Many Americans just want help. They neither understand the politics of it nor have any desire to do so. They don't read the news the way we do - I mean, I'm obsessed with news to the point where I don't read for pleasure anymore. However, I think most Americans are not that way at all. All they see is that they need help and no one is helping them. Washington is the bogeyman because to a starving person, what's the difference between a Republican saying "I won't do anything" and a Democrat saying "What can I do." The starved person still gets nothing.
You went around the block to wind up at the same place Eric described - Americans don't know/understand politics because the media is failing its 4th estate duty: make the government accountable with accurate and honest coverage. And if the topic is complex, make it understandable! You want help? THIS is why you are not getting it. Our media has to stop being terrified of being called biased.
I believe the problem is not as simple as corporate control, although that is a factor. Far too many political journalists are, as NYU’s Jay Rosen has said, more concerned with being “savvy” than they are with giving the public the truth:
“In politics, our journalists believe, it is better to be savvy than it is to be honest or correct on the facts. It’s better to be savvy than it is to be just, good, fair, decent, strictly lawful, civilized, sincere, thoughtful or humane. Savviness is what journalists admire in others. Savvy is what they themselves dearly wish to be. (And to be unsavvy is far worse than being wrong.)
Savviness is that quality of being shrewd, practical, hyper-informed, perceptive, ironic, “with it,” and unsentimental in all things political. And what is the truest mark of savviness? Winning, of course! Or knowing who the winners are…”
A big part of being savvy is being above the fray and the both sides are equally bad approach is the way to achieve that lofty status. A lot of political journalists and pundits really do seem to have disdain for all politicians and their coverage shows it. Even worse they are intimidated, if not impressed, by the bully boys on the right especially when they are “winning” with their anti-democratic tactics.
It’s more than this. Corporate ownership has created an economic incentive for “journalists” to become “stars”. You can see this directly on Fox, but also in how Dean Baquet is relentlessly promoted. It’s like Walter Cronkite and a corporate executive got Frankensteined together. Who is getting more out of the access journalism, who is the star and who is the star fucker.
Including whoever owns the Republicans. The Media have made undermining democracy its mission. Its motives are more sinister than mere "clicks" and revenue dollars. They are willing accomplices of those forces that want to destroy democracy.
No, not all of them. Some of them are not going to listen to your idea of a proper media because they don't care or they're bored by it. It doesn't interest them to learn it. They want to watch the game or the TV show and then go to sleep. However, they're still pissed off.
Reagan planted a seed when he visited Bitburg Cemetery in 1985. It’s clearly harvest time. The Big Lie then was that the visit was a benign message of understanding and forgiveness to Germany. In truth it was the Mother of Dogwhistles to American racists. Today’s big lie is that Senate Republicans are principled administrators terrorized by Trump. In truth he fashioned his persona to feed their deepest desires, which are antithetical to democracy.
And yet they're one senate seat away from blocking any/all of the incoming biden adm agenda including it's cabinet, the ans to this lies with white empowerment of a facist party for decades, what do we do when 10s of millions of our fellow Americans are ok with facism as long as they *think* it won't hurt them.
Democrats have not won a majority of the white vote in a Presidential election since 1964. That ultimately led to trump. More than half of white Americans would rather see the country collapse than have to consider minorities as equals; they see themselves "losing" something if that happens. That's not what they say they want, but it's what they've been voting for since 1966 and they don't care how they get that result. If they thought they could get it with socialism, they'd all be Bernie Sanders voters.
One, the L word for the DC political media brothel is not Liberal. It's Lazy. It's just easier to "report" it and write it this way.
Two, this protects their sources and friends. If they write that it's really Senate republicans at fault, will Senate republicans speak to them? Will they be able to socialize with the "reporters" who favor those republicans?
Three, the public has too little interest in civics, thanks to the putrid work of the DC political media brothel. And thus it becomes a vicious circle.
