Visuals

In The Atlantic today is John Dickerson's The Slow-Fingered President, which is basically a piece that criticizes the President for being quick to take to Twitter when it comes to things that bother him personally or might damage his political fortunes, while holding off then it comes to subjects that of broader public interest. In this case, public heath messaging concerning the SARS2 coronavirus.

To go with the critical piece is a singularly unflattering photograph. To wit:

It's little wonder that politicians complain about "the media" being biased against them. There is no particular reason why this column needs a picture of the President being sour-faced. (Honestly, it doesn't really need a visual at all. There's nothing that need illustrating about this.) While there may very well have been a good reason for editors at The Atlantic to pick this particular photograph other than the fact that it makes the President look bad. And it seems to me, that for the average reader of The Atlantic, which leans noticeably (if not extremely) left, the President is more than capable of making himself look bad without any help from the print media.

But for the President's defenders, I wouldn't be surprised if this came across as a deliberate provocation, the media working overtime to sway people against someone who is entitled to more respect. In the end, I get it. The President has decided that "the media" is the enemy, and, to a certain degree, "the media" has decided to play along with that designation. But I'm not sure how useful the dance is.