Journalists can't allow attention-seeking Trump clones to build a following, says writing coach

Jim Stasiowski

President-elect Donald Trump's successful campaign, fueled by journalists giving plenty of press to his entertainment qualities while also failing to take him seriously, could change the way campaigns are run and covered, writes Jim Stasiowski, a longtime journalist who pens a regular column on newspaper writing.

He writes, "After Trump's election, two outcomes are possible, and they may coincide: More candidates will adopt the Trump approach of loud, bold, insulting statements to gain early attention for an otherwise long-shot campaign." And, "astute journalists, both reporters and their demanding editors, will not let candidates build a following based on bombast."

Stasiowski references a mayoral candidate he once covered who "ripped into everything the city had done or was doing." He writes, "One night after a candidate forum, he took me aside and, smiling broadly, he said, 'I trust your story will make me look bad . . . As long as the press is against me, I know I will win.'"

Stasiowski writes, "He did, and as I watched Candidate Trump, I thought: If the country is as angry as he says, the negative stories will only help him because the traditional news media is perceived as propping up the status quo fueling that anger."