Excellent post, Dan. So glad you shared the excellent image from the Congressional Integrity Project and gave the call to action to readers to also share on social. We are going to have to be really be on our toes this year snuffing out "malarky" in real time, rather than playing catch up as the election approaches. Thanks for your leadership in highlighting the importance of individuals spreading messaging, not just waiting for the pols or media to do it.
That last paragraph buries the lede. The last sentence about cutting social security and Medicare, etc. needs to be first. That’s what seems to move the needle and in this world, we can’t be sure the people who need to hear it most will read to the end.
Glad to see someone bring this up. I just saw a James Carville interview where he pointed out that so many people don't know that cutting social security and Medicare is a goal of the GOP. Biden did bring this up during the election, but more needs to be done to make sure this is shouted from the rooftops.
This is worrisome not because President Biden did something "bad" but because of the reaction of the Press. I can just imagine what the propaganda blowtorch at Fox will do with this--and hence it will persist like Benghazi, Hillary's email, and Hunter's laptop because of the entire corps of journalistic press and its inability to present accurate narratives when a more pungent tale is at hand. I appreciate the heads up. Just tell the truth.
Let’s not forget the NPR “classic”: “we’re not reporting on the actual situation, we’re reporting on how others are reporting, by repeating the BS the others are reporting.” And they’ll keep doing it because it remains a “story” so they need to “cover” it. Barf.
“Each and every one of us can share the above graphic from the Congressional Integrity Project. We can screenshot the key paragraphs from outlets like the Wall Street Journal that may be persuasive with more moderate and conservative voters.”
Another lesson in "never underestimate the herd mentality of the U.S. media." It's gone way beyond "if it bleeds, it leads." In the absence of bleeding, it leads if it generates a snappy headline and doesn't require any work, thought, or context. I've made my living in the word trades most of my adult life, and this makes me sick.
This all is just exhausting. I'm sick to death of how awful the Repugnicans have become. When I was a young, idealistic person, it was clear to me that some conservatives were also concerned about the country in a Sorkinesque way. I was deluded into thinking this might last by publications like George magazine. Then came Newt Gingrich and the Contract on America, which we are STILL dealing with. A little digging shows how naive I was. Dan, your book revealed a lot of the media issues, and I'm sure you know they predate the current mess. The Attention Economy has been a long-time problem.
I'm currently reading Dana Milbank's excellent THE DESTRUCTIONISTS, which pretty much starts with Gingrich et al. I lived through the rise of Gingrich and I'd forgotten just how awful it was, for instance, just how far the right wing and its fledgling media machine went to "prove" that Clinton aide Vince Foster was murdered at the behest of the Clintons. That was in the mid-1990s, before social media, when the World Wide Web was just being born, and plenty of USians barely knew what the internet was.
I agree that the press has a bias towards conflict. That having been said, the Dems have to repeat your talking points that contrast this situation and Trump ad nauseum. Relentlessly. When you think everyone has got it, repeat it one hundred more times. That’s how it becomes repeated in the media and sinks in for the busy voters who have lots of other stuff on their minds. Oh, and after that hundredth time, say them in reverse order another hundred times.
And try to keep the usual Dems who try to do news analysis and punditry in check.
But reading the stories on this I learned two things that floored me. The Biden administration kept some Trump-appointed US Attorneys. That’s a bit of stupidity that will bite them.
Also, the Dems unilaterally re-started the use of Blue Slips for judicial appointments. After the GOP senate which we all worked so hard to defeat refused to use them, and so filled the judiciary with Trump/Federalist Society kooks. Consequently we can’t get many red state judicial openings filled. Well, who coulda seen that coming? Anyone. Who unilaterally disarms? Why bring comity back with this rotting corpse of a GOP as your opponent?
You are so right about the mainstream media bending backwards to appear fair and balanced. I was very irritated with the news outlets using quotes around the word surprised when discussing Biden’s response to the discovery of a small group of classified documents found in his old office. He may or may not have been surprised, but the quotes imply that he was not. I’m sick of the false equivalencies between Trump and Biden and others on the left. Fox and others will take care of trying to make comparisons without the mainstream media helping. I hope the Democratic leadership pushes hard to put things in proper perspective. I lay awake nights with concern and frustration.
Is it really conflict or what you said in terms of “equality”? 45 did it so now we must cover Biden doing it too. And instead of forcefully coming out and discussing how it’s different, Dems sit back and let them. It’s like they’ve learned nothing over the past umpteen years. That’s what is so frustrating... they are never going to play nice so learn to be ready and fight too!