So The Times had a story today on a friend of mine, Heather Richardson, a history professor who write a daily blog rounding up the news and looking at the bigger picture. She does it not because she loves doing it, but she felt a sense of obligation. And throughout the story, The Times's new media columnist kept emphasizing the number of subscribers and the money they must bring in, and not the ineluctable fact that she writes this in part--and she hasn't said this to me--because of the failings of his newspaper and his colleagues.
True, though I'm more concerned about the fact that the people who cover politics for The Times--not the ones who do the investigative work--are so disgusting that in my state of Nevada, none of our legal brothel owners would want to risk hiring them.
Thank you for pointing out the terrible writing of Sarah D. Wire. I read her thread on Twitter and people are really giving her the business, myself included. Here's the truth: unless we train more journalists like you and [everyone name your fave journalists/writers here!], the things we hope to accomplish as a society are severely hampered. Also, did everyone in this country skip eighth grade social studies? We spent the entire year on the government and the conclusion was: wow, what a brilliant document the Constitution is.
You're absolutely right. The Liberally Biased Mainstream Media™ has been perfecting their "BOTH SIDES!!!" bullshit for decades now, because the wealthy billionaires who own these media companies are big donors to the Republican party and want to make sure their tax breaks keep flowing in. So they pay talentless hacks like Chuck Todd and Chris Cillizza an obscene pile of money in order to spread their bullshit around.
They also love promoting polarizing figures like Drumpf and Bernie Sanders because they're disruptive, and disruption, to them, brings eyeballs to their TV shows/newspapers/sites for their advertisers, who are the only ones they care about!
The entire industry is in bad need of an enema. Otherwise, America will be doomed beyond belief!
The Republican implosion has been the only bright spot in 2020. And their efforts to turn QAnon into the next Tea Party just in time for the 2022 midterms to derail Biden’s presidency will fail miserably because of it.
They might implode, but they'll regroup quickly in order to stick it to the Democrats and to the "libs". This column by Eric is a big reason why they can!
I have complained about reality TV reporting for years. I'm a critic in the healthy sense of the word. News outlets decide daily what we hear, see and read. The frame stories and narratives. I write this phrase often, ", Never underestimate the power of the media to control narratives." Having trusted sources can be a challenge and they should be scrutinized too. We're in trouble in this country. Words matter more than ppl like to think. Holding media accountable is vital to our success. Thank you for this story
When I hear "high Broderisms" spew from the likes of Chris Cillizza, I know we're at the masquerade ball of news which is the compounded interest of years of bad reporting, editing, publishing and production.
Mainstream Media is owned largely by Republican billionaires. They are not going to provide the entire story to their readers. Essentially they won't be held accountable because they are not lying. They're just not telling the entire truth, that it's not that Congress is dysfunctional but that it's the controlling party of the Senate led by one corrupt Mitch McConnell that is. Not going the extra mile and pointing to the whole truth is a form of voter suppression. To the not so invested consumers of news, simply reporting that Congress is at fault is perfect. For the average reader, it doesn't require too much critical thinking and searching for the real truth. That's because, and unfortunately, far too many Americans are too lazy to help themselves stop voting against their own best interest. However, in defense of many of these folks, their immediate need for help is far more pressing than diving into the editorial pages of The Washington Post daily. When the people are convinced that the system doesn't work, it will bring to rise an authoritarian leader. The press's "both sides do it" narrative promotes this outcome. We've now experienced an authoritarian wanna-be and in the future we certainly will again unless the media begins to seriously understand their role in a democracy.
Yep! Tom Steyer too. It's not like there aren't any left leaning billionaires, there are. A number of them donated to the Lincoln Project. We need them to create a liberal network of news, which by the way is nothing more than fact based news. But where are they?
So how do we return the press back to the art of actual reporting? Reporting the entire story and not vague references. Call each and every person out by name. No more “all inclusive” groups but the actual people who are destroying this country.
