海角大神

The Huffington Post says it鈥檚 going to put stories about Donald Trump鈥檚 presidential run in its entertainment section, not its political one.

鈥淥ur reason is simple: Trump鈥檚 campaign is a sideshow,鈥� write HuffPo鈥檚 Washington bureau chief Ryan Grim and editorial director Danny Shea . 鈥淲e don鈥檛 take the bait.鈥�

Is this a correct decision? Is it noble? Is it ... bizarre? DC reporters are chewing over these and related questions like they were gum on this summer Friday. That鈥檚 entirely predictable. The contretemps combines two of journalism鈥檚 favorite topics: Donald Trump, and itself.

Journalism professor Jay Rosen is on the thumbs-up side of this ledger. An acerbic and often astute critic of the journalist practices in the modern digital world, Rosen judges the HuffPo move 鈥渂rilliant."

鈥淗uff Post鈥檚 Trump decision is a move against automatic thinking and herd behavior in campaign coverage,鈥� . 聽" 'We think for ourselves,鈥� it says.鈥�

On the thumbs-down side were critics who saw the move as dealing with advertising more than editorial. The HuffPo is pointing at itself as much as Trump, defining its brand as contrarian, in this view.

Washington Post media columnist Erik Wemple, another sharp voice, ," and wondered aloud if all Palin family coverage would now be shuffled into the entertainment section, too.

What鈥檚 our hot take? Glad you asked!

WHO鈥橪L NOTICE? Journalism today is disaggregated. Readers come to stories via Google, or their Facebook feed, or some non-home-page entry point. They often don鈥檛 even know which publication wrote the story they鈥檙e reading, much less what 鈥渧ertical鈥� it鈥檚 located in. They won鈥檛 notice the Trump story they鈥檙e looking at is labeled as entertainment, and they won鈥檛 care.

WILL SUBJECTS CHANGE? It鈥檚 the type of story, not its location, that鈥檚 important here. If you鈥檙e writing about Trump鈥檚 screeds against illegal immigration, that鈥檚 a political subject, by definition. Putting it in entertainment doesn鈥檛 change its substance.

However, if HuffPo starts writing about Trump鈥檚 clothes on the campaign trail, and who鈥檚 that women behind his left shoulder (wink, nudge), we鈥檒l know they鈥檙e serious about covering him as mainly an entertainment star.

SO WHAT? All that said, good for HuffPo. Journalism is not a hushed private club, where you get thrown out for wearing shorts to lunch. They can do whatever they want with their coverage to make what they consider a valid point. Then we鈥檒l all argue about it, loudly. That鈥檚 what Fridays are for.