Thread by @MediaActSquad

1/The GOP is succeeding in their goal to kill off democracy after attempting a coup. Current and former journalists are increasingly sounding the alarm that corporate media is utterly failing as a last line of defense. Is it too late? This from @joshtpm talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/somethi…

2/As corporate media (CM) creates failures for Dems, numbers go down. Biden deserves criticism, but criticism must accord with context and facts. Misreporting reality affects outcomes. Journos ask can Dems govern? Meanwhile, the GOP is fascist movement.

https://twitter.com/jeffzeleny/status/1443768738873069571?s=20

3/"Fascist" too strong? Read the book American Fascism by @BrynnTannehill. Fascism is exactly what the American majority is up against - a GOP hell bent on lying, coups, and breaking elections. We're on the brink of permanent minority rule, Eastern Bloc stuff. "Can Dems govern?"

More on this week's particular NYT failures from @danpfeiffer: messagebox.substack.com/p/why-the-medi…

4/The NYT goes beyond cardinal sin of inaccurate reporting, paying writers to insist everything is actually going great. CM is gaslighting and confusing the American people. Editors make framing choices that de-inform the public. It's de facto pro-fascist.

https://twitter.com/DouthatNYT/status/1444835495155011591?s=20

5/De facto pro-fascism like NYT asking, 'When will Trump, the lying, racial grievance mongering attempted dictator, run for office again?' This is normalization, making reprehensible behavior seem normal. Fascism framed as an acceptable, normal outcome.

https://twitter.com/MediaActSquad/status/1442612375098585091?s=20

6/It's not just the Times doing it, it's everybody. Don't journalists want their children/grandchildren to grow up in a democracy...on a sustainable planet? Can anyone turnaround CM handmaidening us towards demise? Is anyone trying?

https://twitter.com/EricBoehlert/status/1445041302370983940?s=20

7/Or are we hopelessly doomed to a full on numbing, as journos like @AshleyRParker equivocate between democracy and fascism? washingtonpost.com/politics/as-tr…

8/Capitalist pressures deafen the ears of editors and publishers to criticism. Many journos simply don't get it, believing still that neutrality somehow equals reality. "Covering what's happening," reporting on GOP lying and anti-democracy, actually means advocating democracy.

8/In the background of our lives, while we work, struggle, raise families, pursue dreams, etc., our culture is shaped by media. 36% of Americans get their news from FB, seeing mostly only headlines, absorbing all the distortions we've outlined so far. Who's sounding the alarm?

9/Former Trib editor @MarkJacob16 has a brilliant thread discussing the GOP assault on democracy and how media must change to meet the threat. Bothside-ism, neutrality theater, @jayrosen_nyu's "view from nowhere," all confuse neutrality for objectivity.

https://twitter.com/MarkJacob16/status/1442587929977790467?s=20

10/This excellent @PaulHRosenberg piece has more on the danger of both sides journalism.
salon.com/2021/07/31/bot…

11/@froomkin has begun re-writing headlines of articles that distort reality. Reality distortion is so commonplace that our availability bias kicks in. We accept the distortions because it is the most readily available information we have. Great project.

https://twitter.com/froomkin/status/1445063031126466572?s=20

12/@arianapekary quit her role as a producer for @MSNBC in 2020, citing the cancerous affects of the commercial news model. She now uses her platform to speak out about media's failures. arianapekary.net/post/personal-…

13/@TheAtlantic writer @JamesFallows wrote about this all the way back in 1996, before the internet further eroded journalism's relationship to democracy, in his book Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy. amazon.com/Breaking-News-…

14/And @AP reporter @APAndrewTaylor quit journalism after the 1/6 coup attempt, coming to the conclusion that current models of news-making aren't up to the danger democracy is facing. More journalists need to self-reflect and live their principles. washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/medi…

15/@EricBoehlert and @jayrosen_nyu have been essential voices for years, writing extensively on media failures in their newsletters/blogs.
pressrun.media
pressthink.org

16/@Sulliview and @ThePlumLineGS have been answering the call with their great work for @washingtonpost. However, the media situation is so bad that their accurate analyses are often cancelled out by their own outlet. Are any of these necessary voices making a difference?

17/Policies supported by a majority of Americans will never be enacted if truth remains distorted. Some outlets are revealing the reality of a GOP fully dominated by radical religious billionaires and their decades long campaign to bring us to this moment. washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/0…

18/And media analysis is creeping further into the mainstream. But are Americans hearing these essential lessons in media literacy? And if so what can be done to shift CM inertia away from preserving the status quo and towards defending democracy? damemagazine.com/2021/09/27/wha…

19/For democracy to survive it is necessary for CM to subject America to a "her emails" level of media criticism. And for citizens to take action in response to their newfound understanding. Maybe it mean boycotts, protests, letter-writing. Whatever form, pressure is needed.

20/Are Americans up to the task? How do we tame a beast so inextricably in cahoots with power? How do we force those in media, many of whom do not even perceive a problem, to understand something when earning their paycheck requires they do not understand? They serve the people.

21/We are a small grassroots group, recognizing that information leads to outcomes, that the information ecosystem is heavily polluted with dirty information that is literally killing us just like any other environmental toxin. We need allies & action.

https://twitter.com/MediaActSquad/status/1425897126056300545?s=20

22/We don’t have all the answers. We are trying to figure it out. But the time to get active on this front is yesterday. American’s are doomed if they do not understand their world, who influences it, and who hurts them. Media reform is the most intersectional work possible.

23/What ideas do you have to change our dangerous media paradigms? Follow our account so that our voice is amplified. Talk to your friends and neighbors about media literacy. Personally write to reporters and editors who are not serving the public. Become active in this space.