• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, July 13, 2017

Even as the business of print media suffers in the digital age, newspapers still set the agenda for television -- as this week’s Donald Trump Jr. story clearly demonstrates.

The New York Times kicked the whole thing off with its front-page story of how Don Jr. eagerly said yes to a meeting with a Russian woman whom he did not know — simply because it was suggested by an intermediary whom he did know that this woman had information about Hillary Clinton that could be useful to Donald Trump Sr.’s presidential campaign.

The meeting turned out to be a dud when it became apparent after just a few minutes that the woman -- a lawyer (allegedly) named Natalia Veselnitskaya –- had no real dirt on Clinton, but wished to discuss another topic entirely, reportedly the adoption of Russian children.

A read of the Times’ stories (two main pieces -- one published on Tuesday and another on Wednesday, as of the writing of this TV Blog) shows them to be in-depth and detailed. That would position them as the direct opposite of what you see day after day emanating from TV news channels and newscasts.

The Times’ second-day story on Wednesday followed up on Tuesday’s story with greater detail about the meeting and how it was set up.

For the sake of this TV Blog, which is about TV and not really about what Don Jr. did or did not do, the details about who these people are, and their relationships with the Trumps, are not vitally important.

The point of this blog is to note how TV “news” today reacts to stories of this type to fill countless hours of air time after a newspaper’s reporters and editors do all the leg work and heavy lifting -- and incur the costs -- of actually writing and reporting the stories.

We all know what happens in the wake of a story like this one: The TV news channels quickly choose their sides and then pretend to practice journalism. But their subsequent coverage of the story is not “journalism” at all.

Instead, it is talk: endless discussions for hours on end, all in support of whatever biased take on the story plays best with their audiences. MSNBC? They’re shocked and dismayed. CNN? Pretty much the same. Fox News Channel? How dare anyone impugn the reputation of the Trumps!

The TV news channels never seem to break big stories like this, but they certainly do glom onto to them afterwards.

It’s all so predictable, too. In the wake of a story like this one appearing on page one of the Times or Washington Post, the bookers at the news channels get busy rounding up the usual suspects.

Of course there's no shortage of people willing to go on TV and take any side or voice any opinion the news channels tell them to.

I know this for a fact from making TV appearances for many years on news-channel talk shows and entertainment-news shows.

I was instructed by some producers on what they wanted me to say, literally word for word. I never agreed to it, but this is what they do. Just as often, they instruct you on what “role” in the segment they wish you to play.

I have become accustomed to asking about this in our initial contact by phone or e-mail, and if I’m not comfortable with the opinion they want me to have, I just say no.

But many people can’t say no. And the more someone says yes, the more likely they’ll move to the top of the news-channel guest-lists.

One thing we can all count on in the Trump era is Sean Hannity’s steadfast defense and support of all members of the Trump family whenever “the media” seems to be “attacking” the First Family.

Well, that’s one way to score the big interview of the day: Kiss up to the President so frequently and consistently that when it comes time to score a big interview with his son, you’re first in line for the big get.

That’s what Hannity did, and his interview with Don Jr. did not disappoint. Agree with it or not, it was certainly entertaining -- worthy competition to anything else that happened to be on TV at 9 p.m. on a hot night in mid-July.

It’s proof once again that news and entertainment in prime time are really the same thing.