The Media are the Goddam Problem

[p0rtia]

And this is how democracies fall.

[raison de arizona]

Balance how much you've heard about tfg setting Russia loose on NATO, which is a big deal, with reporting about Biden's age.

Trump inviting Russia to attack NATO allies should be one of the biggest stories of this election. The fact that it's not even on the front page of the NYT or Washington Post (while stories about Biden's age are) is a disgrace to journalism.

Trump: One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, Well, sir, if we don't pay and were attacked by Russia, will you protect us? I said.. No I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.

[raison de arizona]

"Sleepwalking to dictatorship"

So I tried to give the Post the benefit of the doubt last night, Sunday print edition closed too early to highlight Trump’s shocking statement that he would blow up NATO and invite Russia to invade our allies. Here is Monday’s. Nada. Sleepwalking to dictatorship

[pipistrelle]

Aaron Rupar
@atrupar
·
8h
This is just beyond parody. Even New York Times stories about Trump's authoritarianism are framed around Biden's age.

Image from NYT reads:

ANALYSIS
Trump's Threat to NATO Gives Biden a Boost
Donald Trump's statement supporting a Russian attack against "delinquent" NATO allies takes attention away from unwelcome questions about Joe Biden's age.

It's not like tfg is a spritely 50-year-old, and he's not even coherent much of the time.

[raison de arizona]

This is arguably the biggest, most important news of the past 18 hours: An FBI informant allegedly gave Kremlin anti-Biden propaganda to top Republicans who built a fake impeachment case on it. It has Putin's fingerprints all over it.

The New York Times published it on page A16

[raison de arizona]

Fox News' Jessica Tarlov: The NYT was responsible for Hillary losing the 2016 election. The server story and Uranium One story came from them.

Harris Faulkner: Wouldn't it be her actions, though?!

Tarlov: No, because it ended up she didn't do it! That's the problem with it.

[raison de arizona]

https://x.com/DanRather/status/1764821704457495015?s=20

If I may, there’s something I need to get off my chest.

As democracy remains under siege, it has been frustrating to watch how the press covers politics these days.

I am reminded by lessons that came to me during the Nixon years as a CBS News correspondent, which I’ll add here:

1. Enough with Both-sides-ism

When one side lies intentionally and repeatedly, they are no longer entitled to the benefit of the doubt. They should be held to account, right away. Do not simply repeat the narratives they spew.

2. Prioritize Live Fact-Checking

Rigorous and robust fact-checking is the best defense against misinformation, intentional lies, and deflection.

If Trump says the sky is green, the story isn’t that the sky is now green; the story is that the sky is still blue and Trump got it wrong.

3. Ask Lawmakers Hard Questions

Ask about the fundamental principles of democracy. Push them to go on the record that Biden won the 2020 election.

Ask if they support the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

This writing is not to offer any claim of knowing it all. Your correspondent has made his share of mistakes, but after more than seven decades I believe I have picked up a few useful guideposts.

Good journalism is always worth it. Our democracy depends on it.

↓

For the rest of my list, please see my the latest post of my independent newsletter – the link is in my Twitter biography.

[raison de arizona]

Always a menace.

Imagine if National Enquirer had treated Stormy Daniels in 2016 the same way they treated Jill Harth in 1996.

Harth said Trump “groped” her repeatedly, “forcibly” moved her to his daughter’s bedroom at Mar-a-Lago in an “attempted rape,” & repeatedly propositioning her for sex.

[pipistrelle]

With more than 200 bureaus around the globe, the AP remains the biggest brand name among what came to be known as the wire services, transmitting its articles and images to news outlets for a licensing fee. Some smaller papers came to rely so heavily on its content that “AP” was its single most frequent byline.

But now, two major American newspaper chains have said they will no longer use the AP for news. Gannett, the publisher of USA Today and more than 200 local newspapers, and McClatchy, which publishes the Miami Herald and Kansas City Star among more than two dozen other newspapers, said this week that they were ending their content relationship with the AP.

Gift link: https://wapo.st/3IN2DRy

[AndyinPA]

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4549 ... ntributor/

Ronna McDaniel, the former head of the Republican National Committee (RNC), will join NBC News as a contributor.

McDaniel will appear on “Meet The Press” this Sunday, giving her first interview since resigning as head of the RNC earlier this year.

McDaniel is expected to be featured as part of election coverage on NBC and on the network’s sister cable channel, MSNBC.

“It couldn’t be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team,” Carrie Budoff Brown, who leads political coverage at NBC, wrote in a memo shared with The New York Times.

These people always land on their feet.

Cross-posted https://thefogbow.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... 72#p252872

[p0rtia]

My new past time is trolling NBC News.

