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Paul Farhi Profile picture
Paul Farhi
@farhip
I write about the news media and other topics. Formerly: WashPost. Latter-day stories in Atlantic, Athletic, Vanity Fair, Daily Beast, CJR. Paulmfarhi@gmail.com
Nov 15 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
Your future guardian of America’s health, a short story:

The outbreak of measles in Samoa starting in September 2019 created a panic. Schools closed, Christmas events were cancelled, lockdowns ensued. More… People stayed inside their houses, and the unvaccinated hung red flags or red clothing in their front yards both as a warning and to signal to emergency health workers they wanted to be vaccinated. 

The U.S. and other countries rushed in medical teams and vaccines…
Oct 14 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Except, of course, he did:

—Tried to break up AT&T-Time Warner merger to punish TW-owned CNN.

—Sought to deny Amazon a federal contract to punish WaPo owner Jeff Bezos.

—Repeatedly talked about yanking TV licenses of networks he didn’t like. More… —Discussed having the IRS audit two FBI officials who investigated his 2016 campaign’s ties to Russia.

—Proposed IRS audits of Hillary Clinton, Bezos and former CIA director John Brennan.
Jun 8 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Frightening story. Made all the more so by the euphemisms employed throughout. Possible interpretations:

“Radical constitutionalism” = violating the Constitution. 

“Deploy the military to quash civil unrest” = Use lethal force against Americans. More…
washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/… “Assert the power to withhold congressional appropriations” = do as we please with your money. 

[Trump] “will surround himself with loyalists eager to carry out his wishes, even if they violate traditional norms against executive overreach” = break the law….
Jun 3 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
FWIW, here’s the memo from @washingtonpost publisher William Lewis to staff tonight on the changes at the paper: (1/6): Image Image
Apr 8 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Under the radar but interesting (and maybe important): NewsGuard, which (quite fairly) rates news organizations for credibility and quality, has downgraded the @nytimes for the first time. It said it did so because…More: dropbox.com/scl/fi/nmem5n9… …the Times failed on one key measure (among the nine it uses to assess journalistic quality): Separating news and opinion.
Feb 29 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Okay, kids, here’s today’s civics lesson:

The Supreme Court will decide whether a former president, who appointed three of the court’s nine members, is immune from prosecution by a special counsel appointed by a man who was nominated to the Supreme Court…More… …but didn’t get a hearing because it was blocked by the former president’s party, enabling the former president to appoint all those justices….
May 24, 2023 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
DeSantis, in last two months, has signed bills that:

—Make abortions illegal after six weeks.

—Enable permitless concealed- firearms carry.

—Eliminate unanimous jury verdicts in death-penalty cases. More… cnn.com/2023/05/05/pol… —Makes child rapists eligible for the death penalty. 

—Increases prison sentences for transporting undocumented individuals. 

—Bans TikTok on govt/public school devices, prohibits China and “other foreign countries of concern” from buying land w/in 10 miles of military sites…
May 23, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
It’s (almost) the end of the cable-news world as we know it. The looming existential crisis for @CNN, ⁦@FoxNews⁩, ⁦@MSNBC⁩, et al. Latest by me: washingtonpost.com/media/2023/05/… Cable-news networks are seeing near-record profits right now. But the economic/financial parallel might be the newspaper industry in 2005. That was one of the best years for newspaper profits/revenues. After that? The roof caved in and the floor went with it.
May 11, 2023 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
A lightly edited transcript of an audio file of @CNN chief exec Chris Licht's comments to staff this morning about CNN’s town hall telecast with Trump:

"I am aware that there has [sic] been people with opinions-slash-backlash, and that is absolutely expected….MORE “And I'll say this as clearly as I possibly can: You do not have to like the former president’s answers but you cannot say we didn't get them…”
Feb 21, 2023 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
.@SabrinaSiddiqui of the @WSJ filed an epic press pool report today on Biden’s trip to Kyiv. A thread of her report: Part 1: 2:
Dec 17, 2022 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
“This isn’t war,” Mikhail [a wounded Russian soldier] said, struggling to speak. “It’s the destruction of the Russian people by their own commanders.”