Are you not guilty of the same crime you're accusing the MSM of by failing to cite specific names/reporters/owners? Instead of blaming "Congress" or "Washington," you're now umbrella-ing the responsibility to "the media." Without more personal accountability, I see no change.
Well, he didn't name Sarah D. Wire but any interested party could have figured out who he was referring to. Check out her Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/sarahdwire
Appreciate the observation, but we can't be oblique when requiring accountability, especially if we're acknowledging that most news consumers are not that media savvy.
“Well, there are some people that are so mendacious, I just wouldn’t put them on air. Kayleigh McEnany, I never booked her. Jason Miller from the Trump campaign, I would never book him. These are just people who tell lies the way that most people breathe. There was no value in that.”
So by accident or omission, that decision to not give the liars his media platform was good.
There’s more wrong in the media than just the false equivalence of Both Siderism, but Both Sides is very easy.
How the *implosion of the gop* plays itself out remains to be seen but keep in mind that moscow mitch needs only one of the georgia senate seats to maintain SML status & the Rs have a significant minority in the house, they could in theory retake it in 2022, for a party that hates governing that's not too bad, we need to continue to be concerned that too many white people give the gop this much power despite it's refusal to govern in any good faith
Many Americans just want help. They neither understand the politics of it nor have any desire to do so. They don't read the news the way we do - I mean, I'm obsessed with news to the point where I don't read for pleasure anymore. However, I think most Americans are not that way at all. All they see is that they need help and no one is helping them. Washington is the bogeyman because to a starving person, what's the difference between a Republican saying "I won't do anything" and a Democrat saying "What can I do." The starved person still gets nothing.
Good pt and I totally agree....which makes it all the more important for the news coverage to be precise
You went around the block to wind up at the same place Eric described - Americans don't know/understand politics because the media is failing its 4th estate duty: make the government accountable with accurate and honest coverage. And if the topic is complex, make it understandable! You want help? THIS is why you are not getting it. Our media has to stop being terrified of being called biased.
The Corporate Controlled Conservative Press isn't terrified. It's been totally co-opted by the Republican 24/7 BS Machine.
I believe the problem is not as simple as corporate control, although that is a factor. Far too many political journalists are, as NYU’s Jay Rosen has said, more concerned with being “savvy” than they are with giving the public the truth:
“In politics, our journalists believe, it is better to be savvy than it is to be honest or correct on the facts. It’s better to be savvy than it is to be just, good, fair, decent, strictly lawful, civilized, sincere, thoughtful or humane. Savviness is what journalists admire in others. Savvy is what they themselves dearly wish to be. (And to be unsavvy is far worse than being wrong.)
Savviness is that quality of being shrewd, practical, hyper-informed, perceptive, ironic, “with it,” and unsentimental in all things political. And what is the truest mark of savviness? Winning, of course! Or knowing who the winners are…”
https://pressthink.org/2020/09/you-might-not-like-it-but-its-smart-politics/
A big part of being savvy is being above the fray and the both sides are equally bad approach is the way to achieve that lofty status. A lot of political journalists and pundits really do seem to have disdain for all politicians and their coverage shows it. Even worse they are intimidated, if not impressed, by the bully boys on the right especially when they are “winning” with their anti-democratic tactics.
Jay Rosen - I like him a lot. He also thinks we're doomed.
It’s more than this. Corporate ownership has created an economic incentive for “journalists” to become “stars”. You can see this directly on Fox, but also in how Dean Baquet is relentlessly promoted. It’s like Walter Cronkite and a corporate executive got Frankensteined together. Who is getting more out of the access journalism, who is the star and who is the star fucker.
Including whoever owns the Republicans. The Media have made undermining democracy its mission. Its motives are more sinister than mere "clicks" and revenue dollars. They are willing accomplices of those forces that want to destroy democracy.
No, not all of them. Some of them are not going to listen to your idea of a proper media because they don't care or they're bored by it. It doesn't interest them to learn it. They want to watch the game or the TV show and then go to sleep. However, they're still pissed off.
