Media Misinformation

Red Meat for the Media!

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Article in The Guardian by Editors, 3/7/25

Headline:  “The Guardian view on Trump and media: attention is power. Can Democrats grab it? – Editorial”

Subhead:  “The presidency is no longer just a ‘bully pulpit’. It’s become part of the disinformation machine”

“Donald Trump won the White House not with money, though he spent plenty of it, but by dominating the conversation. He hasn’t stopped campaigning. He uses attention to bolster his political power, and uses his office to make sure that everyone keeps watching.

“He was barred from leading social media platforms after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, but four years later, their owners attended his inauguration. Many of his key hires appear picked for their media presence as well as their ideological bent and sycophancy. Tuesday’s interminable address to Congress was garnished with the kind of wild claims or outright lies that he knows take off on social media. . .”

“. . .Like a social media algorithm made flesh, the president himself serves up an endless but unpredictable (and increasingly extreme) stream of material. It keeps admirers coming back for more and overwhelms critics, who don’t know where to focus. . . ”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/07/the-guardian-view-on-trump-and-media-attention-is-power-can-democrats-grab-it

Fact Check Media Statements?

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Article in The Contrarian by Josh Levs, 3/6/25

Headline:  “Why all those Trump fact checks are too little too late”

Subhead:  “Many Americans distrust the media, largely because false claims have gone unchallenged for so long.”

“In the wake of Tuesday’s onslaught, mainstream news agencies—those whose leaders claim to be about journalism rather than partisanship—offered up fact checks. Unfortunately, these generally fail to make a dent in our political scene. I know because I spent years doing them both on air and online at CNN.

“To understand why these fact checks have so little discernible impact, we need to think about the different audiences. There are those who already dislike serial liars and would never vote for them; for this audience, these fact checks preach to the choir. There are those who adore or support the liar; for them, these fact checks fall on deaf ears.

“There also are millions of Americans who are not firmly in either camp and care deeply about the truth. Unfortunately, a great many of them have lost faith in large news organizations. . .”

https://contrarian.substack.com/p/why-fact-checking-trumps-speech-almost

WH Rabbit-Response Media Team

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Article in The Washington Post by Drew Harwell and Sarah Ellison, 3/6/25

Headline:  “Inside the White House’s new media strategy to promote Trump as ‘KING’ “

Subhead:   “The Trump administration has transformed its traditional press shop into a rapid-response influencer operation, and “they’re all offense, all the time.”

“. . .The effort was part of a new administration strategy to transform the traditional White House press shop into a rapid-response influencer operation, disseminating messages directly to Americans through the memes, TikToks and podcasts where millions now get their news.

After years of working to undermine mainstream outlets and neutralize critical reporting, Trump’s allies are now pushing a parallel information universe of social media feeds and right-wing firebrands to sell the country on his expansionist approach to presidential power.

For the Trump team, that has involved aggressively confronting critics like Gomez, not just to ‘reframe the narrative’ but to drown them out, said Kaelan Dorr, a deputy assistant to the president who runs the digital team.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/03/06/trump-white-house-media-social-influencers/

State Media Control?

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Podcast on NPR On he Media, by staff  2/28/25

Headline:  “The New ‘State Media.’ Plus, Podcasters Are Running the FBI.”

“Breaking from a century of tradition, the White House says it will seize control of the press pool covering the president. On this week’s On the Media, the new administration is prioritizing access for an array of far-right influencers and news outlets. . . ”

“Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with Anna Merlan, senior reporter at Mother Jones covering disinformation, technology, and extremism, to discuss the White House’s latest move to control the press pool covering the president. Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Brandy Zadrozny, senior reporter at NBC News covering the internet, to discuss the rise of Dan Bongino, from right wing podcaster to Donald Trump’s new pick for Deputy Director of the FBI, and his history of anti-FBI rhetoric.”

https://www.npr.org/podcasts/452538775/on-the-media

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Article in Mother Jones by Anna Merlan, 2/25/25

Headline:  “Meet the New State Media”

Subhead:  “How the second Trump administration grants access and status to conspiracy theorists, propagandists, and far-right influencers.”

“. . . From the moment Trump returned to office, his second administration has prioritized giving access and status to an array of far-right influencers and news outlets, including figures with checkered pasts and thin or nonexistent journalistic credentials. In doing so, the administration has created a swell of flattering media coverage, a gauzy bubble around its every decision, no matter how destructive or incoherent. This new state media displays unquestioning loyalty, and its propaganda pipeline is speedier than ever, ensuring that every executive order or new move by the Department of Government Efficiency is greeted with rapturous pseudo-reporting the moment it’s announced.

As part of this new order, the White House press briefing room is now chock-full of conservative podcasters, influencers, and representatives of right-wing media outlets. Nine days after Trump reassumed office, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt took to the podium for her first briefing to announce that the White House would encourage what she called ‘new media voices’ to apply for press passes, including ‘independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers, and content creators.’

“ ‘Starting today,’ she added, ‘this seat in the front of the room, which is usually occupied by the press secretary staff, will be called the “new media” seat. . .’

“This new crop of people who have been given extremely good access are not journalists.

