The only news about Trump is without analysis, just parroting back what he says. Apparently the journalists are afraid to do their jobs too. No news about Biden, but when the WSJ says the economy is good, they don't mention Biden or Bidenomics. I only read about Biden when they find something to criticize. Our oligarch owned mainstream news media is just telling more of THE BIG LIE.
The only news about Trump is without analysis, just parroting back what he says. Apparently the journalists are afraid to do their jobs too. No news about Biden, but when the WSJ says the economy is good, they don't mention Biden or Bidenomics. I only read about Biden when they find something to criticize. Our oligarch owned mainstream news media is just telling more of THE BIG LIE.
Linda, I fear there IS logic behind what the MSM cover and it devolves into what captures eyeballs and ears for their advertisers. Biden's accomplishments are complex, detailed and often subtle (until he strikes militarily) and require some concentration to understand, not attributes the MSM (except perhaps PBS sometimes) are known to play to. MSM play to the lowest common denominator because it makes them more money by reaching more eyes and ears. And in the end, they operate in a capitalist system where the bottom line rules (in more ways than one). Unless we can find more effective ways to balance the voracious appetites of capitalism with sensible regulation and laws protecting "we the people" the more likely we will be doomed to more and more of the stuff which feeds those with the most money already.
If they just reported the news rather than having glitzy opinion shows about selected news stories, it would be a great service to the public and keep us in practice processing to our own conclusions. What we get is pre-digested "entertainment". I miss Walter Cronkite!
Thank you for mentioning this. Why can Biden continue to help Israel, with & without the approval of Congress, but so much is made of the Houthis helping Palestine? Why don't we have a CEASE FIRE and stop all of this?? Isn't it a political problem (now with so many 1,000's dead), going back to before 1948? Thank goodness South Africa had the courage to step in.
They are not helping Palestine at all. They are only one of a huge network of terrorist organizations aiming to cause terror and instability. They have been active far before the October 7 Hamas attack. And make no mistake, it is impossible to negotiate with these types of organizations. Cast your mind back to horrific bombings all over the world, London, Paris, Mumbai etc. There is no end game but terror and destruction.
I suspect "we" don't have a cease-fire precisely and expressly because of groups like the Houthis, HAMAS, Hezbollah, and the other non-state actors, backed by anti-Israel governments, who act to keep Israel and any country that wants to use the Med near Israel or the Suez Canal/Red Sea in danger from attacks. You realize they do this intentionally to prevent or delay a cease-fire; their goal clearly appears to be greater destabilization, a wider war, in order to bring the country of Israel to an end, and they seem to be willing to sacrifice as many lives as possible to accomplish that end. Any more than Putin cannot be permitted to end Ukraine as a country, these anti-Israel actors, whether governments or non-state actors, cannot be permitted to end Israel as a country. (I won't speak about Netanyahu's and Israel's governments' unspeakable acts which are at least partly responsible for the overall situation, but in my view, Israel, as much as Ukraine, has the right to exist as an independent country.)
"anti-Israel governments" -- Putin -- all the turmoil is a gift for Putin to strain the West resources and perseverance. Anything to hurt the West/Ukraine/the U.S. helps Putin et al.
I dont get it either, Beverly - 23,000 and counting of civilians (since the Israeli government only claims Hamas dead) Its past time for the US and other countries to come together & stop supporting Netanyahu's war.
I've written to the WH and to my senators & repres. Are they listening?
Echoes of Trumpistan, yes? "Total Presidential Immunity"? Okay to violate the Constitution and not face removal from ballots and discounted votes? That creature must never be allowed in any position of power, and his sycophants and supporters likewise.
I understand Israel's need to respond to the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7th, but what the IDF is doing to the Palestinian civilian population is abhorrent and clearly a war crime. The Israeli government says that they are trying to protect Palestinian civilians, but we are not seeing that. Civilians are told to move to the south for instance and then they get bombed when they get there. The Biden administration is complicit in this slaughter by only "urging" Israel to protect civilians, but not actually doing anything of substance that would result in their protection. We hear about the cooperation of other countries in striking the Houthis, but where is our country's cooperation when it comes to virtually every other country in the world calling for a cease fire?
