monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

I still miss Amigo, years later.

Jonathan Bernstein wonders if public complaints about this kind of behavior will change the way reporters operate

...the experience of being interviewed as “experts”, only to find that what a reporter really wanted was to find someone to say something the interviewer believed, but needed someone “objective” to say.

What happens, however, when those experts choose to report on that interaction — and have an easy way to do so that the rest of their “expert” class will see? Or perhaps not that version, but the one where the reporter calling you doesn’t seem to know the basics, or the one where, as in the example above, the reporter ignores everything you said and writes the same story she intended to write.

Is this kind of thing likely to increase? If it does, will it make much difference? Or will it just become the new normal and nobody will really care?

Google has found evidence that Russian agents spent tens of thousands of dollars on adverts in a bid to sway the 2016 US election, media reports say.
Sources quoted by the Washington Post say the adverts aimed to spread disinformation across Google's products including YouTube and Gmail.
They say the adverts do not appear to be from the same Kremlin-linked source that bought ads on Facebook.
Google said it was investigating attempts to "abuse" its systems.
US intelligence agencies concluded earlier this year that Russia had tried to sway the election in favour of Donald Trump.
The Russian government strongly denies the claims and President Trump has denied any collusion with the Kremlin.
The issue is under investigation by US congressional committees and the Department of Justice.
Sources said to be close to the Google investigation said the company was looking into a group of adverts that cost less than $100,000 (£76,000).
Google said in a statement: "We have a set of strict ads policies including limits on political ad targeting and prohibitions on targeting based on race and religion. We are taking a deeper look to investigate attempts to abuse our systems, working with researchers and other companies, and will provide assistance to ongoing inquiries."
Microsoft said on Monday it was also investigating whether any US election adverts had been bought by Russians for its Bing search engine or other products.
A spokesman told Reuters it had no further information at the moment.
Facebook said in September that it had uncovered a Russian-funded campaign to promote divisive social and political messages on its network.
It said that $100,000 was spent on about 3,000 ads over a two-year period, ending in May 2017.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg later said his company would pass the information to US investigators.

Facebook said in September that it had uncovered a Russian-funded campaign to promote divisive social and political messages on its network.
It said that $100,000 was spent on about 3,000 ads over a two-year period, ending in May 2017.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg later said his company would pass the information to US investigators.

The case of a Michigan man awarded joint legal custody of a child whose mother he sexually assaulted when she was 12 has provoked outrage.
Many are incredulous that Christopher Mirasolo, 27, could be granted parental rights after a DNA test established his paternity.
The victim's lawyer said the case was set in motion after her client received child support from the state.
The case is thought to be the first of its kind in Michigan and maybe the US.
Attorney Rebecca Kiessling filed objections on Friday after Judge Gregory Ross ruled that Mirasolo had parental rights to the boy, who is now eight years old, reports the Detroit News.
Judge Ross also provided Mirasolo with the victim's home address.
The woman, who now lives in Florida, has been told to move back to Michigan.
Judge Ross also ordered Mirasolo's name to be added to the birth certificate without the mother's consent, her attorney added.
A 21-year-old woman told police Mirasolo forcibly raped her while holding her captive when she was 12 in September 2008.
The victim's ordeal began when she, her 13-year-old sister and a friend sneaked out of their house to meet an older boy and his friend, Mirasolo, who was 18 at the time.
Mirasolo held them captive for two days before releasing the older sister in a park.
He was arrested a month later when the woman became pregnant, Ms Kiessling added.
The charge is a first-degree felony in Michigan, but Mirasolo instead received a plea deal from the Sanilac County Prosecutor's Office for attempted third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
He was sentenced to one year in county jail, but only served six-and-a-half months before he was released early to care for his sick mother.
In 2010, he sexually assaulted another victim between the ages of 13 and 15 and was jailed for four years, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Mirasolo was released in March 2012 and is a registered sex offender.
His supervision conditions include having a "responsible adult" present if he is with a minor.
According to Ms Kiessling and the victim, the case was prompted after the mother sought child support.
Mirasolo's attorney, Barbara Yockey, told the Detroit Free Press that her client "never initiated" the custody case.
She said it was "routinely done by the prosecutor's office when a party makes application for state assistance".
"Chris was notified of the paternity matter and an order of filiation was issued last month by the court saying he had joint legal custody and reasonable visitation privileges," she said.
Ms Yockey said her client has not suggested he planned to act on his parenting rights and he had no scheduled court appearances.
"I don't know what his plans or intentions might be regarding any future relationship with the child," she said.
Ms Kiessling said the case violates the Rape Survivor Child Custody Act, which allows courts to dismiss the parental rights of convicted rapists over a child conceived as a result of rape.
The law, championed by the Obama administration in 2015, gave states access to more funding for victims of sexual assault if they allowed courts to terminate the parental rights of an individual found to have committed rape against another person that resulted in the conception of a child.
About 5% of rape victims ages 12 to 45 become pregnant as a result of rape, according to the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. A version of the law exists in 43 states and the District of Columbia, but the measures vary from state to state.
In 20 states and the District of Columbia, a rape conviction is required before termination of parental rights is allowed.
Critics argue this leaves victims vulnerable in cases that are not prosecuted.
Seven states have no laws barring rapists from asserting their parental rights over a child.

