Kip Currier: Character-Washing As Complicity?: Media Decision-Making, the Silence of Betsy DeVos, and Ethical Responsibilities. October 13, 2024.
In the sixth paragraph of the October 12, 2024 New York Times article "A Frustrated Trump Lashes Out Behind Closed Doors Over Money", the reporters -- Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman and Shane Goldmacher -- state that Donald Trump "disparaged Vice President Kamala Harris as", citing the epithet he used that is a slur for mentally challenged persons. The article describes a Trump Tower dinner Trump was hosting for billionaire donors on September 29, 2024. Among the attendees was "Betsy DeVos, the billionaire former education secretary under Mr. Trump, and her husband, Dick". The reporters also describe a significant number of corroborators of "the rant": i.e. "seven people with knowledge of the meal who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations".
I have some questions for Ms. DeVos later, but first, my questions for the New York Times reporters and the newspaper employees who often create the headlines for the stories that the reporters write:
- Why wasn't the epithet mentioned in the headline of the article? This is arguably a shockingly noteworthy event that in the past would have likely disqualified any other presidential candidate. Yet, the slur isn't telegraphed for the reader. The lede is buried in the 6th paragraph. Even the sub-headline -- "Donald J. Trump is feeling aggrieved, unappreciated by donors and fenced in by security concerns in the final stretch of the race." -- fails to mention anything about the disparaging term that will appear later in the article.
- Who made these decisions within the New York Times, and why? Was there any debate about these editorial decisions?
- Why is the comments function not turned on for this article? I wanted to see what other readers thought about the article and whether anyone else had opinions on the editorial decisions made. But the comments feature is not on as of the morning of October 13, 2024.
- Did the persons responsible for this story engage in character-washing? Did they downplay the disparaging term used, for the sake of "journalistic objectivity" or for other reasons?
- What are the ethical standards upon which you based your editorial decisions for this article?
Now, my questions for Ms. DeVos:
You were the head of the Education Department for the Trump administration until you resigned the day after the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Your January 7 resignation letter states, in pertinent part:
We should be highlighting and celebrating your Administration's many accomplishments on behalf of the American people. Instead, we are left to clean up the mess caused by violent protests overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to undermine the people's business. That behavior was unconscionable for our country. There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me.
Impressionable children are watching all of this, and they are learning from us. I believe we each have a moral obligation to exercise good judgment and model the behavior we hope they would emulate. They must know from us that America is greater than what transpired yesterday. Today, I resign from my position, effective, Friday, January 8, in support of the oath I took to our Constitution, our people, and our freedoms.
In light of what you wrote more than three years ago, regarding "impressionable children" and the "moral obligation" we each have "to exercise good judgment and model the behavior we hope they would emulate":
- Why did you not walk out of the September 29, 2024 dinner when Trump used a term that disparages developmentally challenged individuals?
- What are the impacts that Trump's corrosive statements have on not only the communities that he disparages but also on our civil discourse and democracy?
- Did you not -- and do you not still -- have a "moral obligation" to model words and actions that uplift people rather than demean them, and to speak up when Trump uses offensive language?
- What do you think Trump's statements say about his character?
- What does it say about your character that you continue to associate with a person who uses slurs and demeaning words?
- What are children learning from the words that Trump uses and the silence of persons like yourself to call out disparaging language?
- Why should the American people -- and the people of the world -- view you as a person who has the moral backbone and leadership competencies to continue to speak about education and the well-being of children?