Profit before all else -- our democracy included. Perhaps Congress should look into expanding the scope of the FCC to apply regulations regarding the distribution of false information to cable channels, including the Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, and others. Too bad (for us) that Congress is too busy fiddling while Rome burns.
And THAT "lowest common denominator" is why so much of the news and so-called entertainment consists of reality(??) shows, commercials & the dumpster!
Why "influencers" are yet another form of reality. People who dont appear to have any form of talent or ability to do anything but generate clicks. Yet they make thousands if not millions of dollars & influence our children.
Voracious appetites of capitalism describes it perfectly, John!
Business of any kind is no longer about providing a service. It is simply about the money. If companies could figure out how to print money without actually doing anything, nothing of value would ever be produced again. And if some public company went against the grain and decided to continue satisfying customers, their stock would fall and their management would be voted out at the next stockholder's meeting.
Sometime around the 1980s, when the concept of "shareholder value" was elevated to mythic status, we stopped being an economy centered on providing goods and services. Ever since then, our economy has simply been measured by generating the largest possible amount of money. If you want an explanation for why the MSM sacrifices accuracy for eyeballs and clicks, or why car companies stop making the kinds of cars people want to buy, look no further.
I agree except that one of the big differences between big business/corporations, and small businesses, is that small businesses often/usually prioritize quality and customer service over profit. Look at any small business in your town or city and compare it to a like business in the corporate sector--small smashburger business vs. McDonalds for instance. The cost of the small will probably be more, but quality of everything (including ambiance) will probably be higher/greater. Until said business is swallowed by a larger, profit-oriented group. Allowing/encouraging this kind of business model may have been good for acquisition of more/cheaper goods at the expense of true entrepreneurship that most of us probably appreciate has been part of the march toward shoddiness of everything in our world.
Yes, and Brian Tyler Cohen/No Lie, Judd Legum/Popular Information, and of course, our own Heather Cox Richardson. There are some great voices trying to scream truth into the void that is the "media" but they are too few. We might all breathe easier with a complete media blackout on Trump except a simple daily update on his various legal issues reported factually and without opinion.
I find that I am getting most of my analysis of USA news from Substacks. I also appreciate the Guardian. I subscribe to Popular Information, but not No Lie. I do read Jay Kuo, Joyce Vance, Thom Hartmann, Robert Hubbell, Tim Mak, Aaron Ruper and many others, as well as Carnegie News, Olear, The Lever, ProPublica, The Intercept, The Volt, Liz Dye, Noah Berlatsky, Meduza, The Beet, and others.
Jay Kuo, like Jeff Tiedrich ends each week on a humorous note, and it is so helpful to putting some of the difficult things we are reading into perpective.
Jay Kuo is excellent. You won't regret adding him to your list. In addition to many other impressive accomplishments, Jay is an attorney and provides clear, relatable legal analysis with a nice touch of humor.
That is a lot to read....but I hear you and find in the midst of all the MSM chaos reporting, these are voices steering the right course. I add Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Timothy Snyder (altho they do analysis), Jennifer Rubin.
Kathy I also read Timothy Snyder, and Jennifer Rubin is in the NYT isn't she? That is where I tend to read her. Thank you for recommending Ruth Ben-Ghiat. The name is familiar. Has she written in The Atlantic?
Anne Applebaum writes in the Atlantic. Ruth has written "Strongmen", for which she has probably gotten more interest since 2015 than she ever thot she would. SHe has a substack Lucid.
Linda, the problem with the news today is people can choose the reality they hear. Each of these many great substacks has an angle and people like it or they go somewhere else. Much in the news is not to be liked. I can remember as a child being annoyed because every night at dinner time all the main networks reported the news (no cable at the time; just ABC, CBS, and NBC). They all said pretty much the same thing, just the facts without sarcasm and disdain. Regular programming came back at prime time. Everyone was informed and up to speed (mostly). Now with 500 channels to compete with, the shiniest objects get the viewers and the advertising income.
