The 4th Estate Thread Has Surrendered

[Holman]

FWIW, CNN's days might be numbered. Their ratings are in the toilet, and while the Trump thing did get some eyeballs (though nothing like the heady days of 2016), it didn't stick. Last night's numbers were no better than those a week ago.

[malchior]

Good. Fuck CNN. It was goddamn propaganda. Only the deorables were allowed to clap and cheer.

[Grifman]

Good thread on why fact checking Trump doesn’t matter - it’s all part of the performance:

[Grifman]

[waitingtoconnect]

I want to know when Biden and other Democrat candidates for president gets his/her 70 minutes of CNN prime time.

For that matter what about the other Republican candidates. A commentator on another network was wondering if any other candidates (mentioned Nikki Haley) would get the same treatment since the new goal is about listening to both sides when Licht took over.

[Zaxxon]

I want to know when Biden and other Democrat candidates for president gets his/her 70 minutes of CNN prime time.

For that matter what about the other Republican candidates. A commentator on another network was wondering if any other candidates (mentioned Nikki Haley) would get the same treatment since the new goal is about listening to both sides when Licht took over.

There are no other Republican candidates.

[LordMortis]

So as not to take the Social Media thread deep into the muck of R&P

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/cu ... 234734303/

Almost immediately, however, most found reason to distrust Yaccarino. Leftists and liberals noted that in 2018, Donald Trump appointed Yaccarino to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. While it’s not a particularly damning connection to the embattled politician, she also follows a number of right-wing extremists on Twitter, from the anti-LGBTQ account Libs of TikTok and conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec to attorney Lin Wood — a former Trump lawyer known for his connections to the QAnon movement and pushing the lie that the 2020 election was stolen. She also follows @Catturd2, a popular pro-Trump shitposter who consistently amplifies far-right propaganda.

Yet these same right-wingers are also mad about Yaccarino coming aboard at Twitter. One reason the MAGA crowd disapproves is that she collaborated with the Biden administration on a Covid-19 vaccination campaign in her role as chair of the Ad Council. Vaccine skeptics who rely on Twitter to spread health misinformation were livid when they learned of her record on the issue.

It didn’t help that Yaccarino is also executive chair of the World Economic Forum, an international lobby for corporate interests that sits at the center of many right-wing conspiracy theories. Steve Bannon was among those to complain that Musk had given the CEO job to a “Davos Globalist” — referring to the Swiss mountain resort where the WEF holds an annual conference — calling the move “a joke” in a post on the social network Gettr.

[El Guapo]

I don't know how many people here watch Succession, but I will say that I think Sunday's episode was great in both presenting an (unfortunately) plausible Electoral College-based crisis, as well as the various personal and business incentives that lead a lot of people in elite institutions to go along with MAGA-ism.

[Pyperkub]

I want to know when Biden and other Democrat candidates for president gets his/her 70 minutes of CNN prime time.

For that matter what about the other Republican candidates. A commentator on another network was wondering if any other candidates (mentioned Nikki Haley) would get the same treatment since the new goal is about listening to both sides when Licht took over.

There are no other Republican candidates.

Fixed that for you!

[Zaxxon]

I don't know how many people here watch Succession, but I will say that I think Sunday's episode was great in both presenting an (unfortunately) plausible Electoral College-based crisis, as well as the various personal and business incentives that lead a lot of people in elite institutions to go along with MAGA-ism.

It was a genuinely fantastic (and terrifying in its plausibility) episode.

[hepcat]

There was zero attempt to try to hide what they were doing in that episode.

They even included a rambling speech from Faux Trump at one point. Kudos to the writers for not going full on cartoon villain, but rather keeping it subtle enough that Trump supporters watching it would cheer, but everyone else would see the subtext of it.

Spoiler:

[malchior]

Yeah it's CNBC but come on. The guy had a swastika tattooed on his chest, a Schutzstaffel tattoo on his arm, and died wearing a Right-wing death squad patch on his battle gear. I think it's safe to say he had some knowledge of white supremacy.

[Jaymann]

His tattoos display the things he hates.

[Unagi]

Come on, those are just locker room tattoos.

[ImLawBoy]

[malchior]

Amusing. I'm glad that we're so post-modern that we can just joke about the constant lying and misinformation.

[ImLawBoy]

Amusing. I'm glad that we're so post-modern that we can just joke about the constant lying and misinformation.

[pr0ner]

Amusing. I'm glad that we're so post-modern that we can just joke about the constant lying and misinformation.

+1

[malchior]

I'm confused. Why should I "lighten up"?

[ImLawBoy]

I'm confused. Why should I "lighten up"?

Did I misinterpret this?

