TV critic James Poniewozik on Trump's season finale and the media's 'burnout' from four years of reality show governance
Reliable Sources
CNN
3.4 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 23 October 2020
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
New York Times chief TV critic James Poniewozik argues that President Trump's reality TV tendencies, and his reliance on "button-pushing, shocking stuff" to sustain attention from viewers or voters, has contributed to a feeling of "burnout" over time. Trump is so immersed in conservative media narratives, Poniewozik says, "that he can sort of only speak its language, and has a hard time speaking outside it." Poniewozik also suggests that Americans have become more adept at spotting reality and drama TV tropes through Trump, and he likens Joe Biden to an episode of “Antiques Roadshow,” in this conversation with Brian Stelter.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This never ending election is finally about to end. |
| 0:05.0 | So if this is a season finale or a series finale, |
| 0:10.0 | what can we learn about how President Trump approaches television, how he tries to produce his life and now his presidency? |
| 0:19.0 | What would a season finale or a series finale look like. Those are some of the questions on |
| 0:25.5 | this week's Reliable Sources Podcast. So let's cue the music. I'm Brian Stelter and |
| 0:31.1 | this weekly podcast is our way, our chance to go in depth with media leaders and newsmakers, |
| 0:38.0 | talking about how the news is made, how the media world works, and when it comes to the Trump presidency there's so much to say |
| 0:45.6 | about the media framing the television reality show nature of it all which is why the book Audience of One has been indispensable for me and many others. |
| 0:58.8 | The book was written by James Panoazic, the chief television critic for the New York Times. |
| 1:04.6 | It came out a year ago, but I always find myself going back to it using the book to try to make |
| 1:10.2 | sense of the Trump ears and how the president either is a master of television or as he argues in the book is actually more often mastered by TV. |
| 1:21.0 | That it's really TV in charge. |
| 1:24.2 | So as we approach this election and the end of the first Trump term, |
| 1:28.9 | let me bring in, James, of our conversation |
| 1:30.7 | about the television coverage of it all. |
| 1:33.0 | James, great to talk with you. |
| 1:35.0 | Glad to talk to you, Brian. |
| 1:36.0 | I just keep thinking about all of the ways in which these debates and these rallies |
| 1:42.0 | are all, obviously, television stages, all television emblems. |
| 1:48.5 | So why don't we start with the debate? |
| 1:50.3 | We are taping this on Friday morning. |
| 1:52.0 | The final debate was on Thursday night. |
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