To say the outcome of the latest presidential election was shocking would be an understatement. The dictionary lacks a word strong enough to encapsulate the surprise that swept the hearts of Americans following election day in 2016.
Some felt horror and others showed excitement, but all were astonished to witness the historic moment when Donald Trump was announced to be the next leader of our country.
The root of the surprise stemmed from many sources, a key one being preliminary polls from reliable sources predicting Trump would be a longshot to win. Hillary Clinton, the democratic candidate, was set to earn the necessary number of electoral college votes for a landslide.
The announcement of our next president was a shock to some because they had to finally realize that either candidate, who both came off as unqualified or unprofessional at some point in the campaign trail, will have access to nuclear codes.
I will never forget when I learned that Trump won. I went to bed early on election night, weary from the stress of watching each state on the map turn red or blue periodically. I woke up in the middle of the night, anxious to know who had won. My phone provided a searingly bright glow as I read the headline. I had followed the election dutifully since early 2015 and mentally thought through every potential outcome, yet I felt totally unprepared for what I had just read.
Impossible, I thought.
He couldn’t have won.
Then, when I read again Trump’s new title as President-Elect, I finally asked the most important question: How did this happen?
The next day was a mixture of personal moping and digging for the causation as to how a blatantly sexist reality star landed in the Oval Office.
Now, after two and a half years of contemplation, I feel as though I have figured out the answer.
People don’t read news anymore.
Trust me, Trump being elected president and the trend of Americans consuming media through television and videos are more intertwined than you ever could imagine.
As a communication student, I have learned what makes well-rated television. Drama. High emotion. Outlandish remarks. A big personality. Which recent president do you know that ticks all of the marks?
Trump is determined to make himself stand out on television by any means necessary. Yelling overtop of other candidates during debates. Giving people insulting nicknames. Stating lies as fact. It doesn’t matter if it’s articulate. It gets people talking. President Trump has manipulated America’s reliance on images to grow his notoriety.
Politicians acting outrageously to get more clicks on videos and grow their presence online is a trend that won’t die out anytime soon. Trump is only the beginning – and I am scared to what the future might hold.
Back in the day of honest elections, they didn’t have any unqualified television commentators acting as journalists who gave opinions as facts. They learned from newspapers, from words, from unfiltered truth about politicians and their platforms. Could you imagine a world so simple?
The only way to end the all too-real potential of a Trump reelection is to reevaluate where you are getting your information. Don’t consider Facebook videos as journalism. Buy a newspaper, local and national, and read their honest reporting.
Yes, it may seem biased that I am defending the power of written journalism as I am currently on staff of a print newspaper. But this is how I feel.
Let’s start having qualified candidates as our president, not reality stars.