Becoming Somebody

by Nomad

In the Aftermath of Orlando

by Nomad

End of the Free Ride: 19 Questions the Mainstream Media Should Have Been Asking Donald Trump

by Nomad

Donald Trump's celebrity status has allowed him to say just about anything he wants without much scrutiny by the word-bite-hungry news corporations. Isn't it time- past time- that the free ride stop? After all, this isn't a reality TV audition. 

The news media has come under a lot of fire for journalistic malpractice when it came to Donald Trump. In March, Nick Kristof, a New York Times columnist wrote a piece on that subject called “My Shared Shame: The Media Helped Make Trump.” He accused the mainstream media of giving Trump undeserved free coverage while somehow skipping over the candidate's obvious shortcomings. 

Our first big failing was that television in particular handed Trump the microphone without adequately fact-checking him or rigorously examining his background, in a craven symbiosis that boosted audiences for both.

The truth is, the media has needed Trump like a crack addict needs a hit.”

It was in some ways a double standard too. During the primaries, other candidates were held to a much higher standard, meaning they were obligated to be sane and provide sensible replied to often difficult questions.
For Trump, it was a completely different story from the moment he first stepped onto the stage. No claim was too outrageous for the news media to treat as rational. Trump was allowed to talk about what he wanted to talk about, the way he wanted to talk about it. And news reporters appeared to be happy to allow him to mutter whatever nonsense that popped into his head.

This trend didn't start with Trump.

Trump University Playbook Reveals the Manipulative Techniques Trump Used to Bilk Consumers

by Nomad

Unsealed documents from Trump University reveal some of the sophisticated techniques the recruiters used to break down prospective students' resistance. Many of them paid a very heavy price for their trust in Trump and his university.

One of the documents I stumbled across was the 48-page sales manual for the university (PDF embedded below). After a quick glance at the material, it is not a surprise that Republican candidate Trump would be plenty peeved that the federal judge allowed it to be released to the public. 

The manual- Exhibit D in the trial- does not paint a very flattering portrait of the operation nor the man behind it. 

Overall, the university playbook sounds nothing like an educational institution and much more like a high-pressure telemarketing sales campaign. That is confirmed by insiders who witnessed the operations for themselves. 

Said one top university official in her testimony:

In my experience, the focus of Trump University was on making sales rather than providing quality educational services. Trump university would lure consumers into the initial free course based upon the name and reputation of Donald Trump, and then, once they were there, Trump Univeristy personnel would try to up-sell consumers to the next course using high pressure sales tactics. Far from providing a "complete real estate education," as advertised, Trump University only provided enough information to get students to sign up for the next seminar or program.

That claim is supported by the sales manual and, importantly, that manual was not the work of some underling in the organization. 

According to depositions by former Trump University staffers, Trump personally approved of many of the ads and may have been integrally involved in crafting some of the "deceitful scripts that school reps used to con prospective students."