🧵Our national news media, describing lying GOP candidates as mere "skeptics," has taken sides in the battle for democracy. Fascists who lie about our electoral system aren't viable candidates for office. Media must stop softening their immorality. We need pro-truth frames. 1/
Fascism expert @ruthbenghiat explains: "The GOP's aim is to debase the whole idea of elections, so the fundamental democratic idea of relying on elections to choose leaders is compromised." The midterms are a referendum on how well America's newsrooms have conveyed the threat. 2/
Euphemisms like "election denier" convey validity to a strategic disinformation campaign. 70% of GOP voters believe lies they've been fed. News media creates a nationwide permission structure to "deny" elections. A candidate who "disputes the 2020 results" is lying. 3/
"Dispute" suggests there's something to dispute. There's nothing to dispute. "Deny" suggests something occurred to be denied. There's nothing to deny. Describing liars this way is itself a way of lying to readers - on behalf of fascists. If you're MAGA, does this read as bad? 4/
It gets much worse. Here's how @washingtonpost & @rubycramer, just weeks from election day, portrayed Kari Lake, a person who lies to everyone whose vote she wants. Voters deserve the blunt truth about candidates who lie. The subhead dubs her a "Republican phenom." Lake PR. 5/
.@MarkJacob16 nails down what's so wrong with this type of glossy coverage that only manages to imperceptibly nod at the danger. 6/ #FixMediaNow
Any frame other than one forcefully identifying the dangers of anti-democracy MAGA candidates, is a dangerous violation of public trust. Media cultivates reality. Everything we know about national politics is filtered down from coverage like that of @rubycramer. 7/ #FixMediaNow
🚨We've developed a series of guidelines for pro-democracy, pro-truth election coverage that we URGENTLY recommend our national media adopt.
⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ mediaanddemocracyproject.org/prodemocracyco…
We'd love it if you checked them out and shared them as widely as possible.
🧵BREAKING: Newsrooms Rush to Communicate That Trump's Felony Conviction Doesn't Matter
While many front pages prominently carried news of Trump’s guilt, our most influential newsrooms are already communicating to the public that they should not consider this a very big deal. 1/
Newsrooms can make a big deal out of, and paint as a beyond the pale scandal, anything they want. That they haven't made those choices for Trump suggests a willful desire not to. News execs are choosing to normalize Trump and downplay his disqualifying behavior. Terrifying. 2/
Would any other politician receive such framing? Consider, none of the articles had to be written at all. Each of those outlets could have chosen to use the occasion of Trump’s historic conviction to instead call for him to drop out of the race. Alas, a bizarre whitewash. 3/
🧵Epic 4th Estate Failure: News orgs @WSJ & media stars like @maggienyt @jdawsey1 w/#FreeEvan bios have been mute on Trump’s insane extortion/brag 5/23/24.
Journalists should see themselves in Evan in a second Trump term (or more).
That @SallyBuzbee @nycscribe cannot muster the courage to stand up for Evan in any meaningful way - tells you legacy news orgs are not worried about “democracy” and are enabling American fascism.
2/
@SallyBuzbee @nycscribe Please read this by @brianstelter in @newrepublic the future of journalism and media under Trump rule is ominous.
Journalists need to sound the alarm. This is not normal.
A🧵
By whitewashing & normalizing #SCOTUS corruption @nytimes is enabling the destruction of American democracy.
NYT is now a MAGA Supreme Court-protection racket.
#AbsoluteImmunity is an afront to democracy 1/n @MarkJacob16 @ruthbenghiat
@NewsJennifer @froomkin @KyleYSpencer
As *THE* role-model + influencer of media coverage, NYT failures have an even greater impact. NYT continues to ignore SCOTUS corruption.
On 2/29/24 NYT leadership @AGSNYT @nycscribe used the front page to misinform America about the latest legal abomination from #SCOTUS 2/
@AGSNYT @nycscribe This effort by @adamliptak fails to convey the MAJOR implications - #SCOTUS is more legally corrupt than imagined.
4 justices -likely MAGA have an extraordinary view: it’s necessary to even answer if a President is above the law.
A🧵 The @nytimes leadership @AGSNYT + @nycscribe amplify @peterbakernyt who
continues to fail at conveying the harms and catastrophe of Trump 2.0 governing as an AUTOCRAT & his alliances with Putin+other autocrats.
Today front page 1/n @MarkJacob16 @ruthbenghiat @NewsJennifer
It is astounding that Peter’s opinions (labeled NEWS ANALYSIS) are repeatedly given Front Page narrative-shaping prominence by NYT.
TLDR:
MAGA Republicans don’t ally with democracies.
Trump voters don’t care about the world.
NYT has second digital headline 2/ @NewsJennifer
@NewsJennifer This is @DougJBalloon material
“Ideologically flexible”?
Has his alignment w/Putin’s interests been flexible?
Is the NYT crediting Trump for his prescient authoritarianism?
Perhaps consider this a regression and revanchism.
A🧵@nytimes is a $7B *media company*. It no longer prioritizes a role in defense of democracy or the Fourth Estate. This NEEDS to change.
The leader of the GOP is waging war on democracy &is a threat to the world. 1/n @JeffSharlet @ruthbenghiat @TDucklo @MarkJacob16 @mehdirhasan
The NYT leadership (@AGSNYT @nycscribe ) is responsible for the direction + priorities.
@NYTimesGuild we have to ask at what point do you speak publicly about the failures of NYT?
Is this week’s perverse obsession w/Biden age/memory instead of COMPETENCE a wake up call? 2/
@AGSNYT @nycscribe @NYTimesGuild The @nytimes
habitual normalizing coverage of Trump (and omission of Trump’s depravity and fascism) is not only dangerous -at this point it’s complicity.
Please see a past thread of how NYT whitewashes fascism. 3/ @jeffjarvis @Sulliview @NewsJennifer