1/ There's no objectivity in journalism. The choice of what to cover and what not to is subjective and everything follows from there. Word choice is subjective. Both-sides, horse race coverage, euphemism, directly quoting liars, all choices. Framing is its own form of propaganda.
2/ What follows are a series of headlines which normalize GOP malfeasance and downplay the threat to democracy. We've edited them to make clear the purposeful employment of euphemism, especially on threats to voting. Corporate media subjects us to these pro-GOP frames everyday.
3/ We'll ease into it with a press favorite, choosing to call GOP liars "firebrands." Jim Jordan lies about elections and ignored student rapes by a team doctor when he was a wrestling coach at Ohio State. America, he's just passionate. Just another "GOP firebrand."
4/ No red pen edits here, but as we said, everything in journalism is a choice. In September of 2020, Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. Corporate media made the choice to essentially not communicate that vital information to the American public. #MediaFail
5/ At least they said insurrection. But from Eastman to Rosen to Meadows - to all of the myriad underreported storylines - corporate media has bent over backwards to downplay the obvious reality that Trump and his cronies plotted a coup. Breathless "her emails" this is not.
6/ @washingtonpost has been a masterclass all year in downplaying threats to democracy. Whoever writes headlines for @AmyEGardner is pumping out chef kiss level euphemism. What does it mean to "revisit" the most secure election in US history, according to Trump's DHS? Brunch?
7/ Drama, sensationalism, both sides, horse race = profit maximization. @SallyBuzbee fostering democracy's death in the darkness of @washingtonpost's uninformative coverage. Headlines and articles written with an eye towards how they'll perform on social media. GOP is lying!
8/ Where plain language would best serve the citizen reader, we get anything but. Do you think our word choices are inaccurate? How accurate are the words @washingtonpost chose?
9/ A vaccine tore a woman's family apart. Beware the smallpox vaccination, we guess, it could tear your family apart. No one is at fault for spreading vaccine disinformation. Vaccines just appear like grizzlies in nature and in an instant families are torn to shreds. Choices.
10/ In a "voting battle" is it not the journalist's sworn duty to take the side of democracy? "Crafting" new election bills is a real scrapbook-y way to undermine the will of the people.
11/ Hi, @axios and @JimVandeHei, if Perdue wouldn't have certified the results, wouldn't he have been...perpetuating a coup based on lies? Why choose to describe something so serious, so momentous to the course of our nation, in this milquetoast fashion?
12/ More "war" language choices - drama, sensationalism, both sides - PROFITS! But, one side is liars aiming to end American democracy. The other side is Democrats. @nytimes' and @DouthatNYT's takeaway? THE STAKES ARE LOW! Please end this low stakes "war" with minor consequences.
13/ December 2022: "Well, we don't live in a democracy anymore, but you gotta hand it to the savvy Republicans. They DID fight hard to take away our rights." If your kid got beat up at school, would you console them by pointing out the the bully fought really hard? Choices.
14/ Now that you get the picture we'll submit this one without comment:
15/ Simple research earlier this year revealed the "parents" heading up groups like Moms For Liberty and Parents Defending Education were GOP operatives paid by the #KochNetwork. Majority of CRT articles left out this context and never addressed the lie that it's not taught K-12.
16/ Just as rapper @E40 says, "Errybody got choices" and the caustic choice of "spending bill" for policies that would help lift millions of Americans out of poverty belies sympathy with corporate agendas. Overall coverage has not focused on the bill's contents, just the price.
17/ Our closer is this video by CNN's @brikeilarcnn, @JohnBerman and @GabbyOrr_ (who has blocked us for pointing out her routine normalization of Trump/GOP), produced in April, just months after Trump's coup attempt. They chose to normalize him. cnn.com/videos/politic…
18/ The most we can ask of journalists is that they be biased towards truth. Gather all the relevant facts and explain the reality of a situation with all essential context. Too often we are treated to false neutrality, in the face of an extreme party whose only policy is lies.
19/ If one politician says it's raining, and another says it's not, the journalists job is not to quote both of them and walk away. The journalists job is to open the window, determine the truth of the matter, and convey it to us without fear or favor.
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