# Broadcast networks deliberating whether to air Trump's prime time immigration address **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 7, 2019, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374 "2019-01-07T22:06:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/21 "2019-01-08T03:11:19Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > That’s why the democrats should get air time to counter what Trump says. > > Every word in his speech will be torn apart and debated for days to come. > > Any untruths or errors will quickly be found and reported. The Democrats should be presenting alternative political proposals when they have them. But the media should be reporting it when the President says things which are factually incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/22 "2019-01-08T03:13:31Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Where did you get the idea that they have any such obligation? Part of the agreement for getting a broadcasting license is the network has to report the news. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/23 "2019-01-08T03:22:06Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > The verifiable fact that the POTUS is a belligerent and compulsive liar whose only real goal at this point is saving face? I feel it’s more than just saving face. Trump has never shown any problem with breaking his word if that’s all that’s going on. He would just drop the issue and claim he had won. Considering how uncharacteristically stubborn he’s being, I’m assuming there’s money involved. Trump has probably been promised a large kickback from some construction company and will only get paid if the wall gets funded. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/24 "2019-01-08T03:36:28Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I feel it’s more than just saving face. Trump has never shown any problem with breaking his word if that’s all that’s going on. He would just drop the issue and claim he had won. > > Considering how uncharacteristically stubborn he’s being, I’m assuming there’s money involved. Trump has probably been promised a large kickback from some construction company and will only get paid if the wall gets funded. I think it’s more simple than that. If he doesn’t get money for “Wall” and the nutty alt-right talking heads excoriate him for his failure to his base, what will he blather on about at all those campaign rallies? He loves his krazy krowds when they go insane for talk of “Wall.” What the hell will he do when he can’t talk about “Wall?” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/25 "2019-01-08T03:44:59Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Part of the agreement for getting a broadcasting license is the network has to report the news. Networks don’t have to “report the news.” In fact, networks don’t get broadcasting licenses, individual stations do. And the exact phrase is [“serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity.”](https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/public-and-broadcasting#DISCRETION) > [@](#): > > Our role in overseeing program content is very limited. We license only individual broadcast stations. We do not license TV or radio networks (such as CBS, NBC, ABC or Fox) or other organizations that stations have relationships with, such as PBS or NPR, except if those entities are also station licensees. In general, we also do not regulate information provided over the Internet, nor do we intervene in private disputes involving broadcast stations or their licensees. Instead, we usually defer to the parties, courts, or other agencies to resolve these disputes. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/26 "2019-01-08T06:53:37Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > That’s exactly what they should do. They can have the little Pinocchio icons, with the length of the nose showing how egregious the lies are. We don’t all have 70" TVs you know. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/27 "2019-01-08T09:02:24Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Every word in his speech will be torn apart and debated for days to come. > > Any untruths or errors will quickly be found and reported. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I think the networks should carve out some time for themselves to state the FACTS that thump will have lied about. Because he will lie. We all know that, going into this. He won’t just say dumb, stupid, demented stuff, he will tell lies. Don’t you see that Trump’s whole strategy is based on the fact that his audience (his base) don’t have enough attention span to consider any analysis after the fact. He relies on that. He knows they don’t have the mental capacity or the will to sit there and listen to facts that came afterward. So it’s mostly useless to do that. No–the fact-checking must be embedded into Trump’s actual speech, as he speaks, to expose him immediately. That’s the only way in which Truth stands a chance. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/28 "2019-01-08T11:24:52Z")
I don’t think the networks should feel obligated to carry a presidential address unless the president is giving genuinely new information that would justify a breaking news report even if the president wasn’t the one talking about it. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/29 "2019-01-08T13:33:27Z")
Be thankful that Trump only wants to speak on TV. Remember a few months ago when the government tested out the system to text every cell phone? Imagine a non-stop Twitstorm that you couldn’t avoid if you wanted to… ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/30 "2019-01-08T13:37:15Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Don’t you see that Trump’s whole strategy is based on the fact that his audience (his base) don’t have enough attention span to consider any analysis after the fact. He relies on that. He knows they don’t have the mental capacity or the will to sit there and listen to facts that came afterward. > > So it’s mostly useless to do that. No–the fact-checking must be embedded into Trump’s actual speech, as he speaks, to expose him immediately. That’s the only way in which Truth stands a chance. That’s why a post-talk analysis with yammering pundits won’t work. Instead there need to be real-time popups and/or a scroll, or animated neon Pinocchios dancing across the bottom of the screen. Or maybe just a CGI effect so that whenever thump lies, HIS nose gets longer and longer. So that by the end of the talk, the end of his nose is disappearing off the side of the screen. Yeah. That would work. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/31 "2019-01-08T15:31:06Z")
