Thread by @FixMediaNow

🧵We had an amazing time at #CJDDemocracySummit yesterday for the launch of the inspiring @C4JDHowardU. Here is a thread of some of the greatest insights from speakers and panel discussions. Congratulations to @nhannahjones and her amazing team. 1/

Counter to the emerging national media narrative that election liars were soundly defeated and barriers to the ballot box were overcome, @SIfill_ warned that the threat is not over. Until there is legislation preventing racial gerrymanders, they will not be stopped. 2/

We'll also point out the extremely obvious here that while it is true that @katiehobbs got roughly 1.28 million votes, lying extremist Kari Lake got roughly 1.26 million votes. Moving forward it will be absurd and dangerous for mainstream, corporate media to downplay threats. 3/

Political scientist, Steven Levitsky, warned that the anti-democracy MAGA movement would be with us for years to come. We agree. Journalists with morals must counteract the ubiquity of decontextualized, half-baked narratives like this from @azcentral 4/ azcentral.com/story/opinion/…

Levitsky also relayed, from his experience studying Latin America, that the American people must be ready for anything, including violence. He pointed out that normally leaders who attempt and fail at self-coups meet disgrace and isolation. DJT just announced his 2024 run. 5/

.@jasonintrator, noting that journalists are teachers, outlined 5 ways journalists could help the public reject propaganda.
1) Call attention to patterns (changing the topic to crime)
2) No false equivalencies (as when Fox compares 1/6 to BLM)
3) Pay attention to the world...
6/

3) cont... (propaganda here originates from, or has analogues in, other countries)
4) Attention economy (were momentarily distracted but believe he meant be wary of the oxygen and space you give to propaganda)
5) No such thing as neutral language
7/

https://twitter.com/FixMediaNow/status/1592555321549271040?s=20&t=oREk5qdqL_Uv8gonrDqHdg

Either @ruthbenghiat or @jasonintrator made the point that using words like "fascism" or "authoritarianism" means confronting those things. We wonder what US journalists can do in their newsrooms to push for more forceful language. Because journalists MUST confront fascism. 8/

.@jasonintrator made the point that local journalism is the cure to propaganda. It can build trust with readers that national media cannot. We couldn't agree more. If you can, and you have one, sign up for at home delivery of your local newspaper or otherwise donate. 9/

It occurred to us while @SIfill_ was speaking that if, instead of a woefully inadequate, commercialized system for informing the public, we had robustly funded public media, we'd all know a lot more as a society about the gutting of the #VotingRightsAct. 10/

We were grateful for the context provided by @SIfill_ that the reason for laws like the one in GA that prohibits giving water to people waiting in line to vote is that Black voters in GA often face hours long waits just to get access to the polls. 11/

.@AveryElections pointed out deadlines prevent journalists from providing election coverage with long, holistic views. There needs to be space for reporters to talk about things that are less exciting, that eschew sensationalism. Candidates must commit to norms on record. 12/

This panel made the point that when one side of an argument is a lie, maybe that doesn't need to be in your piece. We couldn't agree more! The journalists job is not to simply quote "both sides" and leave it there. It is to verify the truth of the matter. 13/

.@AntheaButler made sure to say it twice, "Democracy is under threat from theocracy," and implored journalists to understand the role of religion in dismantling American democracy. 14/

Ta-Nehisi Coates reflected that the tradition of Black journalism is a tradition of truth-telling, a tradition of moral clarity. He added that the journalists role is not to "chronicle the world as it falls over a cliff." #CJDDemocracySummit @C4JDHowardU 15/

Journalism historian @krforde made sure to remind journalists that "journalism is not a neutral cultural product." @Maria_Hinojosa said reporters must have the astuteness to not accept propaganda and profound stories get the most engagement. #CJDDemocracySummit @C4JDHowardU 16/

.@jayrosen_nyu said journalists covering elections must shift from the paradigm of examining "what are the odds?" to asking, and informing, "what are the stakes?" Help voters be informed participants. Ask voters what they want candidates to talk about to get their votes. 17/

.@WesleyLowery said journalists need to be unafraid to be direct and clear. Journalists' legitimacy "comes from the ideas we write down being true." He also made the great point that deadlines are a construct of capitalism. National newsrooms are about making money. 18/

.@cassandrajar discussed the pitfalls newsrooms can encounter when they simply regurgitate press releases. Politicians know reporters will run their press release. We often say that disinformation agents rely on corporate media to launder their rhetoric into the mainstream. 19/

#CJDDemocracySummit's last panel of the day generated the comment, "Democracy is an idea." Other panels questioned whether we'd ever had a democracy. Without robust journalism interwoven with the moral clarity that it serves the public, we'll never achieve democracy's promise.