Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America

by Sarah Kendzior

The three years I worked at the Daily News—from 2000 to 2003—were possibly the most transformative in US journalism, and by association, the most transformative in terms of how Americans access and process information. Much of what Americans took for granted was lost within that brief window of time. We lost our faith in the electoral system through the contested 2000 presidential race. We lost our sense of safety from foreign threats through the September 11, 2001, attacks. We lost our sense of prosperity through a recession followed by skyrocketing income inequality. We lost what was left of our shame when we went to war in Iraq based on a lie. I grieved those losses while working in the industry that tells people what is worth grieving, that defines not only the terms of the debate but the participants. I watched the public shed old illusions only to embrace new ones manufactured in my line of work—fantasies spun out of fear and favor. I watched the media industry scramble to turn chaos into a palatable narrative, one the public could follow, one advertisers could sell.