I used to edit Page 1 stories for the Chicago Tribune, including many from Washington. In this thread, I explain why the media (including me) have been unintentionally complicit in the rise of fascism that threatens our democracy. 1/9
Mainstream media have long tried to treat Republicans and Democrats equally. Some, like me, thought that was the way to be fair. In fact, it was the way to be lazy and not have to sort out the facts. Just quote a Democrat and quote a Republican and you’re done. 2/9
When I edited political stories, I went so far as to count the quotes from Republicans and Democrats, thinking an equal number would make us fairer. I didn’t think I was helping either party. I thought I was helping the readers. I was wrong. 3/9
If you look back 3 or 4 decades, you see many corrupt pols in both parties. Scandals like Abscam and Keating 5 were mostly Democratic. But in recent decades it’s obvious the GOP is more unethical and anti-democratic. Which means treating the parties equally helps Republicans. 4/9
Hillary Clinton mishandled emails. George W. Bush lied to get us into a war. Both were bad. But one was way worse. The media’s self-assigned job to treat Republicans and Democrats equally has compelled them to pump up coverage of Democratic scandals. It’s fairness-signaling. 5/9
The Republicans have overwhelmed the media with corruption. They’ve created scandal fatigue, prompting journalists to do something I call ethics norming. That’s when something that would have been a huge scandal in the recent past is considered normal now. 6/9
The Republicans have pulled off quite a trick. If news is defined as something unusual happening, GOP corruption is not news because the party is so widely corrupt. Some media have turned off their outrage impulse and decided that corruption is normal. 7/9
What’s needed is new framing. Not party-oriented but democracy-oriented. Truth-oriented. The media shouldn't elevate liars in the interest of “fairness.” Yes, media should be fair – to the readers, to the facts. But not to the 2-party system. To our democracy. 8/9
We are now in the midst of an assault on democracy unlike any our country has ever seen. Any journalist who doesn’t frame their reports in that context is doing a grievous disservice to our country. 9/9
This tweet thread from last September is getting fresh life because it was cited in a new interview that NYU prof @jayrosen_nyu did with me for his PressThink site. Take a look. pressthink.org
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Today’s Trump trial testimony reminds us of how mainstream media – including the New York Times, Washington Post and Politico – were badly played by Trump in 2016. An example: The National Enquirer’s Trump-inspired hoax linking Ted Cruz’s dad to the JFK assassination.🧵1/7
The Enquirer’s David Pecker testified that the tabloid faked a photo of Ted Cruz’s dad with Lee Harvey Oswald to help Trump’s campaign in 2016. He said the tabloid “mashed” 2 photos together. “That’s how that story was prepared — created, I would say.” 2/7 nbcnews.com/politics/donal…
Look at how the New York Times wrote it up in May 2016:
“Donald Trump Accuses Ted Cruz’s Father of Associating With Kennedy Assassin”
Cruz’s denial was left out of the headline, and wasn’t mentioned until *the 7th paragraph* of the story! 3/7 archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.co…
A few days before Biden’s inauguration in 2021, Rep. Ralph Norman secretly urged the White House to declare martial law to keep Trump in office.
In the last 15 months, the New York Times has mentioned Norman in 44 stories without recalling that fact.
That’s coup amnesia.🧵1/6
The latest New York Times mention of the traitorous Ralph Norman was published today — with nothing about his text suggesting that Trump enlist the military in a coup in 2021. To the Times, Norman is just a GOP congressman doing GOP congressman things. 2/6 nytimes.com/2024/04/18/us/…
Ralph Norman’s martial law text was revealed in late 2022 by @TPM. Being a not-bright person, Norman spelled martial law as “Marshall law” in his text. But it’s not funny: Norman was pushing for a Trump-directed military takeover of the government. 3/6 talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/mark-m…
Republican politicians keep spewing violent rhetoric. Not all voters are aware of this, so we must keep warning them. And we mustn’t normalize it. The GOP’s gun-waving craziness endangers our country. This thread includes some shocking examples. 1/13
This week, Sen. Tom Cotton called for people to “take matters into their own hands” if protesters block roads. Cotton wants protesters thrown off bridges. He said if protesters glue their hands to cars, they should have “their skin ripped off.” 2/13
Also this week, Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake called on supporters to “strap on a Glock” to be ready for an “intense” election season. 3/13 nbcnews.com/politics/2024-…
Many Americans still underestimate Donald Trump. They think he’s a cartoon character in a show called politics. They don’t think a Trump victory this year would harm their lives. They’re wrong. In this thread I look at off-base predictions about Trump over the years. 1/15
Trump was such a joke in 2011 that Comedy Central broadcast a roast of him. Seth MacFarlane said it was “fucking delusional” that Trump talked about running for president. 2/15
Also in 2011, Steve Kornacki (yes, the NBC numbers guy) wrote a guest column for the NY Daily News, saying Trump’s birther lie against Obama was a publicity stunt and Trump was too smart “to follow through on his threats to seek the White House.” 3/15
I saw another right-wing cheap-shot artist describe Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker as a child of privilege. That would be true if money was the only thing that mattered. But Pritzker lost both of his parents by the age of 17. A thread. 1/7
J.B. Pritzker’s father died of a heart attack at age 39, when J.B. was 7. His mother was an alcoholic, and J.B. would check on her at night because she drank and smoked in bed and he was afraid she’d set the sheets on fire. 2/7 chicago.suntimes.com/2022/5/13/2306…
J. B. Pritzker’s fears about his mother were well-founded. She did indeed have a fatal accident related to alcohol. Apparently drunk, she jumped from the cab of a tow truck and was run over. Her son J.B. was 17 at the time. 3/7 upi.com/amp/Archives/1…
Why did it take independent journalist Jonathan M. Katz rather than a news org with the resources of WaPo, NYT or Politico to break the story about Sen. Katie Britt’s dishonest State of the Union rebuttal? rawstory.com/katie-britt-ou…
And when will those big news outlets pick up the story? Will they ignore it because they’re embarrassed? Will they sneak it into the 14th paragraph of a story 3 days from now?
NYT has now posted a story with 2 versions of a crappy headline. First they said Britt’s story “wasn’t fully accurate.” Then they said it “was misleading.”
Just say she falsely blamed Biden’s current border policies for sex trafficking that occurred outside the U.S. 20 years ago.