132 Comments

The right wing eugenic freakout of 2022 is rich coming from Republicans who routinely and gleefully dismiss entire swaths of people as disposable.

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Wouldn't it be wonderful if the White House refused to allow ABC News to attend briefings and office at the WH until they apologized? I'd love to see the Prez take on the press the way the right does.

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What comes to my mind is that major media is taking a page of TFG's book. Never admit mistakes. It has worked for the orange one and media is moving to that model instead of going for one of ownership and credibility.

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I believe that Rick Klein is still the politics director for ABC News and in his public biography on the ABC News Web page, this paragraph stands out:

"Klein’s instincts and insights played a critical role throughout the last three presidential election cycles, helping guide ABC’s reporting on the campaigns and political battles in Washington. He has interviewed Donald Trump, Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Ken Burns, Tom Hanks, Kevin Spacey, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.”

I’m not saying his lack of high-profile Democratic interviews is telling, but you can draw your own conclusion.

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I agree with comments that Democrats are in a lose-lose with major media conglomerates. If they speak out they're bombarded with false outrage from the GOP and accused of defensiveness by major media. The problem is that Democrats immediately retreat even when morality and truth are on their side, which further emboldens propaganda and inaccurate reporting. This is what drove anti-Hillary bias in 2016, and has led us to the door of fascism. It's the recurring theme of the 21st century...no accountability; no consequences. If the Democrats do nothing else in 2022, they must stand up and defend their values, stand up against misinformation, and stop backing down. If they cannot even do this, then we should be prepared for a massive rollback in civil rights and freedoms for 90% of the population.

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Transparency = honesty, humility, maturity. Owning mistakes is what grown ups do and little kids are taught to do. Too many journalists are so far afield from touting good values, taking pride in a the accuracy of their news product and an honorable purpose (other than $$/clicks) of telling it straight, good news writing, accuracy and meeting the needs of the American and world public. Our institutions are collapsing and it seems ABC et al have joined the fiddlers as Rome burns. They have lost their way.

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founding

Marcy Wheeler has an article today slamming the WaPo for being stenographers for Trump flunkies. In an article about the 1/6 prosecutions.

“One might think it newsworthy that an attorney for the Proud Boys revealed that prosecutors are, in fact, investigating Rudy’s militia ties. But the WaPo took from that, instead, that DOJ is not investigating Trump or anyone who might have been coordinating with the militias from the Willard Hotel.”

That article buried the fact that prosecutors are clearly looking at Rudy’s ties to organizers of the instruction, repeatedly asking a lawyer for some of the militia defendants about Rudy’s association with military members in the 30th paragraph.

That is an old media trick used to bury a story in a way that allows them to claim they had covered it.

https://www.emptywheel.net/2022/01/15/breaking-prosecutors-are-asking-about-rudy-giulianis-ties-to-militias/

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This happened nearly two decades ago, but it is still so telling.

ABC News got ahold of me about helping them with a documentary on Elvis in Las Vegas. Now, that could be a GREAT documentary--the cultural meanings of their connection, not to mention great visuals. Not "Harvest of Shame," but, ok. I spent an hour on the phone with them giving them information. They asked to interview me. Then they told me it would be at R&R Partners, which is the official ad agency of our tourism board--they came up with "what happens in Vegas ...." I thought, wait. I wrote back and said, you realize that this is an ad agency? They said it was no problem. I thought, well, that's weird, but fine. I drove close to an hour each way, was interviewed for an hour, and had to wait for an hour to be interviewed.

The documentary aired. I recorded it. It consisted of an anchorwoman standing in spots around Las Vegas and mentioning that Elvis had been here. Then they had current acts performing his songs. Really. I was appalled. But then I got to the end and watched the credits. They thanked the convention authority, R&R, this executive, that politician, etc. Not me.

I sent ABC News a bill for $500, at $100 an hour. We went back and forth a while. Of course I never got the money, but I had fun and annoyed them. And I resolved never to have anything to do with ABC News again.

Later, the local ABC affiliate lied to me and slandered me. I guess it's a problem at all levels!

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Jan 17, 2022·edited Jan 17, 2022

It seems the American mainstream news media has been influenced by (mostly Republican) politicians who have not apologized &/or doubled down over statements or actions deemed controversial &/or inappropriate.

Seriously, I'm wondering how making an apology became a sign of weakness.

Many major American media outlets seemingly don't want to admit their various mistakes because the editors, producers, journalists and reporters don't want to admit what they did was wrong, and don't want to learn how to fix them.

How the f*ck did people in the media suddenly develop fragile egos?

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I think we're living in a time where honesty and accountability are less important than profits and the size of one's audience. I don't mean to dwell on it, but I'm still gobsmacked by the vicious, biased coverage of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and equally annoyed by the blame the media has heaped on Biden for the inflation. Covid coverage has also been terrible, with conflicting or erroneous data and the carelessness shown by a press more interested in alarmist nonsense than in reporting facts. When it comes to covid, I have lost a lot of trust in what I'm reading.

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This is such deflating news. It’s like the biggest machines in the news sharing world want us to live in Idiocracy and sadly, they have the power to do it. Everyone who reads this newsletter needs to post links to all of their social media accounts to put pressure on ABC and all MSM outlets to get back to the business of telling the truth.

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Botched?

I don't think so. Considering how ABC loves to recite Republican talking points I believe it was deliberate. One only has to remember how Jonathan Karl endlessly recited Republican lies when Obama was President and don't forget how Karl sneered and held Obama in contempt.

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"If a newsletter writer like me to can admit mistakes, why can’t ABC News?"

I have the words for an answer to that, but not the energy ;)

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Eric another piece that speaks to just how unfair and irresponsible the press and some news organizations can be. It's sad to see that ABC would be just as destructive as Faux News. I would love to see the Dems get a bit more Jen Psaki in them and call out the press. Just like she handles Peter Doocy. It's really just sad to see how the media is actually standing in the way of democracy on a daily basis. Just so tired.

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Any news organization that doesn't quickly acknowledge and correct its mistakes loses all credibility. ABC's handling of Walensky's quote is both unethical and undermines public health. Not fixing the error is also chickenshit.

P.S.: Added "Still Alive" to may playlist. Thanks for the recommendation.

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As long as MSM is 90+% owned and run by [extreme] conservatives (that conserve absolutely nothing but tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations) and until we use our anti-trust laws to break them up into smaller and more diverse agencies that are committed to telling the truth, there will continue to be an erosion of our democracy.

There is no such thing as alternative facts, there are only facts and that simple approach seems to escape them and will continue to do so as long as they are allowed.

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