on media Raymond Snoddy sees parallels with Roman emperor edicts


Why President Trump was made for Twitter


A


t Washington’s inauguration Freedom Ball, President Donald J Trump asked the faithful whether he


should continue to use Twitter or not, now he was in the Oval Office. He knew the answer of course and, almost before the roars of approval broke out, Trump had already replied, repeating: “I think so. I think so.” And he knows exactly why he is


attached to the perfectly formed world of communication in 140 characters. “You know what – it’s a way of bypassing dishonest media,” he said. It is a real fact that the founders of Twitter in 2006 had initially little if any idea of what their invention was for. They would have been flabbergasted had they been told that, 10 years on, Twitter would be one of the most powerful mechanisms for breaking news the world has ever seen, or that Trump would use it as tool in his unlikely march to power. Twitter was made for Trump and he


for it. The 140 characters are the perfect


vehicle to transmit simplistic solutions to complex problems and convey them instantly to his 22,847,854 followers – a total that rises with every moment. Trump, in turn, follows the thoughts of just 41 people, most of whom are called Trump, although there are also a smattering of Fox News anchors and our very own Piers Morgan. The fact is that Trump, who has issued more than 34,000 tweets, is now using Twitter to help govern the US in the way that Roman emperors once used to rule by edict. There are serious implications for politics and society, not least the fear


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that the Trump Twitter feed could be hacked or Trump impersonated although he would be difficult to satirise. But how do journalists from the


mainstream ‘dishonest’ media respond in an era of ‘alternative facts’, many of which will be transmitted by presidential tweets? Many journalists love Twitter and use it all the time. It is after all a way, however modest, of building a personal brand. For those who don’t, you will have to hold your nose and follow @realdonaldtrump even though he is unlikely to read any of your responses. Journalists, especially, should


engage in contesting the lies and batty or racist ideas of President Trump so his pronouncements do not go unchallenged in the Twittersphere. Trump’s relationship with the media – even the “dishonest” media – is, however, much more complex than a stream of Tweets. The narcissistic Trump


The narcissistic Trump is clearly obsessed by the media – or, more precisely, what the media thinks of him


is clearly obsessed by the media – or, more precisely, what the media thinks of him. He also gets most of his Twitter raw material from watching Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News. He is a particular fan of Bill O’Reilly’s show on Fox and follows O’Reilly on Twitter.


He is a lifelong New Yorker and


pays a lot of attention to or has his attention drawn to the New York Times, the paper that published the scoop on how little tax if any he has paid in recent times. Trump is now a resident of Washington for much of the


time and will find it difficult to avoid the attentions of the local paper, The Washington Post, the paper that brought us the video of him boasting about his success with women. In this new alternative world of President Trump, the cutting edge will be wielded by lawyers launching law suit after law suit against the executive orders and tweets streaming out of the White House.


One of the most important


battlegrounds will be for the concept called truth. Here it will be journalists, whether from the “dishonest” media or tweeting online, who must engage in the hand-to-hand combat.


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