Except for "oh the good old days of straight news" is looking at the past with rose colored glasses. Yes- they all reported the same thing, with no editorial. Which means there were a lot of stories none of the big 3 news organizations were bothering to cover. They were making choices about what was newsworthy and their news coverage had a white, male slant. Even a word or two can change the meaning of a story. Is it a protest or a riot? A fight or an assault? Was the person objecting with righteous indignation or were they belligerent? And in the news cycle even back then, once one news agency reported something as a riot, an assault or a belligerent speech that's how they all reported it. I do think our current news era is more heat than light but it wasn't all perfect in the past either.
I find it's much healthier to READ the news. When you remove the audio it's one aspect of your limbic system that is less vulnerable to outside influence. Look at the adjectives and you'll see the biased, "spin" words jump out at you.
You are probably a neighbor of my son who works at UW Mad. Lots of UW professors in his neighborhood. He just sent a pic of the snow in the yard. Postcardesque. Stay warm.
Thanks for the reference. I believe my husband watches that. He is getting much more news from Youtube than I do. I am more likely to read my news, although I do watch German nightly news on ARD and ZDF from time to time.
Make sure to research the news source you are watching on UTube. There are so called legitimate news sources that are sponsored by Authoritarian governments.
True and another thing that annoys me is all the negatives the media sees fit to attach to every mention of President Biden. Axios ran an article about a Harris Poll concerning AmericanтАЩs attitudes toward the economy. Their conclusion: (paraphrasing) How Americans feel about the economy тАЬcould sink Biden in the fall.тАЭ
It is up to the Democratic chair and the Democratic party to aggressive in getting the message out to the American people. Most of the media is bought and paid for by billionaires and corporations who support Trump.
The only news about Trump is without analysis, just parroting back what he says. Apparently the journalists are afraid to do their jobs too. No news about Biden, but when the WSJ says the economy is good, they don't mention Biden or Bidenomics. I only read about Biden when they find something to criticize. Our oligarch owned mainstream news media is just telling more of THE BIG LIE.
Linda, I fear there IS logic behind what the MSM cover and it devolves into what captures eyeballs and ears for their advertisers. Biden's accomplishments are complex, detailed and often subtle (until he strikes militarily) and require some concentration to understand, not attributes the MSM (except perhaps PBS sometimes) are known to play to. MSM play to the lowest common denominator because it makes them more money by reaching more eyes and ears. And in the end, they operate in a capitalist system where the bottom line rules (in more ways than one). Unless we can find more effective ways to balance the voracious appetites of capitalism with sensible regulation and laws protecting "we the people" the more likely we will be doomed to more and more of the stuff which feeds those with the most money already.
If they just reported the news rather than having glitzy opinion shows about selected news stories, it would be a great service to the public and keep us in practice processing to our own conclusions. What we get is pre-digested "entertainment". I miss Walter Cronkite!
"until he strikes militarily"
Thank you for mentioning this. Why can Biden continue to help Israel, with & without the approval of Congress, but so much is made of the Houthis helping Palestine? Why don't we have a CEASE FIRE and stop all of this?? Isn't it a political problem (now with so many 1,000's dead), going back to before 1948? Thank goodness South Africa had the courage to step in.
They are not helping Palestine at all. They are only one of a huge network of terrorist organizations aiming to cause terror and instability. They have been active far before the October 7 Hamas attack. And make no mistake, it is impossible to negotiate with these types of organizations. Cast your mind back to horrific bombings all over the world, London, Paris, Mumbai etc. There is no end game but terror and destruction.
Exactly.
I suspect "we" don't have a cease-fire precisely and expressly because of groups like the Houthis, HAMAS, Hezbollah, and the other non-state actors, backed by anti-Israel governments, who act to keep Israel and any country that wants to use the Med near Israel or the Suez Canal/Red Sea in danger from attacks. You realize they do this intentionally to prevent or delay a cease-fire; their goal clearly appears to be greater destabilization, a wider war, in order to bring the country of Israel to an end, and they seem to be willing to sacrifice as many lives as possible to accomplish that end. Any more than Putin cannot be permitted to end Ukraine as a country, these anti-Israel actors, whether governments or non-state actors, cannot be permitted to end Israel as a country. (I won't speak about Netanyahu's and Israel's governments' unspeakable acts which are at least partly responsible for the overall situation, but in my view, Israel, as much as Ukraine, has the right to exist as an independent country.)