Reagan planted a seed when he visited Bitburg Cemetery in 1985. It’s clearly harvest time. The Big Lie then was that the visit was a benign message of understanding and forgiveness to Germany. In truth it was the Mother of Dogwhistles to American racists. Today’s big lie is that Senate Republicans are principled administrators terrorized by Trump. In truth he fashioned his persona to feed their deepest desires, which are antithetical to democracy.
Today’s GOP is def antithetical to democracy, that’s for sure !
And yet they're one senate seat away from blocking any/all of the incoming biden adm agenda including it's cabinet, the ans to this lies with white empowerment of a facist party for decades, what do we do when 10s of millions of our fellow Americans are ok with facism as long as they *think* it won't hurt them.
Democrats have not won a majority of the white vote in a Presidential election since 1964. That ultimately led to trump. More than half of white Americans would rather see the country collapse than have to consider minorities as equals; they see themselves "losing" something if that happens. That's not what they say they want, but it's what they've been voting for since 1966 and they don't care how they get that result. If they thought they could get it with socialism, they'd all be Bernie Sanders voters.
It seems to me the problem is multi-pronged.
One, the L word for the DC political media brothel is not Liberal. It's Lazy. It's just easier to "report" it and write it this way.
Two, this protects their sources and friends. If they write that it's really Senate republicans at fault, will Senate republicans speak to them? Will they be able to socialize with the "reporters" who favor those republicans?
Three, the public has too little interest in civics, thanks to the putrid work of the DC political media brothel. And thus it becomes a vicious circle.
So The Times had a story today on a friend of mine, Heather Richardson, a history professor who write a daily blog rounding up the news and looking at the bigger picture. She does it not because she loves doing it, but she felt a sense of obligation. And throughout the story, The Times's new media columnist kept emphasizing the number of subscribers and the money they must bring in, and not the ineluctable fact that she writes this in part--and she hasn't said this to me--because of the failings of his newspaper and his colleagues.
Just read the article. Ben Smith is a graduate of the Buzzfeed style of reporting. This is who the Times hires now. It's pathetic.
True, though I'm more concerned about the fact that the people who cover politics for The Times--not the ones who do the investigative work--are so disgusting that in my state of Nevada, none of our legal brothel owners would want to risk hiring them.
"Trump signs stimulus bill into law, averting shutdown", this mornings WP front page lead.
Our hero. He saved us at the last minute, again! What a guy!
yep. Trump manufactures crisis, press gives him credit for fixing.
wash, rinse, repeat
“Trump saves man’s life by taking his hands off the man’s neck”
Thank you for pointing out the terrible writing of Sarah D. Wire. I read her thread on Twitter and people are really giving her the business, myself included. Here's the truth: unless we train more journalists like you and [everyone name your fave journalists/writers here!], the things we hope to accomplish as a society are severely hampered. Also, did everyone in this country skip eighth grade social studies? We spent the entire year on the government and the conclusion was: wow, what a brilliant document the Constitution is.
Love your work, Eric!
You're absolutely right. The Liberally Biased Mainstream Media™ has been perfecting their "BOTH SIDES!!!" bullshit for decades now, because the wealthy billionaires who own these media companies are big donors to the Republican party and want to make sure their tax breaks keep flowing in. So they pay talentless hacks like Chuck Todd and Chris Cillizza an obscene pile of money in order to spread their bullshit around.
They also love promoting polarizing figures like Drumpf and Bernie Sanders because they're disruptive, and disruption, to them, brings eyeballs to their TV shows/newspapers/sites for their advertisers, who are the only ones they care about!
The entire industry is in bad need of an enema. Otherwise, America will be doomed beyond belief!
The Republican implosion has been the only bright spot in 2020. And their efforts to turn QAnon into the next Tea Party just in time for the 2022 midterms to derail Biden’s presidency will fail miserably because of it.
Remember reading the same pontifications in 2008...and then the Kochs unleashed the Tea Party.
