TV may be too timid to cover Trump

[Commentary] It's beginning to look like Donald Trump might be more than the political press can handle. I'm not sure whether that says more about him or the state of journalism today. But I am surprised at the fear of Trump that I am sensing on the part of some networks and cable channels. Will the news media ever gain the upper hand and be able to use encounters with Trump to vet him for voters, or will the businessman and former reality-TV star continue to use the media to enhance his candidacy? The question has special relevance for TV journalists and interviewers, because Trump is primarily running a TV campaign with virtually no field operation and a social media effort that seems primitive compared to the sophisticated digital machine of the two Obama campaigns. TV is the field on which he is playing and winning big.

Jay Rosen, New York University journalism professor and author of the PressThink blog, said that even if an interviewer asks "tough" questions, the content of Trump's answers and how they do or don't fit in with his record as a businessman are often lost. Instead of checking whether what he says is true or consistent with his actions, because of his flamboyance, the post-interview analyses emphasize his combative response. "When it comes to interviewing Trump, existing wisdom in the craft states as follows: A televised interview of a leading candidate like Trump should cover a range of issues — not just one or two — move the candidate off his talking points, and put the tough questions forward, following up when necessary to get answers," Rosen said. But with Trump, he said, "You can succeed at putting tough questions to the candidate and fail at any 'checking' function because the controversy he generates off your display of toughness overwhelms the original check. The resolution of the controversy becomes the story, and Trump surges on."