Great reporting here on the epic failures in Ukraine of Russia’s military and its Kremlin leaders. nytimes.com/interactive/20… “Putin associates said he spiraled into self-aggrandizement…leading him to make the fateful decision to invade Ukraine in near total isolation…Aides and hangers-on fueled his many grudges and suspicions, a feedback loop one former confidant likened to…a social-media algorithm”
Dec 16, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
.@VOANews checks in with a statement about Twitter’s suspension its chief national correspondent, Steve Herman (@W7VOA): 
 
“Voice of America can confirm that at approximately 9:00 p.m. this evening, Twitter suspended the account of…Steve Herman….” More… “Later in the evening he received additional notification of the permanent suspension of his account.

“Mr. Herman is a seasoned reporter who upholds the highest journalistic standards and uses the social media platform as a news gathering and networking tool…”
Jun 11, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
New: Trump DOJ secretly went after records of Democrats in Congress. Shocking reporting by ⁦@nytimes⁩: nytimes.com/2021/06/10/us/… What we’ve learned in the past two weeks: Trump turned the Justice Dept. into an instrument to punish perceived enemies in the news media and Democratic Party.
May 11, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Breaking: Washington Post names @SallyBuzbee of the Associated Press as new executive editor, succeeding Marty Baron. Buzbee is the first woman appointed to the top newsroom job in Post’s 144-year history. Story by me: washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/medi… A footnote: Women are now in charge of the newsrooms at the Washington Post, CBS News, ABC News, NPR, MSNBC, Reuters, Financial Times, Guardian and the Economist. The fact that this is not a big deal is kind of a big deal.
Jan 20, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
New: Michael Pack, the Trump appointee who has attempted to reshape @VOANews and other government-funded international news agencies, causing turmoil and controversy in the process, will resign at 2 pm, per sources. Biden was expected to fire him. Pack’s resignation letter: “The new president has requested my resignation.”
Jan 20, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Trump has left the White House. For the last time as president. Trump has now left Washington.
Nov 10, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Biden’s current vote leads, per AP:

GA: 11,413
AZ: 14,746
NV: 36,186
PA: 45,336

Note: Recounts unlikely to help Trump. Avg. swing in 27 statewide recounts (2000-15) was 282 votes. Biggest: Gore cut 1,247 votes from Bush’s lead in FLA in 2000, still lost google.com/amp/s/fivethir… So Trump will have to *prove* tens of thousands of votes were fraudulently switched or recorded in four states, a massive and unprecedented conspiracy given decentralized election system. AND he will need to flip a fifth state to get to 270. Tall order.
Mar 29, 2020 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
It’s debatable whether ratings matter one bit at a time when people are dying and there’s a GLOBAL health crisis to deal with.

But since he brought it up, let’s check a few numbers with Mr. Nielsen. These claims could stand some perspective.

Ready?

More.... First, the White House briefings *are* widely watched, relatively speaking. Highest figure here is ~12.4 million viewers across all three cable news networks (the broadcast networks have been showing bits and pieces live and aren’t included here).
Mar 8, 2020 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
President Trump, on the coronavirus, a timeline: google.com/amp/s/www.nyti…

Feb. 2: “We pretty much shut it down coming in from China...so, we’re going to see what happens, but we did shut it down, yes.” More... Feb. 14: “There’s a theory that, in April, when it gets warm — historically, that has been able to kill the virus. So we don’t know yet; we’re not sure yet.” (Warmer weather doesn’t “kill” a virus).

Feb. 24: “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA...
Oct 12, 2019 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Trump’s homeland security secretaries, since Jan. 2017:

—John Kelly: 192 days.

—Elaine Duke (acting): 128 days.

—Kirstjen Nielsen: 490 days.

—Kevin McAleenan (acting): 184 days. National security advisors, since Jan. 2017:

—Michael Flynn, 24 days.

—Keith Kellogg (acting), 7 days.

—H.R. McMaster: 412 days.

—John Bolton, 520 days.

—Charles Kupperman (acting), 8 days.

—Robert O’Brien (current), 18 days.
Aug 28, 2019 • 5 tweets • 6 min read
Just in: Attorney for @realDonaldTrump sends demand for retraction, corrctn, and apology to @nbc over segment of @Lawrence program last nite in which he said “Russian oligarchs” co-signed Deutsche Bank loans to Trump. Letter says that statement is “false and defamatory.” Letter: @realDonaldTrump @nbc @Lawrence Here's a link to a tweet from @Lawrence that is also at issue: