All of us, regardless of political affiliation, are guilty of acquiescing to an entertainment industry that too often produces “adult” content or humor that in fact embarrasses pretty much everyone. The basement-level standards of propriety and discourse saturating our society are unhealthy, and, yes, President Trump is sometimes a contributor.
But media complaints about the president’s language or behavior ring hollow, if what passes for prime-time entertainment brought to you by officials of the association is representative of the tastes of our most vaunted media institutions.
Journalists should not clamor to scrap the correspondents’ dinner, nor should they reinvent it, as has been suggested, as a solemn and self-righteous litany of protests against claims of “fake news” or a celebration of their bravery in the face of adversity. Celebrating oneself is never particularly palatable, and certainly won’t increase the media’s approval ratings.
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