Bruce Bartlett Profile picture
Aug 28, 2019 6 tweets 3 min read Read on X
@NYTLiz One problem with mainstream journalists is their stubborn unwillingness to admit that Breitbart is not a legitimate news source and therefore undeserving of the privileges of being treated with anything but contempt.
@NYTLiz Elite journalists have a circle-the-wagons mentality when it comes to protecting freedom of the press. When the media is attacked by government, that is appropriate. But it leaves the media vulnerable to corruption from within by faux media that is just propaganda.
@NYTLiz Journalists know perfectly well that rich people often buy media outlets or set up their own for the sole purpose of blocking inquiries into their own misbehavior, personal ambition, propaganda etc. But these fake media still offer jobs that reporters need. So, no criticism.
@NYTLiz Also, if they start down the road of effectively banning bullshit media operations like Breitbart then it leads them directly to Fox, which is simply a bigger and more sophisticated version of it. That's a line no mainstream media reporter will cross. Raises too many questions.
@NYTLiz Questions about the fundamental nature of the media itself, such as whether a profit-making media company can ever be objective, about the wall between advertising and news, between opinion and reporting, about arrangements between reporters and sources, etc.

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More from @BruceBartlett

Jul 1
The idea that the New York Times is now a conservative paper isn't quite right. I think there was a time, not so long ago, when it clearly tilted left. But at some point it moved rightward to the center, which is where it is. But the Overton Window has also moved to the right.
The rightward movement of the Overton Window has affected all media. It was brought about by a huge investment by right-wing billionaires in explicitly right-wing media. The "reporters" for such media are right-wing activists first, journalists second.
Right-wing politicians all believe that the mainstream media--those that adhere to standard journalistic ethics and norms--are biased against them because they are guided by truth. Therefore, right-wing politicians will only talk to right-wing media.
Read 10 tweets
Apr 9
I think one of Biden's problems is that he has never had a story to tell that links his policies together. Every GOP initiative is tied to all the others in that big government is always the enemy, especially of the little guy, and Republicans want to lift it off his back.
It would be easy enough to turn this story around, show that big business and corrupt rich people are the real enemies of the little guy, and only government has the power to help. But Democrats haven't made this argument since LBJ.
Implicitly, Democrats concede the underlying truth of the Republican philosophy, and vainly try to work around it. For example, by using tax credits rather than spending programs to implement welfare and health initiatives, thus allowing them to support "tax cuts."
Read 8 tweets
Feb 6
Yesterday I asserted that the New York Times has moved to the right over the last 25 years. Some people took issue with this claim, others attribute it simply to corporate greed. The true reason is more complex and I will try to explain part of the reason.
Back in the 1970s, I was a conservative and the bulk of the media was liberal, both editorially and in its news coverage. It was very hard to get a reporter to cover conservative initiatives, but in those days it was essential if you wanted your proposals to get publicity.
An old timer advised me to concentrate on the New York Times, because it took the lead; most reporters read it every day and got their ideas and basic facts from it. So a good story in the Times would have a ripple effect throughout the media.
Read 12 tweets
Jul 14, 2023
Once you accept one crazy conspiracy theory, it is much easier to accept the next one and the next after that. And the more conspiracies you accept, the more alienated you become from those who don't share your beliefs. Eventually, everything is a conspiracy.
I think some people react to the widespread acceptance of ridiculous conspiracy theories by Trump supporters and a few on the left (RFK Jr) by denying that there are ever any true conspiracies. But there are! Sometimes in plain sight. I will post a few below. Post others.
There was a conspiracy--in plain sight--by various newspaper chains, esp Hearst and Pulitzer, to start the Spanish-American War. It was the age of imperialism and they wanted the US to participate. The war created an excuse to seize Spain's colonies. history.state.gov/milestones/186…
Read 15 tweets
Jul 3, 2023
I think that there is a lot less difference in the quality of education among most universities at the undergraduate level than people imagine. For the typical student majoring in English, history, mathematics and most other fields they will learn the same thing everywhere.
Of course in some specialized fields such as fine arts it may make a difference and certainly at the graduate level it makes a huge difference. The main difference between graduates of elite schools and other good schools is the student body and the piece of paper.
Graduating from Harvard mostly means you were admitted there in the first place, which tells you a lot about a person. Not about their character, competence, or even their intelligence. But more about their family, determination, and maybe their potential for success.
Read 10 tweets
Jun 27, 2023
On this day in 1863, Gen. J.E.B. Stuart rode 5,000 cavalry and assorted vehicles down the street in front of my house. He was headed for Rowser's Ford, the only place he could cross the Potomac River on his way north to join Lee at Gettysburg. hmdb.org/m.asp?m=201496
The river was high and the crossing was quite harrowing. All that the soldiers had to guide them was a rope that had been strung across the river and a bonfire on the Maryland side. Yet by early morning on the 28th, the crossing had been completed without loss of life.
Historians continue to debate whether it would have mattered for the pivotal battle of Gettysburg if Stuart's cavalry had arrived earlier and why he was so late. One reason is that Union forces controlled all the bridges across the Potomac. washingtonpost.com/archive/local/…
Read 19 tweets

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