Be prepared for the QAnons to go full Tea Party mode starting January 6th when they will be in full disruptive mode in DC...
They might implode, but they'll regroup quickly in order to stick it to the Democrats and to the "libs". This column by Eric is a big reason why they can!
I have complained about reality TV reporting for years. I'm a critic in the healthy sense of the word. News outlets decide daily what we hear, see and read. The frame stories and narratives. I write this phrase often, ", Never underestimate the power of the media to control narratives." Having trusted sources can be a challenge and they should be scrutinized too. We're in trouble in this country. Words matter more than ppl like to think. Holding media accountable is vital to our success. Thank you for this story
When I hear "high Broderisms" spew from the likes of Chris Cillizza, I know we're at the masquerade ball of news which is the compounded interest of years of bad reporting, editing, publishing and production.
"Dies in darkness" my aunt Fanny.
At some point, when the same thing keeps happening over and over, you have to ask if it’s deliberate - and why.
If Republicans love dysfunction in government, what is the media’s excuse?
Mainstream Media is owned largely by Republican billionaires. They are not going to provide the entire story to their readers. Essentially they won't be held accountable because they are not lying. They're just not telling the entire truth, that it's not that Congress is dysfunctional but that it's the controlling party of the Senate led by one corrupt Mitch McConnell that is. Not going the extra mile and pointing to the whole truth is a form of voter suppression. To the not so invested consumers of news, simply reporting that Congress is at fault is perfect. For the average reader, it doesn't require too much critical thinking and searching for the real truth. That's because, and unfortunately, far too many Americans are too lazy to help themselves stop voting against their own best interest. However, in defense of many of these folks, their immediate need for help is far more pressing than diving into the editorial pages of The Washington Post daily. When the people are convinced that the system doesn't work, it will bring to rise an authoritarian leader. The press's "both sides do it" narrative promotes this outcome. We've now experienced an authoritarian wanna-be and in the future we certainly will again unless the media begins to seriously understand their role in a democracy.
Seriously, where are our billionaires? What are David Geffen and Oprah Winfrey doing? Buy back the media.
Yep! Tom Steyer too. It's not like there aren't any left leaning billionaires, there are. A number of them donated to the Lincoln Project. We need them to create a liberal network of news, which by the way is nothing more than fact based news. But where are they?
Someone needs to bankroll Lizz Winstead to create another Air America. Give Al Franken a job again.
So how do we return the press back to the art of actual reporting? Reporting the entire story and not vague references. Call each and every person out by name. No more “all inclusive” groups but the actual people who are destroying this country.
Great piece. It’s spot on. One side wants to help people the other wants to hurt them. End of story.
Are you not guilty of the same crime you're accusing the MSM of by failing to cite specific names/reporters/owners? Instead of blaming "Congress" or "Washington," you're now umbrella-ing the responsibility to "the media." Without more personal accountability, I see no change.
Well, he didn't name Sarah D. Wire but any interested party could have figured out who he was referring to. Check out her Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/sarahdwire
Appreciate the observation, but we can't be oblique when requiring accountability, especially if we're acknowledging that most news consumers are not that media savvy.
True. My answer would be "All of them."
I read yesterday that CNN’s Jake Tapper said,
“Well, there are some people that are so mendacious, I just wouldn’t put them on air. Kayleigh McEnany, I never booked her. Jason Miller from the Trump campaign, I would never book him. These are just people who tell lies the way that most people breathe. There was no value in that.”
So by accident or omission, that decision to not give the liars his media platform was good.
There’s more wrong in the media than just the false equivalence of Both Siderism, but Both Sides is very easy.
How the *implosion of the gop* plays itself out remains to be seen but keep in mind that moscow mitch needs only one of the georgia senate seats to maintain SML status & the Rs have a significant minority in the house, they could in theory retake it in 2022, for a party that hates governing that's not too bad, we need to continue to be concerned that too many white people give the gop this much power despite it's refusal to govern in any good faith