Narrative vs. Counternarrative

Start with the tactic, then report the content.

Trump is a master at manipulation of news reporting. Journalists need to report tactics themselves fully as news items.
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So when "Trump hosts citizens 'permanently separated' from loved ones", he is demonstrating his mastery of reclaiming the narrative, principally among his Republican supporters, that began to be lost with news reports on separation of young children from parents being kept in cages. Trump knows never to allow his opponents to establish the frame for his administrations actions or inaction. He knows that when a narrative takes hold against his administration, he needs to establish a counternarrative that directly attacks the opposing narrative so that his supporters will latch on to that counternarrative. Thus, the "permanent separation" of family members achieves the goal. "Permanent separation - death - is worse than temporary separation of children from parents. Score 1. And the visual of sympathetic victims - family members of citizens who were murdered or killed in car accidents (with the accidental nature of those deaths deemphasized for maximum effect) directly counters the crying child who has come to symbolize the current crackdown.

The point here is that Trump's defense, such as it is, is no defense at all. It is an example of his continued successful deflection from himself to others. The buck never stops here. For analogy, his staged 'permanent separation' event harks back to 2016 when Trump trotted out the Clinton accusers for a press conference right before the second debate, shortly after the Access Hollywood tape became public.

That which makes Trump appear most guilty calls for the most drastic accusations and visuals to create an equally compelling counternarrative. Of course, the 2016 campaign between Trump and Clinton was reduced to the negative views of Trump established based on reported facts vs. Trump's allegations against Clinton that only needed to be leveled in order to create and maintain the negative frame around her candidacy. Likewise, Trump's accusations against the FBI and the "deep state" are made to counter the frame of his team's close ties to Russia throughout the campaign and intensifying during his presidency. None of Trump's accusations against Clinton or leaders at the FBI and Justice (who happen to be Republicans) make him innocent. These are all examples of a pattern of guilty behavior.

For Trump, you fight accusations of sexual misconduct with accusations of sexual misconduct. Replace the frame with a like frame. Fight accusations of horrific family separation with accusations of horrific family separation. The full story never matters. All that matters is winning by replacing the frame of reality with a different frame more favorable to you.

Report the pattern of behavior first. Force the content to be secondary. "Nothing to see here, but look over there!" actually works best when the distraction is a false frame created by Trump because that sends otherwise responsible reporters fact checking his lies when their time would be better spent analyzing and accurately describing his devious patterns of behavior.

George Lakoff, the cognitive linguist, has recently garnered attention to his suggestion that news media report Trump's lies using a "truth sandwich" approach. In Margaret Sullivan's "Instead of Trump's propaganda, how about a nice 'truth sandwich'?,

"First, he says, get as close to the overall, big-picture truth as possible right away. (Thus the gist of the Trump-in-Singapore story: Little of substance was accomplished in the summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, despite the pageantry.) Then report what Trump is claiming about it: achievement of world peace. And then, in the same story or broadcast, fact-check his claims.

That’s the truth sandwich — reality, spin, reality — all in one tasty, democracy-nourishing meal."

But we need much more focused treatment than that example.

Whenever Trump says or does anything, first divine the purpose. Assume the worst, that he is being purely tactical. Report the tactic because that is really all that matters. Trump's claims are meaningless because he is all about tactics and lying whenever it is convenient. Fact checking is not an essential part of the story because the act of fact checking distracts from meaning and allows Trump to replace any true narrative with his own narrative. News organizations are still not getting that Trump uses their "fair and balanced reporting supported by fact checking" to make them unwitting tools for his own purposes. With the substantial support Trump gets from loyal Fox News, Republicans in Congress, and Putin, the news media needs to do a better job.