Thread by @sfor4th

Are you using the terms #MSM #media #news and #press incorrectly? If so you are hurting #journalism.

And America won’t survive without journalism. 📰 🗞

Thread 🧵:

-what is media? It’s really anything out there: TV, papers, mags, internet. This is an extremely general term. Do not use it, unless you specify which medium. Particularly if you are unhappy with this medium. When you use media in a derogatory manner, you hurt *all* media.

-what is MSM? Who the hell knows. Especially in today’s digital age. Propagandists love using and abusing this term. Be wary of it. See above. Skip usage.

-what is the Press? Someone who reports for a newspaper or magazine. This term gets used in a generalized way, and includes mediums which are NOT journalistic in nature. For example: Press pass. More than news orgs get these. Try to avoid using Press.

-what is news? News is journalism! Journalists, or the Press, have the highest standards of ethics. Freedom of the press is defined as a right guaranteed in the United States by the first amendment for journalists to print whatever they want without government control.

What they do for us, by investigating and breaking stories, digging for hidden, buried or lost information, traveling the globe — it all costs money. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. ***Support and subscribe to papers.*** And never speak ill of journalism.

The Golden Rule is most important here: lift journalists up, or do not speak of them at all. Hurting one journalist, hurts all. Journalism is our last line of defense against Tyranny. Be wary of representatives who attacks the press. This is usually for publicity, or Tyranny.

Journalism is called the Fourth Estate for a reason: when the other three estates, or branches of government, fall - the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary - it’s up to the Fourth Estate to hold truth to power. Which is exactly what happened in 2016-2020.

I cannot emphasize this enough: never speak of journalism unless you lift it up. Do not do a tyrant’s work for him. A free society cannot run without the freedom to report on abuses of power.

-Cable is NOT news. It’s legally registered as entertainment! I’m not kidding. It’s why we turn it on over the Nightly News. Many of us want to be entertained. That’s ok, just know what you’re ingesting. Own it, and don’t quote it. News, or journalism, costs money.

Investigations take months, years, span continents. Cable networks have very little money for this. Which is why most of what we see on FOX, CNN and MSNBC are talking heads. They are cheap! There is little substance there, little investigative reporting.

That said, there are a few exceptions on Cable, like #RachelMaddow. She investigates, doing deep historical dives. She has extremely strong ethics.

-the internet is NOT news. Do not get your news from #YouTube, etc. People using these sites are simply conning you with clickbait to make money off you and your outrage…and I guarantee they are in a basement somewhere laughing.

-what should you watch/read? Papers. Papers papers papers. From around the world. Not just 1. Networks are pretty solid too, though they’ve been struggling for some time and have had to consequently shorten and water down their stories. They are still factual, just less detailed.

Non-profit organizations like Propublica are incredible-follow and donate to as many as you can. Read mags and journals too. I have a News List, feel free to subscribe or peruse it and take ideas to make your own.

-opinion pieces are NOT news. Stay away from the Opinion section of any paper if you’re easily swayed or frustrated. If you enjoy that section, please remember it’s just some guy off the street with an opinion (unless it is the paper’s editorial board - those pieces are gold).

-can you trust journalists? YES. An overwhelming yes. They work their asses off for us, #breaking stories we’d never otherwise hear about. And these important stories hold #truthtopower. Without accountability, we have chaos. Journalists are today’s #heroes. Treat them as such.

As I said, lift them up or do not speak of them at all. #Subscribe #subscribe #subscribe. That said, journalists are people too. And people are inherently biased. Just do a little research on the writers you read, like you do with everything else in life…and you’ll be good.

-what should you share? Share stories from vetted, respected, real journalistic outlets. We as individuals have the biggest hand in the spread of mis and disinformation. Take full responsiblility for every story and headline you share.

Think of it this way, not doing your homework before you share is like intentionally whacking your car with a bat. Every hit on truth and on journalism is like swinging over an over. First you’ll only notice the dents. After time, the car will literally stop running altogether.

That’s how important journalism is to a healthy democracy. And that bat swinging? It’s what tyrants want.

Look after journalism as carefully as you would your favorite car.

In summary, lift up journalists. We need them now, more than ever. And man, just think of how they’ve struggled these last years. They’ve been heckled, beaten, threatened with bombs, shot and killed in their own offices, killed and dismembered, and boycotted endlessly.

All while killing themselves for *us*. Do not do a tyrant’s work for him, and hurt them further. Even if it’s an offhand remark about a headline, or tweet you think could be better. Reporters report facts. Always remember, opinions are not their job. That’s ours.

Thanks for reading! Some great #freepress pubs to donate to-makes a great holiday gift! Don’t forget your local papers too 📰 🗞!!

donate.propublica.org/give/141278/#!…

bellingcat.com/donate/

dallasfreepress.com/support-dfp/

revealnews.org/support/

givebutter.com/mfpnewsmatch20…

support.hongkongfp.com/en/

https://twitter.com/thedailyshow/status/1479513916292141056