession that has needed shaking for decades.  And maybe a lot more than shaking.  From McClatchy:

Now it’s the D.C. media’s turn to adjust. Accustomed to cozy familiarity and ideological compatibility with Barack Obama, they’re shocked by Donald Trump — and not pleasantly. You’ll see this play out for the foreseeable future. Consumers of politics news should learn to filter out such instinctive rancor.

Here comes an administration that follows few norms as these creatures of habit and privilege know them. It plays them differently, calls them dishonest and liars. Presidential aides call them the opposition. Shock!

Now why in the world would that be? The Center for Public Integrity reported last fall that 96 percent of journalists’ political donations went to Hillary Clinton. Republicans have long known the media they encounter daily is almost universally opposed to them.

What wasn’t known before the autumn of WikiLeaks was how actively individual reporters at several news organizations collude with Democrats: offering strategy suggestions, running their stories by campaign aides for approval pre-publication. One TV commentator even passed advance debate questions to Clinton’s cadre.

Some Republicans appear to get along with D.C. media because of their willingness to provide statements, often at variance with party orthodoxy. This serves both sides. The reporter gets an easy reaction quote, often contentious. The pol gets national exposure. During this past cycle Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., appeared on Sunday talk shows so much he could have been host.

When, by the way, was the last time you saw anyone from flyover country as a Sunday guest or panelist? Exactly. That’s how all those pundits missed the biggest political upset in decades and failed their viewers.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  It's a gem, one of the best pieces about the press, and its self-love, that I've read. 

January 31, 2017