TV should stop airing Trump's daily coronavirus briefings live: It's not journalism, it's technology

The New York Times

Last month, former Nightline anchor Ted Koppel said that Donald Trump's status as president doesn't mean his every word should be carried on live. “Training a camera on a live event, and just letting it play out, is technology, not journalism; journalism requires editing and context," he told The New York Times. As Charles M. Blow points out, the daily press briefings do more harm than good. "We have trained the American television audience to understand that regular programs are only interrupted for live events when they are truly important, things that the viewers need to see now, in real time," he says. "These briefings simply don’t reach that threshold. In fact, some of what Trump has said has been dangerous, like when he pushed an unproven and potentially harmful drug as a treatment for the virus. No amount of fact checkers, balancing with the briefings of governors, or even occasionally cutting away, can justify carrying these briefings live. The scant amount of new information that these rallies produce could be edited into a short segment for a show. The major headlines from these briefings are often Trump’s clashes with reporters, the differences he has with scientists and the lies he tells. Just like in 2016, it’s all theater."