- “Seven weeks before the 2016 election, Burnett, in a smart tux with a shawl collar, arrived with his third wife, the actress and producer Roma Downey, at the Microsoft Theatre, in Los Angeles, for the Emmy Awards. Both “Shark Tank” and “The Voice” won awards that night. But his triumphant evening was marred when the master of ceremonies, Jimmy Kimmel, took an unexpected turn during his opening monologue. “Television brings people together, but television can also tear us apart,” Kimmel mused. “I mean, if it wasn’t for television, would Donald Trump be running for President?” In the crowd, there was laughter. “Many have asked, ‘Who is to blame for Donald Trump?’ ” Kimmel continued. “I’ll tell you who, because he’s sitting right there. That guy.” Kimmel pointed into the audience, and the live feed cut to a closeup of Burnett, whose expression resolved itself into a rigid grin. “Thanks to Mark Burnett, we don’t have to watch reality shows anymore, because we’re living in one,” Kimmel said. Burnett was still smiling, but Kimmel wasn’t.
The New Yorker is big on blaming media for Donald Trump. They've taken a run at The Apprentice before. They also want to blame Jeff Zucker. I've worked with several of the people in this article. I've worked for Mark Burnett. A friend of mine gets between three and ten calls a week from journalists because he's the most likely candidate to have the mythical "n-word tapes." I overheard him talking to the Washington Post once - "look man, you have my number so you know who I am. You know I boxed professionally. You probably know I was raised by Black Panthers. If Donald Trump ever said the n-word around crew you woulda known it by now because TMZ woulda carried it when I decked his ass." I think it's impossibly cowardly that the chattering class feels it's the responsibility of the guys selling dandruff shampoo and Depends to serve as the moral and ethical standard for a country that wants to watch Honey Boo Boo. They want to feel better because someone is worse than them. A country that wants to watch Undercover Boss. They want to feel better because maybe if the person they're dedicating 50 hours a week of their life to might not be such a shitheel if only they could talk to him one-on-one. A country that wants to watch Survivor. They want to feel better because maybe if TEOTWAWKI happened they wouldn't have to nod and smile at their manager's jokes for $18 an hour. A country that wants to watch The Apprentice. They want to feel better because maybe those Captains of Industry that destroyed their pension fund and bulldozed the park are Actual Geniuses Who Live Very Important Lives. How many million views do the assorted clips of the "drink the sand" speech from American President have? The pundit class loves Sorkin. Loves thinking they're a part of something clever and noble and honorable and those poor fucking rubes are too stupid to do what's best for them. And maybe they're right. But they also revel in pissing all over the people who give those rubes what they want. And they never talk about the fact that they've let things fall to the point where America gets its news from organizations that sell dandruff shampoo and Depends. And until the New Yorker figures out how to talk to people who enjoy watching The Apprentice in a non-ironic way, they're just as much of the problem as Mark Burnett.“Donald mentioned a number of times, ‘Maybe I’ll run for President one day,’ ” Burnett told the Washington Post in January, 2016. “And sad to say, politics is kind of a TV show.” When Burnett was asked whether he supported Trump’s candidacy, he deflected the question, retreating behind his conceit that politics is simply entertainment by other means. “I have no idea about the politics,” he said, adding, “I have had great fun—great fun—watching it.”
Does the pundit class matter though? With any kind of elite, there’s the desire to be considered relevant and influential besides noble. Maybe it’s not (just) that the roobz are too stupid to know better - maybe the pundit class has lost their relevancy a while ago and they’re in a stage of denial about it. Better to call those who ignore you dumb than to question why they ignore you in the first place.