On Sunday morning, Donald Trump went off on a Twitter tirade against a member of his own party.
This, in itself, isn't exactly huge news. It's far from the first time the president has turned his rhetorical cannons on his own ranks.
This time, however, his attacks were particularly biting and personal. He essentially called Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, the chair of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a coward for not running for re-election.
He said Mr Corker "begged" for the president's endorsement, which he refused to give. He wrongly claimed that Mr Corker's support of the Iranian nuclear agreement was his only political accomplishment.
Unlike some of his colleagues, Mr Corker - free from having to worry about his immediate political future - didn't hold his tongue.
"It's a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning."
That wasn't the end of it, though. He then spoke with the New York Times and really let the president have it. Here are four choice quotes from the Tennessee senator's interview with the Times and why they are particularly damning.
"I don't know why the president tweets out things that are not true. You know he does it, everyone knows he does it, but he does."
You can't really sugarcoat this one. Mr Corker is flat-out saying the president is a liar - and everyone knows it.
The senator, in particular, is challenging Mr Trump's insistence that he unsuccessfully pleaded for his endorsement, but the accusation is much broader.
Mr Corker and the president used to be something akin to allies. The Tennessean was on Mr Trump's short list for vice-president and secretary of state.
Those days are seemingly very much over now - and it's not like Mr Corker is going anywhere anytime soon. Although he's not running for re-election, he'll be in the Senate, chairing a powerful committee, until January 2019.
The president's margin for success in that chamber is razor-thin. If Democrats can continue to stand together in opposition, he can afford to lose only two votes out of 52 Republican senators. That's why healthcare reform collapsed in July - and it could be bad news for tax efforts.
From here on out, Mr Corker isn't going to do the president any favours.
"Look, except for a few people, the vast majority of our caucus understands what we're dealing with here."
Frustration in Congress has been growing over what Republicans feel has been the president's inability to focus on advancing their agenda. Getting a sharply divided party to come together on plans to repeal Obamacare, reform taxes or boost infrastructure spending is challenging enough. Doing so when the president stirs up unrelated controversies on a seemingly daily basis makes things all the harder.
One of the president's gifts has been his ability to shake off negative stories by quickly moving on to a different subject. That worked brilliantly during his presidential campaign, but it's less effective during the legislative slow grind.
For months, Republicans in Congress have been grumbling about this on background and among themselves. Occasionally, someone like Mr McConnell will lament that the president doesn't understand how the Senate works.
Mr Corker has now stated it loud and clear. And, what's more, he says almost everyone agrees with him. They've kept silent until now because they still hope to pass conservative legislation that the president can sign or fear Mr Trump's legions will back a primary challenge next year or stay home during the general election.
If that calculus ever changes - if it becomes riskier to stay silent than speak out - Mr Trump will be in real trouble.
"A lot of people think that there is some kind of 'good cop, bad cop' act underway, but that's just not true."
Time and again, Mr Trump has appeared to undercut Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and others in his administration who are attempting to use soft diplomacy to deal with a range of international crises.
The war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, Iran's compliance with the multinational nuclear agreement, the ongoing dispute between Qatar and its Persian Gulf neighbours, the unrest in Venezuela and, most recently, North Korea's continued ballistic missile tests have all been the target of the president's offhand remarks and Twitter invective.
Some administration defenders have said this is all a part of Mr Trump's strategy - an updated version of the Nixon-era "madman theory", in which the president forces adversaries to give way because they fear an unpredictable US leader's actions.
Mr Corker isn't buying it. There's no strategy, he says, just the possibility of chaos - which he hopes Mr Trump's senior advisers will be able to avoid.
"I know for a fact that every single day at the White House, it's a situation of trying to contain him."
There's now a growing collection of John Kelly face-palm photos that serve as a testament to the chief-of-staff's reported frustration at dealing with the president.
Mr Trump goes off-script to praise torch-bearing white nationalists at a rally in Charlottesville, and Mr Kelly is captured closing his eyes and rubbing the arch his nose, as if attempting to stave off a migraine.
The president calls North Korean leaders "criminals" in a speech to the United Nations, and Mr Kelly straight-up buries his face in his hands.
The White House communications team is often left scrambling to try to explain or reframe an indelicate presidential "joke" or remark that directly contradicts what was until then the official administration line.
Even though Mr Kelly has brought some discipline to the West Wing staff, the president still marches to the beat of his own drum - and continues to have unfettered access to his phone's Twitter app.
Bob Corker is only the latest person - politician, journalist, sports star or celebrity - to feel the mercurial president's uncontainable ire.

I prefer a reputable news organisation (snip)