Amusing. I'm glad that we're so post-modern that we can just joke about the constant lying and misinformation.

It sure felt like you were crapping on folks who had the audacity to make jokes about a bad situation, but maybe I'm just overly sensitive.

[malchior]

I'm confused. Why should I "lighten up"?

Did I misinterpret this?

Amusing. I'm glad that we're so post-modern that we can just joke about the constant lying and misinformation.

It sure felt like you were crapping on folks who had the audacity to make jokes about a bad situation, but maybe I'm just overly sensitive.

Ah. I think he was making the best of a ridiculous situation. It's just sad to me that this is what he feels he needs to spend his time on. My only thought is fact checking a fact check from Fox is probably a waste of time. However, it's not like it took him a long time. I was more lamenting another post-modern moment which tells us truth has no proper place here anymore when the shameless face no consequences for their lies and deception.

[ImLawBoy]

Honestly, I thought the initial comment was relating to the 3 posts immediately prior that we're making jokes about justifying the Nazi tattoos, and I didn't actually view what you embedded that followed. Mea culpa!

[malchior]

Got it! Nope no local snark intended!

[malchior]

On another note - if anyone thought Fox learned a lesson? Even a fellow Murdoch vehicle the NY Post at least ran a sort of corrected story but still misleads a bit.



Mediaite

The New York Post dropped a bombshell report last week: amid a nationwide influx of migrants, nearly two-dozen homeless veterans were kicked out of hotels where they were being temporarily housed in order to make room for migrants in upstate New York.

The story, which was based on a claim by a veterans advocate, got the front page treatment: “VETS KICKED OUT FOR MIGRANTS,” bellowed the Post last Saturday. “Outrage as upstate hotels tell 20 homeless veterans to leave.”

It was a juicy story that could have been cooked up in Roger Ailes’s rage-fear lab: Red-blooded American veterans put out on the street to make way for foreign invaders!

The story rocketed around the right-wing ecosystem. New York Post columnist Miranda Devine said President Joe Biden “should burn in hell for this.” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called it “shameful.” Donald Trump Jr. declared, “Fuck Democrats.” Nikki Haley said the tale was “Liberal insanity at work.”

Naturally, Fox News covered the story enthusiastically, treating it as gospel on nearly every program. On Outnumbered, one of Fox’s most popular daytime programs, hosts pinned blame for the very local story on Biden.

...

Then, the story fell apart.

First, the hotels that veterans were supposedly booted from told Mid-Hudson News they had no idea what the advocate, YIT Foundation Executive Director Sharon Finch, was talking about. Then, a local Republican New York lawmaker dug into her claims and concluded that she lied.

Maher, who said he has worked with Finch on veterans’ issues for three years, became emotional in an interview with the Times Union as he recounted pressing Finch on her story — which prompted her to admit she had made it up.

But wait, it gets worse. The Mid-Hudson News — kudos to this local paper for some tremendous coverage on this story, by the way — reported on Friday morning that seven homeless men had come forward to reveal that Finch approached them at a shelter this week, offering to pay them in cash, food, and alcohol to pretend that they were veterans who had been kicked out of the hotels to make way for migrants.

The New York Post followed up with a report on their story falling apart. An editor’s note has been affixed to the original front-page story. It reads: “This non-profit CEO has since been accused of misrepresenting the veterans who have been displaced for migrants.”

[El Guapo]

On another note - if anyone thought Fox learned a lesson? Even a fellow Murdoch vehicle the NY Post at least ran a corrected story.



Mediaite

The New York Post dropped a bombshell report last week: amid a nationwide influx of migrants, nearly two-dozen homeless veterans were kicked out of hotels where they were being temporarily housed in order to make room for migrants in upstate New York.

The story, which was based on a claim by a veterans advocate, got the front page treatment: “VETS KICKED OUT FOR MIGRANTS,” bellowed the Post last Saturday. “Outrage as upstate hotels tell 20 homeless veterans to leave.”

It was a juicy story that could have been cooked up in Roger Ailes’s rage-fear lab: Red-blooded American veterans put out on the street to make way for foreign invaders!

The story rocketed around the right-wing ecosystem. New York Post columnist Miranda Devine said President Joe Biden “should burn in hell for this.” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called it “shameful.” Donald Trump Jr. declared, “Fuck Democrats.” Nikki Haley said the tale was “Liberal insanity at work.”

Naturally, Fox News covered the story enthusiastically, treating it as gospel on nearly every program. On Outnumbered, one of Fox’s most popular daytime programs, hosts pinned blame for the very local story on Biden.

...

Then, the story fell apart.

