Tim Graham: The Media’s Silly First Draft of “Historic”

Journalism is a terrible profession. “the first rough draft of history.” At the very least, Philip Graham, Washington Post boss, once made a joke about it “our inescapably impossible task of providing every week a first rough draft of history.”

Some events are so catastrophic — think Sept. 11 — that you know it’s historic in real time. However, history is not always possible to be written in the exact moment it happens. The adjective “historic” It is used often to promote leaders and themes in an advertising-sounding way instead of journalism.

Kevin McCarthy, the House’s speaker, took over a few weeks ago. “historic.” On PBS, “Washington Week” Yamiche Alcindor, host, spoke out against his conduct. “rocky, rocky week” Republican “hardliners.” However, Hakeem Jeffries was boosted and the Democrats that lost the majority were encouraged to apply for the “new historic group leading the Democratic Party in the House.”

MSNBC quickly displayed these words after President Joe Biden’s surprise visit to Kiev: “Biden Makes Historic Trip to Ukraine.” How can they possibly know that this is dramatic historical history in the making This will be viewed as “historic” What will it take to make the transition in just two years? While Russia’s invasion is significant, we don’t know if Biden’s five hours in the capital was crucial.

It can be nauseating to see the cable. “news” Networks bring out liberal historians to make dramatic analogies. Douglas Brinkley, MSNBC’s liberal historian, compared Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian leader, to Winston Churchill. He then declared that this was for Biden. “It’s like when JFK went to Berlin in 1961 … Biden did something really heroic.” That’s double-glorifying Democrats.

Michael Beschloss, also on MSNBC, argued that the majority of modern presidents visit war areas in areas that have been declared to be unstable. “well-controlled” By our military, but Biden in Ukraine “To find a day of this kind of presidential bravery in a war zone, you’ve got to go all the way back to 1864, July, when Abraham Lincoln as president went to see Confederate soldiers firing on Washington, D.C.”

Do you remember how liberal pundits mocked Dick? “Five Deferments” Cheney regarding his service in Vietnam was he? Joe Biden also received five deferments. “historians” He is being compared to Lincoln in terms of his bravery and stature. You can put him on Mount Rushmore boys!

The Old Media sought negative angles for Republican presidents who visited war zones. It was not. “historic.” George W. Bush appeared to have been carrying around a bag of plastic turkey in 2003 for Thanksgiving in Iraq. It was described by reporters as “a” “publicity stunt.” In 2018, the media flipped sides shamelessly — from bashing President Donald Trump for not spending Christmas with U.S. troops, to bashing him for not visiting them sooner after he made a surprise trip to Iraq. It was quite a spectacle. “campaign stop.” Yahoo News even promoted mocking tweets about the First Lady’s fashions in their snarky posts: “Melania Trump gets mocked for wearing Timberland boots while visiting the troops.”

MSNBC appears to be so confident in history that it can envision What Might Have Been. Marc Polymeropoulos, the national security analyst at MSNBC, declared that Trump winning the 2020 election would be a victory for them. “Ukraine would be part of Russia, the NATO alliance would be shattered.” He then exclaimed in perfect DNC pirouette that Biden’s Europe trip was a great success and that he is being welcomed as not only a citizen but as an ambassador for the United States. “the savior of Ukraine, but also the savior of Europe.”

Cable is the perfect solution. “news” This sounds more like an hour-long partisan spin, rather than an objective recounting. While we don’t know when Russia will withdraw from Ukraine and admit defeat, we do know that Biden will be portrayed as a hero G.I. Joe, well into 2024.

Tim Graham is director for media analysis at Media Research Center, and executive editor of NewsBusters.org. Visit www.creators.com to learn more about Tim Graham, and see cartoons and features written by other Creators Syndicate writers.

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