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This essay is as bad as the headline suggests, and a reminder that a certain type of political journalist enjoyed the chaos because they would never be targets of the administration. Our journalism is worse for it.
My family spent one month without clean water and three months without power after Maria. They were lucky. More than 3,000 people died—including one of my dad's friends. I had to witness the administration actively dehumanize Puerto Ricans and block efforts to help the island.
So no, as a journalist I didn't find it thrilling.
The funny part is that my admission will likely be taken as "biased" by many corners of the industry, while this author's won't be.
When I say our journalism is worse for it, I mean that some journalists' delusions of grandeur and ability to be gleeful about the chaos leads to severe blindspots in their reporting. Yes, still great journalism came out of the Trump era, but at what cost?
There needs to be so much soul-searching in this damn industry, and essays like this are a reminder that it just won't happen. For so many, the status quo is fine, making everything a spectacle is fine, failing our communities is fine.
Anyway, I don't know what else to say other than I guess we should thank the author for saying the quiet part loud. It's the most Trumpian thing he could have done.
