Shiny Object Land

Mark Leibovich writes in The New York Times,

In politics, a shiny object is the preoccupation of the moment: the 14th Amendment, or so-­called birthright citizenship and anchor babies, or, inevitably, any poll. If television was a major development in the creation of shiny objects, the Internet was an Ursa Major development. Even the most isolated outrages become outsize on our little, attention-burning screens.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama and his campaign team warned against becoming too drawn to the ‘‘shiny objects’’ that preoccupied the press. ‘‘It was basically a not-­subtle way of saying that political reporters had attention-­deficit disorder,’’ said Dan Pfeiffer, a former top adviser to Obama. In our defense, though, the A.D.D. of political reporters is fostered by a warped and warping system. Media bosses demand a constant flow of material, which ensures that much reporting remains undigested. Customers want speed or will click elsewhere; competitors spew their own undigested news, and campaigns are only too happy to concoct it, or their opponents will. Shiny objects become tools of our least resistance. Polls and gaffes take less time and brainpower to comprehend than, say, Jeb Bush’s book on immigration policy.

In other words, the press colludes with politicians in this culture of distraction-­mongering. Meanwhile, a new class of political figures has built careers almost entirely on shiny-object status. It’s more fun than writing policy treatises and much easier than actual governing — and it pays better too.

...But sometimes reality TV turns into reality. ‘‘The focus on the shiny object becomes a self-­fulfilling prophecy,’’ Pfeiffer said. ‘‘It turns the shiny object into the actual object.’’ And the Summer of Trump shines on.