Repeating a Lie in the Media Does Not Make the Lie True

Article in Daily Kos by Xaxnar, 9/19/24

Headline: “Must-Read from Jamison Foser – How the media fails us by “Privileging the lie”

“When a news report treats the truthfulness of a lie as an open question, it privileges the lie. When a news report devotes more and more prominent space to recounting the lie and the liar’s defense of it than it does making clear that it’s a lie, the article privileges the lie. When a news report focuses on the target of a lie’s struggle to deal with the impact of the lie, the article privileges the lie. And when a news report focuses on the topic of the lie — even if it does a good job of making clear the lie is a lie — it privileges the lie, because it allows the liar to set the topic of conversation, and thus increases the electoral salience of a topic the liar believes is to his benefit.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/9/19/2270386/-Must-Read-from-Jamison-Foser-How-the-media-fails-us-by-Privileging-the-lie?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web

Going, Going, Gone!?

Article by Don Jacobson on UPI, 9/19/25

Headline: “Trump Media shares reach new low as lockup period set to expire”

“Trump Media, which trades under the ticker symbol DTJ, is the parent company of the GOP nominee’s Truth Social social media platform.

“Thursday’s drop-off continued a six-day slide that has seen Trump Media shares fall more than 10%, wiping out billions in value as retail investors nervously eyed the expiration of the lockup period, under which early investors, including the former president himself, were barred from selling shares following a merger with publicly traded shell company.”

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2024/09/19/Trump-Media-shares-reach-new-low-lockup-period-set-expire/4501726765890/

Social Media Are Spying on You – Surprised?

Article in the New York Times by Cecilia Kang, 9/19/24

Headline:  “F.T.C. Study Finds ‘Vast Surveillance’ of Social Media Users”

Subhead:  “Meta, YouTube and other sites collected more data than most users realized, a new report by the Federal Trade Commission finds.”

“The Federal Trade Commission said on Thursday it found that several social media and streaming services engaged in a “vast surveillance” of consumers, including minors, collecting and sharing more personal information than most users realized.”

. . . “The F.T.C. found that the companies voraciously consumed data about users, and often bought information about people who weren’t users through data brokers. They also gathered information from accounts linked to other services.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/19/technology/ftc-meta-tiktok-privacy-surveillance.html

And in Reuters – Headline:  “Social Media Users Lack Control Over Data Used bu AI, US FTC Says”

https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/social-media-users-lack-control-over-data-used-by-ai-us-ftc-says-2024-09-19/

 

 

Nobody Will Notice if Media Don’t Fact Check

AP photo (edited)

Article in The Guardian by Alice Herman 8/17/24

Headline: “JD Vance defends pet-eating remarks: ‘The media has a responsibility to fact-check’”

Subhead: “Republican VP nominee claims at Wisconsin rally that constituents told him ‘they’d seen something in Springfield’”

OK to lie – if you can get away with it?

“JD Vance defended his comments about Haitian immigrants eating pets during a Tuesday rally, saying that ‘the media has a responsibility to fact-check’ stories – not him.

“The rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, came two days after the Ohio senator told CNN host Dana Bash it was OK ‘to create stories’ to draw attention to issues his constituents care about, regarding inflammatory and unfounded claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, had eaten residents’ pets.”

. . . “ ‘When I said – and the media always does this, they’re very dishonest – when I say that I created a story, I’m talking about the media story, by focusing the press’s intention on what’s going on in Springfield,’ said Vance.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/17/jd-vance-wisconsin-rally-immigrants-media

Pulling False Fire Alarms Distract Media

Article in Daily Kos by James Jarmess, 9/16/24

Headline: The Sick Worn-out Trick That the Media keep Falling For — Every time

“(Rachel) Maddow just told the story of this kid who knows he is failing his Exam, in the middle of taking it. Desperate, he manages to pull the school’s Fire Alarm. Granted, he gets caught, and he catches hell for that stunt. But he is no longer ‘failing the Exam’ — everyone is now focused on his ‘bad behavior.’ Side benefit — the Exam was cancelled.

“Then Maddow draws that as an analogy of what Trump did in the Debate: When he realized he was ‘failing his Exam’ — before a national audience — he does something so unthinkable, it will change for discussion for days. Trump vehemently tells the made-up urban legend of Haitian immigrants stealing and eating pets.”

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/9/16/2270846/-The-sick-worn-out-Trick-that-the-Media-keeps-Falling-For-time-after-time?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web

Online Media Catching on to Propaganda?


