Tomorrow's Business Today
Trump’s threat to the media
What are the implications for hacks and flaks of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump?
Nothing good.
Trump’s inner circle say he’s a changed man, that he intends to be a unifying candidate, rather than the insult king we know best.
No one thinks this will last long. Rather, he’s emboldened to be his own bad self.
Maga world “unites around ‘unstoppable’ Trump after shooting”, notes the FT.
For years, Trump has presented a reporting problem to America’s traditional media, places which are obsessed with a certain type of accuracy, which assume people mean what they say and should be reported honestly.
The Associated Press style-guide just doesn’t work if one of the people in a debate is obviously flat out lying.
The papers and the wires are then accused, rightly, of “false equivalency”, of giving equal balance when none exists. Then no one believes anything.
The next threat is much more serious.
Trump has long encouraged his supporters to blame the media for almost everything. Some even blame the press for the shooting.
This is standard demagoguery – make a common enemy, appeal to a prejudice, rule with an odd mixture of anger and hope.
There is darker talk among the US hard right and the US “left” media.
Trump may go so far as to ban foreign papers from America if he can’t get them in line, they say.
He would use parts of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to banish the enemy within.
This isn’t without precedent. The US has blocked Russia’s RT and Sputnik for being pro-Kremlin. Israel banned Al-Jazeera.
Large news organisations with a strong US presence are already talking to each other about how they will cope if Trump brands them an enemy of the state.
Could The Guardian be kicked out of America? Could the BBC? Could other foreign-linked media groups?
Surely not. But people at the top of some of those organisations and even big domestic US media groups are exploring extreme scenarios and mulling contingency plans for Trump the Sequel. A few are even wondering if they could decamp elsewhere (Canada?) and at least report the madness from there
That this is even under discussion should alarm everyone.
Press release of the day
Some good thoughts here on the fast fashion firm Shein, perhaps heading for a £50bn London listing.
Brand specialist Landor points out the contradiction.
David Powell says: “Shein’s huge popularity with Gen Z women nets the business $24bn in annual revenue. But it’s that very same segment that is holding brands to exacting standards on sustainability and human rights – the two issues slowing down its long-awaited IPO.”
I think this company should not be allowed to float here.
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