At a press conference last week, WWE Superstar, I mean Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, declared to a room full of reporters that "the press should be ashamed of themselves."
He's right. They should.
Not for having the audacity to challenge a politician's statement, but to use an old cliché, for bringing a knife to a gun fight.
The reality is Donald Trump is a street fighter. He feels he is getting the best of the media (he is) by initiating these confrontations with them because he knows the media has to play by a set of rules to maintain their objectivity.
So much for the old adage "never pick a fight with anyone who buys ink by the barrel."
Trump's observation that "the media is, frankly, made up of people that in many cases, not in all cases, are not good people... I think the political press is among the most dishonest people that I have ever met," felt like we were getting an inside look at a figure with dictatorial aspirations.
This is dangerous. Very dangerous.
Historically, political leaders in power who have this kind of open contempt for the free press end up utilizing means to try and silence it.
It's a difficult needle to thread for the press corps. Asking reporters to objectively chronicle the rise of a political figure that calls them "sleaze" and revels in it.
What is the media to do?
I say fight back.
Not with editorials that real people in the real world don't read, but with a much more profound and visible statement rooted in substance and fact.
Imagine if every day from now until Election Day, every major newspaper and affiliate had a front-page that was laid out like a political mail piece that simply showcased what "Dictator Donald" said and what the facts actually were. A scorecard that showed the specific questions he was asked and a yes or no box that revealed whether he answered the question or not.
Trump's weakness is his complete disregard for substance and the truth. He doesn't know the details, doesn't really care and glosses over any specific question with a broad generalization, a thump of the chest and slogans that read like "how 'bout them Cowboys!"
The most powerful thing the media could do across its broad network and reach with Americans is to highlight that in a meaningful way every single day.
Imagine if the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, LA Times, USA Today and its Gannett affiliates (and any publication in a swing state) changed their front-pages in this way and really stuck it to Trump the way he has so brazenly stuck it to everyone else.
Of course this will never happen and would certainly lead to all kinds of headaches and lawsuits.
The point though is the media needs to do something to reassert its role as the people's check-and-balance. To breakthrough and be the vehicle to tell truth-to-power on behalf of the American people. I have always said that the media's true power lies in its ability to reach and shape public perception.
I don't believe that the media was ever looking for this fight, but like it or not, they are now in it and they are losing.
Maybe there really is no right answer or way to fight back without compromising your institution's credibility and integrity, but should "Dictator Donald" win this election, everyone is going to wish they had done more to stop this dangerous disaster from ever happening.