I heard someone on NPR this morning say something to the effect of, “Trump will have to convince the American people [during this speech] that there’s a crisis on the Southern border, and that a wall will solve that crisis.” She said this not as a joke, like she was a legitimate reporting making a neutral report. We know there’s no crisis on the Southern border, at least not one that’s not created by the US government in the first place, and we know that a wall will be a useless waste of money. There’s nothing that Trump could say at this point that would prove otherwise. He’s not sitting on some convincing facts or anything. It’s frustrating as hell that anybody is pretending like this is normal politics. The president is going to go on TV tonight and lie. We know this ahead of time. And yet the machinations of both the government and the media are just gong to cover it like it’s business as usual. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/32 "2019-01-08T15:34:54Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > We don’t all have 70" TVs you know. It can turn 90[sup]0[/sup] if it nears the edge of the screen. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/33 "2019-01-08T16:05:40Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > A major speech by the President should be covered by the networks. The government shutdown effects a lot of people and the nation should hear from our President. > > The democrats should be given air time to offer their counter argument. I agree. I won’t watch the lying basterd, but still. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/34 "2019-01-08T16:19:26Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > I heard someone on NPR this morning say something to the effect of, “Trump will have to convince the American people [during this speech] that there’s a crisis on the Southern border, and that a wall will solve that crisis.” She said this not as a joke, like she was a legitimate reporting making a neutral report. > > We know there’s no crisis on the Southern border, at least not one that’s not created by the US government in the first place, and we know that a wall will be a useless waste of money. There’s nothing that Trump could say at this point that would prove otherwise. He’s not sitting on some convincing facts or anything. > > It’s frustrating as hell that anybody is pretending like this is normal politics. The president is going to go on TV tonight and lie. We know this ahead of time. And yet the machinations of both the government and the media are just gong to cover it like it’s business as usual. Every time he says something untrue, they should distort his image a little more. Inside of ten minutes he’ll look like one of the “blocked” people from _Black Mirror_. And speaking of the horrors of technology, the only way I’m watching this speech (short of duress) is if one of the networks uses Deepfake to replace Trump’s head with an actual talking asshole. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/35 "2019-01-08T16:23:09Z")
Here’s what I think at least one network should do: 1. Air Trump’s speech on a tape delay. 2. Use the delay to insert corrections to any falsehoods he utters into the video, right after he says each one. Kinda like a Joe Isuzu sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/36 "2019-01-08T16:27:44Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > … > It’s frustrating as hell that anybody is pretending like this is normal politics. The president is going to go on TV tonight and lie. We know this ahead of time. And yet the machinations of both the government and the media are just gong to cover it like it’s business as usual. This is what has bothered me the most from Day One. He is not normal. He is not a normal person. He is certainly not a normal president. Treating his [aberrant behavior](https://imgur.com/a/fD1ttH0) as normal business as usual is bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/37 "2019-01-08T16:39:32Z")
There is a possibility that, among his usual inimitable rhetorical flourishes, he will announce that he is invoking EMERGENCY POWERS. This would definitely be newsworthy, if it were to occur. Regarding the possible impact of Trump invoking EMERGENCY POWERS, well, charitably, God rest our souls. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/38 "2019-01-08T17:04:46Z")
Doesn’t he need a Jar-Jar to recommend he be given special emergency powers? It’d be cool if pence showed up with a handful of nice young men in clean white coats to jacket up the Trump and take him away. But I hate waking up in a puddle like that. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/39 "2019-01-08T18:00:28Z")
Trump’s communication skills are very limited. It’s pretty bad when a speaker has to use “lock her up” to excite a campaign rally. He won’t have a crowd to feed off this time. This speech may be totally forgettable or it could be Trump’s Joseph McCarthy moment. I doubt he’ll sway the nation with his stunning oratory. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374/40 "2019-01-08T18:31:13Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Here’s what I think at least one network should do: > > 1. Air Trump’s speech on a tape delay. > > 2. Use the delay to insert corrections to any falsehoods he utters into the video, right after he says each one. Kinda like a Joe Isuzu sort of thing. Who’d have thought we’d elect Joe Isuzu president. In the case of a real crisis all networks should air a president’s speech. But this is a manufactured fake crisis. He can pay for his own propaganda, and let Fox take the ratings hit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-networks-deliberating-whether-to-air-trumps-prime-time-immigration-address/827374.md?page=3)