Excellent post, Dan. So glad you shared the excellent image from the Congressional Integrity Project and gave the call to action to readers to also share on social. We are going to have to be really be on our toes this year snuffing out "malarky" in real time, rather than playing catch up as the election approaches. Thanks for your leadership in highlighting the importance of individuals spreading messaging, not just waiting for the pols or media to do it.
That last paragraph buries the lede. The last sentence about cutting social security and Medicare, etc. needs to be first. That’s what seems to move the needle and in this world, we can’t be sure the people who need to hear it most will read to the end.
Glad to see someone bring this up. I just saw a James Carville interview where he pointed out that so many people don't know that cutting social security and Medicare is a goal of the GOP. Biden did bring this up during the election, but more needs to be done to make sure this is shouted from the rooftops.
This is worrisome not because President Biden did something "bad" but because of the reaction of the Press. I can just imagine what the propaganda blowtorch at Fox will do with this--and hence it will persist like Benghazi, Hillary's email, and Hunter's laptop because of the entire corps of journalistic press and its inability to present accurate narratives when a more pungent tale is at hand. I appreciate the heads up. Just tell the truth.
Let’s not forget the NPR “classic”: “we’re not reporting on the actual situation, we’re reporting on how others are reporting, by repeating the BS the others are reporting.” And they’ll keep doing it because it remains a “story” so they need to “cover” it. Barf.
If you retain nothing else, retain this:
“Each and every one of us can share the above graphic from the Congressional Integrity Project. We can screenshot the key paragraphs from outlets like the Wall Street Journal that may be persuasive with more moderate and conservative voters.”
If you’re here, you have a platform. Use it.
Another lesson in "never underestimate the herd mentality of the U.S. media." It's gone way beyond "if it bleeds, it leads." In the absence of bleeding, it leads if it generates a snappy headline and doesn't require any work, thought, or context. I've made my living in the word trades most of my adult life, and this makes me sick.
This all is just exhausting. I'm sick to death of how awful the Repugnicans have become. When I was a young, idealistic person, it was clear to me that some conservatives were also concerned about the country in a Sorkinesque way. I was deluded into thinking this might last by publications like George magazine. Then came Newt Gingrich and the Contract on America, which we are STILL dealing with. A little digging shows how naive I was. Dan, your book revealed a lot of the media issues, and I'm sure you know they predate the current mess. The Attention Economy has been a long-time problem.
I'm currently reading Dana Milbank's excellent THE DESTRUCTIONISTS, which pretty much starts with Gingrich et al. I lived through the rise of Gingrich and I'd forgotten just how awful it was, for instance, just how far the right wing and its fledgling media machine went to "prove" that Clinton aide Vince Foster was murdered at the behest of the Clintons. That was in the mid-1990s, before social media, when the World Wide Web was just being born, and plenty of USians barely knew what the internet was.
I agree that the press has a bias towards conflict. That having been said, the Dems have to repeat your talking points that contrast this situation and Trump ad nauseum. Relentlessly. When you think everyone has got it, repeat it one hundred more times. That’s how it becomes repeated in the media and sinks in for the busy voters who have lots of other stuff on their minds. Oh, and after that hundredth time, say them in reverse order another hundred times.
And try to keep the usual Dems who try to do news analysis and punditry in check.
But reading the stories on this I learned two things that floored me. The Biden administration kept some Trump-appointed US Attorneys. That’s a bit of stupidity that will bite them.
Also, the Dems unilaterally re-started the use of Blue Slips for judicial appointments. After the GOP senate which we all worked so hard to defeat refused to use them, and so filled the judiciary with Trump/Federalist Society kooks. Consequently we can’t get many red state judicial openings filled. Well, who coulda seen that coming? Anyone. Who unilaterally disarms? Why bring comity back with this rotting corpse of a GOP as your opponent?
What is the best way to influence main stream media? Letters to the editor? What is the best way for Democrats to get their voice heard?
You are so right about the mainstream media bending backwards to appear fair and balanced. I was very irritated with the news outlets using quotes around the word surprised when discussing Biden’s response to the discovery of a small group of classified documents found in his old office. He may or may not have been surprised, but the quotes imply that he was not. I’m sick of the false equivalencies between Trump and Biden and others on the left. Fox and others will take care of trying to make comparisons without the mainstream media helping. I hope the Democratic leadership pushes hard to put things in proper perspective. I lay awake nights with concern and frustration.
Is it really conflict or what you said in terms of “equality”? 45 did it so now we must cover Biden doing it too. And instead of forcefully coming out and discussing how it’s different, Dems sit back and let them. It’s like they’ve learned nothing over the past umpteen years. That’s what is so frustrating... they are never going to play nice so learn to be ready and fight too!