I'm not very good at it, but it's kinda fun.

[AndyinPA]

https://www.mediaite.com/media/ronna-mc ... ws-report/

Former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel may have inked a deal to appear as a political analyst on NBC News, but she is not welcome on sister network MSNBC, a new report revealed.

According to The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC president Rashida Jones “has no plans to have McDaniel on the channel,” citing “people familiar” with the controversy.

Turmoil has reportedly enveloped the left-leaning MSNBC newsroom following Friday’s announcement that McDaniel had been hired as an on-air contributor for NBC News. The Journal reported that there has been “internal backlash” over the hire — adding that “a number of MSNBC anchors and producers have voiced concern about McDaniel’s ties to former President Donald Trump and the RNC’s role in his efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.”

Cross posted in Media Moves.

[p0rtia]

Cross-posted to the Arizona thread.

NB: I saw him first!

Ronna v Richer.jpg (120.4 KiB) Viewed 464 times

[RVInit]

Someone needs to tell NBC there was a reason Carl Sagan didn't present flat earth theory in his Cosmos series as another viewpoint worthy of consideration.

[June bug]

Someone needs to tell NBC there was a reason Carl Sagan didn't present flat earth theory in his Cosmos series as another viewpoint worthy of consideration.

[New Turtle]

This seems to be going over as well with the audience as it did when CBS News hired Mick Mulvaney.

[p0rtia]

... When CNN hired Corey Lewendowski.

[AndyinPA]

Boy, did Rachel go after her hiring tonight on her show!

[p0rtia]

Epic.

[AndyinPA]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... daniel-nbc

Donald Trump mocked the former Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Ronna McDaniel, for her firing by NBC days after being hired as a political analyst.

“Wow!” the former president and presumptive Republican nominee, who ejected McDaniel from the RNC in favour of his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“Ronna McDaniel got fired by Fake News NBC. She only lasted two days, and this after McDaniel went out of her way to say what they wanted to hear. It leaves her in a very strange place, it’s called NEVER NEVERLAND, and it’s not a place you want to be.”

McDaniel’s hiring was announced by NBC last Friday. Interviewed on Meet the Press on Sunday, she disavowed Trump’s lie that Joe Biden stole the 2020 election but also claimed there were electoral “problems” in battleground states.

He never misses a chance to kick someone when they are down.

[RTH10260]

Dear Donald: "It leaves her in a very strange place, it’s called NEVER NEVERLAND, and it’s not a place you want to be." Remember that strange place this Novermber

[p0rtia]

Deadline Whitehouse, Nicolle Wallace's show, subject fuckhead's threats to Merchon's daughter, absolutely killing it in the A block. Will try to post when it's available.

First time I've heard anyone talking about the failure of the justice system to hold fuckhead accountable. All the red flags are up for complete collapse of the system.

Judge Luttig, Kirchner, and Lisa Rubin on hand.

Rubin points out that in the old days, it was unhappy defendants that attacked and killed judges and their families. These days, it's the cult members of the defendant.

Very tough for even MSNBC.

[Suranis]

Someone needs to tell NBC there was a reason Carl Sagan didn't present flat earth theory in his Cosmos series as another viewpoint worthy of consideration.

Off Topic

Well, the other point is that no educated person in the Middle Ages actually thought that the Earth was flat. That was a lie made up from whole cloth in the 1840s. And now, in the Age of the Internet, people actually think the Earth is flat. Proving that we are stupider than people were in the Middle Ages.

[RTH10260]

I heard it on the internet Olbermann podcast, so it must be true

[Lansdowne]

Someone needs to tell NBC there was a reason Carl Sagan didn't present flat earth theory in his Cosmos series as another viewpoint worthy of consideration.

Off Topic

Well, the other point is that no educated person in the Middle Ages actually thought that the Earth was flat. That was a lie made up from whole cloth in the 1840s. And now, in the Age of the Internet, people actually think the Earth is flat. Proving that we are stupider than people were in the Middle Ages.

It's not off topic, this conundrum is related to The Media in the internet age.
in the 1840s - or even the 1940s - "people" whose views were heard and circulated were always those you refer to as the "educated".
Now we have a media environment in which "people" present their opinions/fantasies with no one caring to ask if the writer/youtuber is "educated" in the field they are writing/ranting about.
Proving that stupid people are more in evidence than in the Middle Ages.

Secondly, do we think that people who present as believing in Flat Earth, or reptilian royals, or nanobots in vaccines, actually genuinely believe that, or rather they amuse themselves and their audience by imagining an alternative universe in which those things are true? Some of the images of the flat Earth and what lies behind Antarctica are very intricately designed, not something we'd expect from the stupid.