The election of a man convicted of 34 felonies and an adjudicated rapist to the highest office of the United States of America shows that there has been a serious breakdown in our public institutions. One such institution that has failed us has been legacy media.
Ever since Donald Trump descended that escalator in the fall of 2015, print, cable and television news have treated him as a “normal” presidential candidate and politician. He was and is anything but normal. He has defied every single political and social norm expected of a public servant in this country. Yet, legacy media’s treatment of him and his antics normalized his egregious behavior. Twenty years ago, the idea of electing someone with his history of cruelty and incompetence would have never been imaginable. However, due to the false equivalencies that were continuously drawn between Trump and his political opponents, this behaviour has become “business as usual” and thus we are once again faced with another Trump presidency.
I am begging The Salt Lake Tribune and all legacy media: Do not normalize him anymore! Do not normalize the hatred, the outrageousness and cruelty that we will be subjected to in the coming months and years. As humans, we have an amazing ability to adapt to our circumstances but we should never adapt to the hateful rhetoric and the injustices that this incoming administration wants to inflict upon us and our fellow citizens!
Chalice L. Gustaveson, Clearfield