"anti-Israel governments" -- Putin -- all the turmoil is a gift for Putin to strain the West resources and perseverance. Anything to hurt the West/Ukraine/the U.S. helps Putin et al.
Well said, Lynn.
I dont get it either, Beverly - 23,000 and counting of civilians (since the Israeli government only claims Hamas dead) Its past time for the US and other countries to come together & stop supporting Netanyahu's war.
I've written to the WH and to my senators & repres. Are they listening?
Agreed! Netanyahu needs to be replaced before we support Israel anymore.
That would be good but its more than just him - hes surrounded himself with others who agree with him.
Echoes of Trumpistan, yes? "Total Presidential Immunity"? Okay to violate the Constitution and not face removal from ballots and discounted votes? That creature must never be allowed in any position of power, and his sycophants and supporters likewise.
true. they need a new government
I understand Israel's need to respond to the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7th, but what the IDF is doing to the Palestinian civilian population is abhorrent and clearly a war crime. The Israeli government says that they are trying to protect Palestinian civilians, but we are not seeing that. Civilians are told to move to the south for instance and then they get bombed when they get there. The Biden administration is complicit in this slaughter by only "urging" Israel to protect civilians, but not actually doing anything of substance that would result in their protection. We hear about the cooperation of other countries in striking the Houthis, but where is our country's cooperation when it comes to virtually every other country in the world calling for a cease fire?
Profit before all else -- our democracy included. Perhaps Congress should look into expanding the scope of the FCC to apply regulations regarding the distribution of false information to cable channels, including the Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, and others. Too bad (for us) that Congress is too busy fiddling while Rome burns.
And THAT "lowest common denominator" is why so much of the news and so-called entertainment consists of reality(??) shows, commercials & the dumpster!
Why "influencers" are yet another form of reality. People who dont appear to have any form of talent or ability to do anything but generate clicks. Yet they make thousands if not millions of dollars & influence our children.
Voracious appetites of capitalism describes it perfectly, John!
Business of any kind is no longer about providing a service. It is simply about the money. If companies could figure out how to print money without actually doing anything, nothing of value would ever be produced again. And if some public company went against the grain and decided to continue satisfying customers, their stock would fall and their management would be voted out at the next stockholder's meeting.
Sometime around the 1980s, when the concept of "shareholder value" was elevated to mythic status, we stopped being an economy centered on providing goods and services. Ever since then, our economy has simply been measured by generating the largest possible amount of money. If you want an explanation for why the MSM sacrifices accuracy for eyeballs and clicks, or why car companies stop making the kinds of cars people want to buy, look no further.
I agree except that one of the big differences between big business/corporations, and small businesses, is that small businesses often/usually prioritize quality and customer service over profit. Look at any small business in your town or city and compare it to a like business in the corporate sector--small smashburger business vs. McDonalds for instance. The cost of the small will probably be more, but quality of everything (including ambiance) will probably be higher/greater. Until said business is swallowed by a larger, profit-oriented group. Allowing/encouraging this kind of business model may have been good for acquisition of more/cheaper goods at the expense of true entrepreneurship that most of us probably appreciate has been part of the march toward shoddiness of everything in our world.
What is MSM?
Main Stream Media
Look into Meidas Touch News on YouTube.
Yes, and Brian Tyler Cohen/No Lie, Judd Legum/Popular Information, and of course, our own Heather Cox Richardson. There are some great voices trying to scream truth into the void that is the "media" but they are too few. We might all breathe easier with a complete media blackout on Trump except a simple daily update on his various legal issues reported factually and without opinion.
I find that I am getting most of my analysis of USA news from Substacks. I also appreciate the Guardian. I subscribe to Popular Information, but not No Lie. I do read Jay Kuo, Joyce Vance, Thom Hartmann, Robert Hubbell, Tim Mak, Aaron Ruper and many others, as well as Carnegie News, Olear, The Lever, ProPublica, The Intercept, The Volt, Liz Dye, Noah Berlatsky, Meduza, The Beet, and others.
I follow a handful of the same folks you follow. Thinking about adding Jay Kuo; his name has come up a bunch recently.