Article in Washington Post by Niha Masih, 9/17/24

Headline:  “Meta bans Russian state media outlet RT for acts of ‘foreign interference”

Subhead:  “The U.S. recently imposed sanctions on RT’s parent companies, Rossiya Segodnya and TV-Novosti, accusing them of acting as an arm of Moscow’s intelligence operations.”

“Meta — the owner of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram — said Monday that it is banning Russian state media outlets such as RT from its platforms, days after the United States imposed sanctions on RT’s parent companies and accused them of acting as an arm of Moscow’s intelligence operations.

“After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets: Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity,” Meta said in a statement.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/09/17/meta-ban-rt-russia-state-media/

Should Media Cover Alleged Insanity?

Photo from Raw Story

Article in Raw Story by Earl Stephens, 9/16/24

Headline:  “Corporate media keeps hiding the truth about madman Donald Trump”

“We have a complete madman running for the President of the United States, and it would be about damn time our national media started reporting it this way.”

. . . “At its core, the mission of the working press is cut and dry and pretty easily executed: Reporters and news departments are assigned to cover various beats and report out to the American people about what is happening in their coverage areas. The press has the privilege of being where we too often can’t, so that they can tell us what has transpired on the football field, or the court room, or a theater of war, or the school board meeting, or on the election trail.”

. . . “What the hell is going on in our nation’s newsrooms? WHAT can they possibly be covering that is more important than the most serious internal threat to America since the Civil War?”

https://www.rawstory.com/raw-investigates/corporate-media-keeps-hiding-the-the-truth-about-madman-donald-trump/?utm_source=brea

 

Murdoch Media Empire Fate Now in Court


AP photo by Noah Berger

Article in Associated Press by Scott Sonner, 9/16/24

Headline: “Control of the Murdoch media empire could be at stake in a closed-door hearing in Nevada”

“A probate court in Nevada is set to begin reviewing evidence behind closed doors in a case that could determine who will control Rupert Murdoch’s media empire after his death.”

“The court’s ruling notes that Murdoch sought to give Lachlan permanent and exclusive control over his companies because the mogul was worried that a lack of consensus among his children could affect the strategic direction at his companies, including potentially leading to a change in editorial policy and content, according to the Times report.”

https://apnews.com/article/rupert-murdoch-news-corp-murdoch-family-trust-9a4b20037e43f46ad5934797579dcd8e

A WP Chat About Corporate Media

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Article in the Washington Post by Erik Wemple, 9/16/24

Question: “Is corporate media affecting reporting?”

“It appears that a recent and dramatic shift has occurred in major press and media entitles like the NY Times, CNN, Washington Post. The appearance seems to be a pursuit of the attention grabbing controversy issue over straight-forward journalism. My theory is that ad revenue has become a priority and this shift in approach is corporate driven. Thoughts?”

Answer:  “. . . this critique has been leveled at most, if not all, mainstream media outlets over the course of the internet era — nearly the past three decades . . . Traffic imperatives, indeed, pushed news outlets to splinter their output into traditional reporting/big projects as well as blog posts, short analysis pieces . . . ”

Question: “Why is Trump coverage lacking?”

“Why is the media not exposing Trump’s obvious lies and dictatorial rhetoric. Is it because they lean over backwards to appear “impartial”? We are obviously being threatened with a dangerous outcome, isn’t it the media’s job to inform?”

Answer:  “it is indeed the media’s job to inform the public about Trump’s authoritarian tendencies. It’s something that, in my view, the media has done quite well:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/07/15/trump-authoritarianism-media-stakes/  .”

Full article:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/09/16/erik-wemple-media-live-chat/

 

RT Media Outlet is More Than That

Article in the Washington Post by Catherine Belton, 9/13/24

Headline: “U.S. says Russian state media outlet runs intelligence operations”

Subhead: “The State Department accuses RT, the Russian media outlet, of running intelligence operations and procuring weapons for the war in Ukraine”

“Secretary of State Antony Blinken said new information showed that the Russian state media company RT, formerly known as Russia Today, was now being deployed by the Kremlin to conduct cyberintelligence and covert influence operations targeting countries in Europe, Africa, and North and South America. It was also being used to procure weapons for Russia’s war against Ukraine, expanding RT’s remit far beyond that of a media outlet, officials said.

. . . “RT has become increasingly entrenched as a channel voicing Kremlin propaganda in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, and it has gone underground to operate through a web of front companies in the West, according to RT’s editor in chief, Margarita Simonyan.

“In comments posted on Telegram, Simonyan responded to Blinken by saying, ‘We have done this, are doing this and will do this.’ ”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/09/13/rt-propaganda-intelligence-weapons-ukraine/