Margaret Sullivan writes:

Donald Trump’s presidency would have been impossible without his reality-TV fame from NBC’s “The Apprentice.”

And he is skilled at dominating the visual medium that still matters so much — even in our digital age — from his raucous rallies to his impromptu media gaggles outside a whirring helicopter to his symbiotic relationship with Fox News.

But not this week.

In a tectonic shift of media attention, every major television network — broadcast and cable alike — focused on a deeply damaging story that Trump can’t control.

On Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that impeachment proceedings would begin.

On Wednesday, Trump responded in a rambling, low-energy news conference from the United Nations, for which all three broadcast networks ditched their usual programming.

Then, for hour upon hour Thursday morning, the networks did the same for the congressional testimony of acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire, who was grilled about a whistleblower’s report that puts a harsh spotlight on Trump’s urging Ukraine’s president to dig up dirt about his political rival.

“Almost like moving forward with impeachment would get people’s attention,” quipped author Jonathan Katz about the media onslaught.

At least some Americans were riveted. As one indication, Whistleblower Wednesday brought sky-high cable ratings — including on Fox, where Trump defenders were working tirelessly in prime time but where news coverage couldn’t fully avoid, or spin, the obvious. [Continue reading…]