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“The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with sh*t.” — Steve Bannon to author Michael Lewis in 2018.

This method has become basic to our politics. The cycle goes like this... 1/3
~ Trump floods the zone with sh*t. (Recently, "whimpering and crying.")
~ Journalists feel they have to fact check it.
~ His supporters complain: The Media is talking sh*t again about him again.
~ Journalists feel they have to even things up. (Thus, CNN hires Sean Duffy.) 2/3
~ Trump critics instantly react: what is this sh*t?
~ Media people: wow, left and right are so angry.
~ Civiltarian pops up: "I wish both sides would..."
~ Trump leaves another turd, cycle repeats.
~ Marginal gain in polarization at each round.
~ Pundits: we are so divided. END
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Jay Rosen
@jayrosen_nyu
The first Tuesday in November. A year from now is the 2020 election. What model for campaign coverage will your newsroom be using? Have you decided yet? This is my THREAD for those in journalism still planning their approach. I have an alternative model for your consideration. 1/
Here I will introduce you to the "citizens agenda" style of campaign coverage, as we call it. There is still time to join a small number of newsrooms that have been experimenting with this approach. Its virtue is that it begins with the voters, rather than the race. 2/
When I call the citizens agenda a “style” of coverage I mean to place it among other styles, all of them valid ways to cover a campaign. The state-of-the-race style is the most common in the U.S. It tells voters who is winning— and tries to discern why. 3/
Read 26 tweets
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Jay Rosen
@jayrosen_nyu
Tonight @Maddow took a long and critical look at her own network's handling of the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment story, which Ronan Farrow brought to the New Yorker after NBC told him to pause his reporting. This is rare. msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/… The NBC part starts at 6:45.
In addition to bringing a spotlight to NBC's dubious handling of the Weinstein story, Maddow got NBCUniversal to make a public statement that releases women who say they cannot speak about harassment because of non-disclosure or non-disparagement agreements they had with NBC.
Here's the statement that her employer, NBCUniversal, released today after @Maddow tried to find out whether non-disclosure or non-disparagement clauses had prevented women from speaking about harassment they experienced at NBC.
Read 4 tweets
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Jay Rosen
@jayrosen_nyu
Here's what @Peter_Wehner (a Republican) said today on @ReliableSources about the psychology of Trump supporters who may know better but cannot bring themselves to make the break. When the clip becomes available I will post. I transcribed this from my DVR. My italics.
Via several people, here's Peter Wehner's op ed on the same subject. nytimes.com/2019/09/30/opi…
And here's the clip. I think it's worth watching.
Read 3 tweets

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Teri Kanefield
@Teri_Kanefield
(Thread) What’s up with Trump’s latest tweets?

Spoiler: He’s flooding the zone—and it’s working.

My feed this morning is filled with things like this:

Ted Lieu debunking Trump’s latest law conspiracy theory.
1/ . . . and reports that Trump is again called the press the enemy of the people, and three hours later, the Boston Globe was attacked.

The Toronto Star counted 67 lies Trump told this past week—his most dishonest week ever:
thestar.com/news/world/201…
2/ Trump is just following the strategy articulated by Bannon: “The real opposition is the media . . . and the way to deal with them is to flood the zone. . .”


All commentators I most respect are stuck in a game of whack-a-mole.
Read 15 tweets
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Teri Kanefield
@Teri_Kanefield
(Thread) When lies are the "truth”

Dershowitz says, “every” candidate breaks laws.
Trump and Giuliani lie constantly. Etc.

Trump supporters knows they're lies, yet they cheer.

Professors Hahl, Kim & @ewzucker have an explanation that goes beyond Orwell.
1/ The study👇osf.io/preprints/soca… starts with 2 definitions:

A “crisis of legitimacy" is when a group doesn't think the political establishment governs on their behalf.

“Power devaluation crisis” is when they think the establishment favors new social groups over them.
2/ These groups believe they are the “real” people.

When a demagogue lies in a clear attempt to shatter the political establishment and represent THEM, they think he’s “authentic” and telling a certain kind of truth— even they know he is literally lying.
Read 15 tweets
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Teri Kanefield
@Teri_Kanefield
(thread) Children in cages: Trump’s showdown with Liberal Democracy.

With Trump doubling down on his “remove children at the border” strategy, this may be a fight to the death: If Trump wins, democracy loses.

OTOH, if Trump gets his wings clipped now, he could be finished.
1/ From the Introduction of How Democracies Die (Harvard profs. Levitsky and Ziblatt): “Are we living through the decline and fall of one of the world’s oldest and most successful democracies?”

Maybe, the professors say. If Trump manages to subvert democratic norms.
2/ Democracy requires compromise.
Trump—like the radicalized GOP that produced him—rejects compromise.

From How Democracies Die: Personal businesses can be run by fiat, but not a representative republic. Would-be dictators reject the give and take of democracy.
Read 16 tweets
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Teri Kanefield
@Teri_Kanefield
(thread) Can the President shoot someone and pardon himself (or whatever the latest absurd claim happens to be)?

No, of course not.
Don’t fall for the ploy.

It's the “Manipulate and control the media by riling the liberals and flooding the zone with shit" ploy.
1/ Whether the president can pardon himself is a legal, constitutional question to be decided by the courts. (And the answer, actually, is no, he can’t. If you’re worried, see this thread:
)
2/ Trump’s claim that he CAN pardon himself is working: Everyone is focused on whether it’s true, and the liberals are spinning.

“The real opposition is the media,” Bannon said. "And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.”
Read 13 tweets
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Teri Kanefield
@Teri_Kanefield
(thread) What the heck is Giuliani doing, making one absurd statement after another? Let’s get to the bottom of this.

Spoiler: The idea is to “flood the zone” with nonsense to wear everyone out and create a world in which facts don't matter, which is how Trump will win.
1/ Bannon explained the theory: “The real opposition is the media," he said. "And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.”

Giuliani, following the playbook, is deliberately making one ridiculous or controversial statement after another.
2/ The liberals and media get pulled into a game of wack-a-mole. Each day they pull apart that day's ridiculous comment to show why it is wrong. They laugh at how badly Trump is losing. They knock it down. Another pops up.

But wait. Maybe there's a method to the madness.
Read 7 tweets
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Teri Kanefield
@Teri_Kanefield
Thread) What do you do when facts don’t matter?

Here are my takeaways from Yale professor @TimothyDSnyder's disturbing book, the Road to Unfreedom.

Liberal democracy is based on the idea that society evolves & improves. Putin's brand of fascism, OTOH, is based...
#TrumpRussia
1/…on the static idea that the government does not improve the life of the citizens—it guards them against external enemies.

Under Putin’s system, wealth is best concentrated in the hands of the ruling few, who are entrusted with protecting the people from external threats.
2/ Putin came to power following the classic fascist playbook: identify an enemy, evoke the mystical destiny of the nation, and create a culture in which wellbeing relies on force and violence (instead of reason and law).
Read 11 tweets

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