Trump and Ramos Are Meant For Each Other

Ramos instantly made things worse, for me and for thousands of other Hispanic journalists in English- and Spanish-language media. Do you think he cares about that? I doubt it. Ramos seems to only care about advancing one story: The Jorge Ramos Story.

In the exchange with Trump, he violated at least 10 of journalism's rules, protocols and customs.

-- Don't make yourself the story. Cover the story. But don't become the story.

-- Challenge politicians but don't compete with them, debate them or try to shout them down.

-- Disclose conflicts of interest. (Like the fact that Ramos' daughter works for the Hillary Clinton campaign, or that Trump is suing Ramos' principal network, Univision, for $500 million.)

-- Be professional. Never forget that you represent your employer and that what you do reflects on them.

-- Be polite and respectful to your colleagues in the profession. Don't interrupt them, or steal their time. Wait your turn. They have a job to do too, and it's no less important than yours.

-- If you want to ask a question, ask it. But don't make statements, speeches, lectures. And never filibuster.

-- If you're going to be a reporter, be a reporter. That means being objective. If you can't keep your opinions to yourself, resign and become a columnist or talk-show host.

-- Don't take issues personally. Let alone go on television, as Ramos did recently on CNN, and tell the world: "This is personal. When [Trump] is talking about immigrants, he's talking about me." After that, no one will trust you.

-- In the end, you're the one with the platform and microphone. Even if you feel wronged, don't play the victim. It's cheap and unbecoming.

-- And finally, when you mess up and cross the line, be a grown-up and admit it. Apologize, make amends and move on.

Trump seems ready to move on, all right. He is looking forward to more confrontations with Ramos. After answering his questions, the billionaire told the activist/anchor/reporter/commentator: "You and I will talk. We're going to be talking a lot over the years."

You had better believe it. This creepy co-dependent relationship will flare up again, no matter how much damage it does to a profession that has seen better days.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.