An old rule in politics is to not argue with someone who buys ink by the barrel.
But modern Republicans find it strategically smart to mess with the press frequently in this internet age.
Often, it’s just a big thumb in the eye, a defiantly raised middle finger that says, “Not only do we not need you, we don’t even want you around.” And by all indications, the insult goes over well with voters who have little trust in the honesty, intelligence or fairness of the reporters, editors and publishers covering the news.
The most recent example of this was the Republican Party of Florida’s “Sunshine Summit,” a gathering of GOP all-stars in which news attendance was by invitation only. That was a marked departure from most political conferences, in which parties and candidates clamor for attention and events are scheduled to meet deadlines.
But taking a cheap shot at media bias, this time, fit the Republican narrative better than one more news cycle of conservative rhetoric.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose attacks on liberal bias are a staple of his re-election schtick, said he didn’t want “legacy media outlets to be involved in our primaries.” He said, “the left-wing media people are asking our candidates ‘gotcha’ questions,” so he wanted candidate debates to be “moderated by people who actually believe in conservative principles.”
The congressional debates and GOP “Victory Dinner” weren’t closed events, although they legally could have been. The Democratic and Republican parties are not government entities and can invite anyone to their events.
POLITICO Florida reported that the RPOF issued press credentials to some organizations — including the News Service of Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Wall Street Journal — but not to the Washington Post, New York Times or Miami Herald.
Some lesser-known conservative news sites were also invited to the dinner, the “summit,” or both.
Naturally, the media didn’t like it. There was social media grumbling and some stories about the party interfering with public discourse in this election year. Christina Pushaw, the governor’s spokeswoman, responded with the kind of tweet she’s known for.
“It has come to my attention that some liberal media activists are mad because they aren't allowed into #SunshineSummit this weekend. My message to them is to try crying about it,” she wrote. She then suggested they “write the same hit piece you were gonna write anyway.”
Voters should watch for politicians hand-picking their media
Liberal bias aside, voters should be wary of politicians hand-picking who gets to cover them. You don’t want to get your election news from only those the candidates welcome — whether it’s MSNBC, Fox News or some even farther-out publication and web site.
POLITICO published a list of the journalists admitted to the GOP festivities and the ones I know are respected, professional, and reliable reporters. If DeSantis or any of the other GOP heavy hitters had made a major gaffe, or just made some news, the News Service of Florida, Sun Sentinel, WSJ and others who were allowed in would have reported it fairly and accurately.
Nobody was there to attack or lead cheers for the Republicans — but why exclude any news agency?
Well, for just one reason, a recent Gallup Poll indicated that only 7% of Americans have “a great deal” of trust in the media and 29% trust what they see and read “a fair amount.” Meanwhile, 34% had “none at all” and 29% voiced “not very much” belief in the news.
Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer has a good new book titled “Suppression, Deception, Snobbery and Bias: Why the Press Gets so Much Wrong — And Just Doesn’t Care.” This is one book that really can be judged by its cover, but Fleischer draws on his years in Washington to spell out how the major media damage their own product.
DeSantis and his party have ample opportunity to air their grievances with the news media. Having made their point at the big party gala, they would be wise to stop hand-picking who gets to cover their meetings.
Bill Cotterell is a retired Tallahassee Democrat capitol reporter who writes a twice-weekly column. He can be reached at bcotterell@tallahassee.com
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