Stephen A. Smith

I mean, I guess I never really bought the idea that our choice is to be accommodationist versus collaborationist versus aggressive. We're supposed to be covering reality. And I think that there was an almost delusional quality to the media where Reporters loved having people they met out in the world say to them, like, wow, you're so brave. Thank you for what you do.

I mean, I guess I never really bought the idea that our choice is to be accommodationist versus collaborationist versus aggressive. We're supposed to be covering reality. And I think that there was an almost delusional quality to the media where Reporters loved having people they met out in the world say to them, like, wow, you're so brave. Thank you for what you do.

It's like, come on, you cover the White House like you're not you're not a war reporter. And I do think like the work is incredibly important to democracy, but that's a little different between saying journalism is this vital pillar of democracy and journalists are themselves heroes of democracy who ride around on white horses. It's a weird job.

It's like, come on, you cover the White House like you're not you're not a war reporter. And I do think like the work is incredibly important to democracy, but that's a little different between saying journalism is this vital pillar of democracy and journalists are themselves heroes of democracy who ride around on white horses. It's a weird job.

And the best reporters, reporters who are very valuable right now, spend a lot of time burrowing into Trump world and telling you what's happening there. And that's an incredibly valuable thing, but you don't have to, I don't know, but I think there was a level at which the media fell in love with the narrative about itself that made liberals love them and conservatives hate them.

And the best reporters, reporters who are very valuable right now, spend a lot of time burrowing into Trump world and telling you what's happening there. And that's an incredibly valuable thing, but you don't have to, I don't know, but I think there was a level at which the media fell in love with the narrative about itself that made liberals love them and conservatives hate them.

And that's not the only factor, maybe even the most major factor, but I don't think in retrospect that was a good thing. And I would say the underlying thing here is just to go back, Trump gets elected and a lot of journalists, a lot of liberals think there's no way this was legitimate. Like, there's been a mistake here. And like, what happened? Maybe it was Facebook.

And that's not the only factor, maybe even the most major factor, but I don't think in retrospect that was a good thing. And I would say the underlying thing here is just to go back, Trump gets elected and a lot of journalists, a lot of liberals think there's no way this was legitimate. Like, there's been a mistake here. And like, what happened? Maybe it was Facebook.

Like, maybe there's some technical social media trick, or maybe it was the Russians. And like, these are two very great lines of reporting inquiry that lots of really smart journalists, and I don't think they're always framing the story that way, but a lot of journalistic effort was expended basically trying to answer the question of how did Donald Trump manage to get elected?

Like, maybe there's some technical social media trick, or maybe it was the Russians. And like, these are two very great lines of reporting inquiry that lots of really smart journalists, and I don't think they're always framing the story that way, but a lot of journalistic effort was expended basically trying to answer the question of how did Donald Trump manage to get elected?

And those were both factors, obviously, shifts in social media, Russian interference in the election. But I think they did not sufficiently consider option three, which was that he was pretty popular and won a lot of votes.

And those were both factors, obviously, shifts in social media, Russian interference in the election. But I think they did not sufficiently consider option three, which was that he was pretty popular and won a lot of votes.

And so I think that was, Trump people aren't wrong to be upset that most of the journalistic energy of 2016 and 2017 was expended on trying to figure out what trick got him elected.

And so I think that was, Trump people aren't wrong to be upset that most of the journalistic energy of 2016 and 2017 was expended on trying to figure out what trick got him elected.

I think one of the real critiques from folks not just on the left but even in the journal itself is that some of the corporate media entities are trying to curry favor with Trump for reasons separate and apart from the specifics of their publication itself. So you have the Disney Corporation settling a pretty –

I think one of the real critiques from folks not just on the left but even in the journal itself is that some of the corporate media entities are trying to curry favor with Trump for reasons separate and apart from the specifics of their publication itself. So you have the Disney Corporation settling a pretty –

specious lawsuit that a lot of legal experts think ABC could have won involving George Stephanopoulos erroneously calling Trump a racist.

specious lawsuit that a lot of legal experts think ABC could have won involving George Stephanopoulos erroneously calling Trump a racist.

You have reports that... Get it right down.

You have reports that... Get it right down.