First, the hotels that veterans were supposedly booted from told Mid-Hudson News they had no idea what the advocate, YIT Foundation Executive Director Sharon Finch, was talking about. Then, a local Republican New York lawmaker dug into her claims and concluded that she lied.

Maher, who said he has worked with Finch on veterans’ issues for three years, became emotional in an interview with the Times Union as he recounted pressing Finch on her story — which prompted her to admit she had made it up.

But wait, it gets worse. The Mid-Hudson News — kudos to this local paper for some tremendous coverage on this story, by the way — reported on Friday morning that seven homeless men had come forward to reveal that Finch approached them at a shelter this week, offering to pay them in cash, food, and alcohol to pretend that they were veterans who had been kicked out of the hotels to make way for migrants.

The New York Post followed up with a report on their story falling apart. An editor’s note has been affixed to the original front-page story. It reads: “This non-profit CEO has since been accused of misrepresenting the veterans who have been displaced for migrants.”

I dunno, maybe they did learn. There are no deep pockets in a position to sue Fox News over this story, right? So what are the potential consequences for them?

I think in the end the lesson that Fox News may learn is not that they shouldn't lie, but that they shouldn't lie about specific companies who have lots of money.

[malchior]

Fair point!

[malchior]

Fox says they might have fallen for a scam. "Looking into" doing heavy lifting. Like the Post still leaving that scintilla of doubt out there.

[Pyperkub]

Fox says they might have fallen for a scam. "Looking into" doing heavy lifting. Like the Post still leaving that scintilla of doubt out there.

Well, it's hard to figure out after you fire all your actual journalists and just spout opinion porn.

Fox News Just Axed Its Investigative Unit, Sources Say...

...“The rank and file journalists are getting let go meanwhile upper management are sitting pretty while they are the execs responsible for the Dominion debacle,” one Fox employee tells Rolling Stone, which has confirmed the unit has been axed. “We are the sacrificial lambs.”

[waitingtoconnect]

These people live in alternate universe where Joe Biden is dead and is really being played by Jim Carey, where Michelle Obama is a man and where Barrack Obama is a Muslim Kenyan parachuted in by the deep state Clintons and Hunter Biden to run this country.

Manufactured stories like this are just small components of this bigger picture.

[YellowKing]

The current frontrunner GOP nominee for NC governor has stated that he believes pro-choice people are pushing "the Devil's agenda" and has called birth control advocates agents of Satanism and witchcraft. This is the frontrunner.

We are living in a world where one party is literally made up of actual crazy people. And a good portion of the population is seemingly OK with that.

[waitingtoconnect]

I think it’s not just News media though. Take the History channel- it used to be about actual history. But now it’s all conspiracy theories.

[Hyena]

I think it’s not just News media though. Take the History channel- it used to be about actual history. But now it’s all conspiracy theories.

[El Guapo]

These people live in alternate universe where Joe Biden is dead and is really being played by Jim Carey,

Man, I feel like it's probably not a great reflection on the state of our politics that I'm not sure whether this is a joke or not.

[gilraen]

I think it’s not just News media though. Take the History channel- it used to be about actual history. But now it’s all conspiracy theories.

Reality TV and "shocking documentaries" are cheap to produce and easy to sell...it's not about politics, it's about money. It's the same reason TLC is no longer about learning and HLN hasn't had anything to do with headline news for years.

[waitingtoconnect]

These people live in alternate universe where Joe Biden is dead and is really being played by Jim Carey,

Man, I feel like it's probably not a great reflection on the state of our politics that I'm not sure whether this is a joke or not.

It’s real.

[malchior]

Vanity Fair has a good piece talking about the perils of access journalism in a business context. In this case, they autopsy the recent puff piece published about Elizabeth Holmes a few weeks back.

Incredibly we learn in this piece that the NY Times delayed the announcement that they hired the journalist who first unmasked Holmes fraud in the first place (John Carreyrou). They did this to avoid spooking her and ultimately not getting the puff piece.

Worse the timing and the implication in the piece that a crisis PR firm brokered the puff piece really cast this in a darker light. It isn't a stretch to assume that Holmes was using this to soften her image as her lawyer's worked in court arguing that she needn't report to prison.

Another indicator that clicks are way more important than integrity at the NY Times. And people wonder why some hold the NY Times in such disdain.

[malchior]

CNN is still trying to make this town hall format work - hell or high water. And it's mostly hell.

[Unagi]

OMG that is the most fucking asinine thing I've heard.... today.

[Kurth]

OMG that is the most fucking asinine thing I've heard.... today.

The day is young . . . Don’t give up!

[malchior]

I wish the clip went longer so we can watch Tapper (probably) not challenge her on the absolute horror of that statement.