Chart of the Day: TV’s Schoolboy Crush on Donald Trump Gets Ever More Pathetic

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Jim Tankersley reminds me that it’s been a month since I took a look a how television was covering the GOP campaign. It’s a sad story. After briefly finding solace in a few other candidates, TV is back to mooning over Donald Trump, desperately hoping he’ll return their adoring gaze. His daily mentions, once down to a mere 30 percent of all coverage in November, went back up to 50 percent in December, and then shot up to 80 percent when he made up a lie about Muslims dancing in the streets after 9/11. That was all it took. TV news remembered exactly what it is they love so much about Trump: the fact that he treats them like whores who care about nothing but ratings. Ooh baby, it hurts so good. Ever since, he’s been back to 60 percent of all mentions, with everyone else duking it out for whatever crumbs are left over.

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We were built for times like these

Russian bots are impersonating us. Trump and his allies want to silence us. AI wants to (and does!) steal our content. The list goes on. But with 50 years of experience, we know we were built for this moment: We’re ready to keep diving deep and uncovering the truth, then getting that to you right here, completely accessible and never behind a paywall.

While our work is free to read, watch, and listen to online, it’s incredibly costly to make. Court documents, travel, research: It all adds up. Because we’re a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on reader support to fund our investigations. Will you stand with us in these extraordinary times, as headlines clamour for our attention and disinformation is rampant? We can’t get the truth out without you.

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