Imagine if mainstream news organizations covered a looming natural disaster in the way it has covered Trump. A category five hurricane barrels toward the Florida coast, but instead of wall-to-wall coverage warning people to seek shelter and evacuate, the local news stuck to its regular newscasts as if it were just going to rain a little more than usual. Instead of shocking the citizenry into paying attention, news executives simply printed headlines that read, “Strong winds and rain expected.” Meanwhile, during the television coverage, the same outlets allowed known disinformation artists to hijack panels with absurd claims, misleading the public into believing everything was being overblown by an overzealous press corps.

That would obviously be deeply irresponsible, but that is precisely what most of the news media is doing now. Trump, along with allies such as Musk, are openly dismantling the U.S. government and threatening the global order. And yet, the major media outlets are largely suck in the same journalistic rhythms as before. Political journalists write up stories and news anchors read alarming words from teleprompters, but the institutions as a whole are failing to sound an audible alarm that arrests the public’s attention.