Jay Kuo, like Jeff Tiedrich ends each week on a humorous note, and it is so helpful to putting some of the difficult things we are reading into perpective.
Jay is well worth reading (especially for insight into legal issues).
Thanks, that is kinda my bent.
Ally, I just subscribed to Kuo and he's awesome. I highly recommend Status Kuo, his Substack.
thanks for that citation; I' googled him and could only find his twix posts, and I don't patronize twix (well, I do, but not in that sense!).
Jay Kuo is excellent. You won't regret adding him to your list. In addition to many other impressive accomplishments, Jay is an attorney and provides clear, relatable legal analysis with a nice touch of humor.
That is a lot to read....but I hear you and find in the midst of all the MSM chaos reporting, these are voices steering the right course. I add Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Timothy Snyder (altho they do analysis), Jennifer Rubin.
Kathy I also read Timothy Snyder, and Jennifer Rubin is in the NYT isn't she? That is where I tend to read her. Thank you for recommending Ruth Ben-Ghiat. The name is familiar. Has she written in The Atlantic?
Scholar Ruth Ben-Ghiat is an expert on authoritarianism and fascism.
Rubin is with WaPo. Ruth Ben-Ghiat is a historian who writes about fascism and authoritarianism.
Anne Applebaum writes in the Atlantic. Ruth has written "Strongmen", for which she has probably gotten more interest since 2015 than she ever thot she would. SHe has a substack Lucid.
Linda, the problem with the news today is people can choose the reality they hear. Each of these many great substacks has an angle and people like it or they go somewhere else. Much in the news is not to be liked. I can remember as a child being annoyed because every night at dinner time all the main networks reported the news (no cable at the time; just ABC, CBS, and NBC). They all said pretty much the same thing, just the facts without sarcasm and disdain. Regular programming came back at prime time. Everyone was informed and up to speed (mostly). Now with 500 channels to compete with, the shiniest objects get the viewers and the advertising income.
Except for "oh the good old days of straight news" is looking at the past with rose colored glasses. Yes- they all reported the same thing, with no editorial. Which means there were a lot of stories none of the big 3 news organizations were bothering to cover. They were making choices about what was newsworthy and their news coverage had a white, male slant. Even a word or two can change the meaning of a story. Is it a protest or a riot? A fight or an assault? Was the person objecting with righteous indignation or were they belligerent? And in the news cycle even back then, once one news agency reported something as a riot, an assault or a belligerent speech that's how they all reported it. I do think our current news era is more heat than light but it wasn't all perfect in the past either.
For us folks born in 1970 or early, your point is well understood. That is a valuable comparison to today's media flood
When do you sleep, eat, etc.?
I also read ongaza.org (NB point #9 on Zionist lies), Electronic Intifada and Al Jazeera to hear the other side.
I've been an Al Jazeera subscriber for years and find them to be the most carefully un-biased of all except the Guardian.
Thanks for the additional references to check into Linda!
I find it's much healthier to READ the news. When you remove the audio it's one aspect of your limbic system that is less vulnerable to outside influence. Look at the adjectives and you'll see the biased, "spin" words jump out at you.
Wouldnt that be nice and restful for all of us?
You are probably a neighbor of my son who works at UW Mad. Lots of UW professors in his neighborhood. He just sent a pic of the snow in the yard. Postcardesque. Stay warm.
Thanks for the reference. I believe my husband watches that. He is getting much more news from Youtube than I do. I am more likely to read my news, although I do watch German nightly news on ARD and ZDF from time to time.
Make sure to research the news source you are watching on UTube. There are so called legitimate news sources that are sponsored by Authoritarian governments.
Like Epoch Times.
Yes. One to be careful of for sure.
Welcome to capitalism, Corp Media is here to make more money on both sides, Trump is there biggest money maker
Yup.
True and another thing that annoys me is all the negatives the media sees fit to attach to every mention of President Biden. Axios ran an article about a Harris Poll concerning AmericanтАЩs attitudes toward the economy. Their conclusion: (paraphrasing) How Americans feel about the economy тАЬcould sink Biden in the fall.тАЭ
It is up to the Democratic chair and the Democratic party to aggressive in getting the message out to the American people. Most of the media is bought and paid for by billionaires and corporations who support Trump.