ELECTION/MEDIA/RALLY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “At 11:02 a.m. on Monday [11-5-18], after the Donald J. Trump for President campaign announced that Sean Hannity would appear at his rally on the eve of the midterm elections, the prime-time star of Fox News posted a Shermanesque tweet: ‘I will not be on the stage campaigning with the president.’ A few hours later, in Cape Girardeau, Mo., Rush Limbaugh’s hometown, Mr. Hannity was on the stage campaigning with the president. By taking part in the rally, Mr. Hannity was crossing the line that had traditionally separated those in the news media — even opinion hosts like him — from the people they are supposed to cover. When Rupert Murdoch and Roger E. Ailes started the Fox News Channel in 1996, they meant to counter CNN, which Mr. Ailes referred to as the ‘Clinton News Network.’ They succeeded in their aim over the next two decades, invoking the slogan ‘fair and balanced’ as they broadcast shows that appealed especially to red-state voters.”
–Jim Rutenberg, “Sean Hannity Erased a Line by Taking the Stage With Trump,” The New York Times online, November 6, 2018