“ ‘For the most part, this new crop of people who have been given extremely good access are not journalists in the traditional sense ‘ says Margaret Sullivan, executive director of the Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security at Columbia University and a former public editor for the New York Times.

“ ‘They’re closer to propagandists than journalists,’ Sullivan adds. ‘I don’t know if you could call it ‘coverage. It’s positive exposure for the Trump administration. They’ll be part of a cheering squad.’ ”

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/02/donald-trump-press-room-conservative-media/

 

Boxing With the Press – Not a TKO

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Article in The New Republic by Staff, 2/26/25

Headline:  “Trump vs. the Media: He Won Round One, but He’s Going to Lose Bigly”

Subhead:  “A judge kinda-sorta found for the White House against the Associated Press. But Trumpworld is pushing things way too far.”

“The White House has been wrongly emboldened by Monday’s District Court decision denying a request by the Associated Press to immediately restore its full access to the White House press pool. The White House pulled AP’s access because the news organization continues to employ the term ‘Gulf of Mexico’ rather than Trump’s preferred ‘Gulf of America.’

In the wake of the decision, press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced a general policy of the White House determining which news outlets can staff the pool. The change breaks with a practice of over 100 years in which the White House Correspondents’ Association determined the press pool membership. New York Times White House correspondent Peter Baker, one of the most eminent reporters in the country, wrote on social media, ‘Having served as a Moscow correspondent in the early days of Putin’s reign, this reminds me of how the Kremlin took over its own press pool and made sure that only compliant journalists were given access.’

“. . .The adjudication of the press pool exclusions will be a major test of the courts and not just district judges like Judge McFadden but the Courts of Appeals, where the issue will be decided. And if those courts, including the Supreme Court, fail to come through and issue lawless rulings upholding Trump’s tyrannical moves, our best hopes were already misplaced.

https://newrepublic.com/article/192015/trump-won-associated-press-media-lose

Online Media Un-American?

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Article in yahoo!news by Emily Birnbaum, 2/20/25

Headline:  ” ‘Big Tech Censorship’ of Users Targeted by Trump’s FTC Chief”

“The new leader of the US Federal Trade Commission is opening an inquiry into whether a wide range of online services from social media giants such as Meta Platforms Inc. to ride-sharing companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. ‘censor’ users.

“FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson said the agency is looking for the public to comment on ‘Big Tech censorship,’ which he described as ‘un-American’ and ‘potentially illegal'”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/big-tech-censorship-users-targeted-183130487.html?guccounter=1

Media Music to His Ears

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Article in Media Matters by Staff, 2/20/25

Headline:  “Right-wing media are divided after Trump pushed Russian propaganda to attack Ukraine”

“On February 18, President Donald Trump pushed multiple false claims about the war in Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky’s involvement in it, falsely suggesting that Ukraine started the war and that Zelensky is a “dictator without elections.” Both claims echo Russian propaganda about the war.

“Many right-wing media figures praised Trump’s comments, with some commentators even following in his footsteps to target Zelensky. Others denounced Trump’s remarks as ‘music to the ears of Vladimir Putin.’ ”

https://www.mediamatters.org/russias-invasion-ukraine/right-wing-media-are-divided-after-trump-pushed-russian-propaganda-attack

How do Media Cover Nazis?

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Article in Raw Story bu Thom Hartman, 2/23/25

Headline: “Why is the media ignoring Trumpworld’s latest shout-outs to hardcore racists”

“One of the enduring mysteries in today’s American political life is why so many Republican politicians and their friends are adopting or promoting openly Nazi symbols, iconography, and slogans.

“Is it a shout-out to the hardcore racists and haters that make up the GOP’s base, or just a performance to get enough votes to win elections? Or a proclamation that the end-goal of Republican governance is the destruction of American democracy, perhaps in deference to Vladimir Putin? How about it’s being a bizarre attempt at trolling people old or well-educated enough to remember or know what Nazism inevitably leads to?

“And why are America’s mainstream media so unwilling to even report on, much less discuss, all the Nazi and neo-Nazi references surrounding Trump and today’s captive Republicans?

“Elon Musk, Trump’s #1 campaign donor and co-president, threw two Nazi “Sieg Heil” salutes following Trump’s inauguration, causing the media to fall all over itself trying to make excuses for his behavior. Actual, declared Nazis and white supremacists were thrown into an ecstatic tizzy, however, with the Ohio Proud Boys posting the clip with the words, ‘Heil Trump!’ ”

https://article.wn.com/view/2025/02/23/Why_is_the_media_ignoring_Trumpworlds_latest_shoutouts_to_ha/

 

 

 

Attack The Press, Control The Nation

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Article in Daily Kos by Morgan Stephens, 2/21/25

Headline:  “Oh look, the White House is using social media to smear reporters”

“Donald Trump’s White House is using its state-run ‘Rapid Response 47’ account to push lies, attack reporters, and hype fake poll numbers—blurring the line between official governance and a MAGA propaganda machine.

In a post on X Friday, the ‘Rapid Response 47’ account posted a clip of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt answering a question by NBC News Chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander on the White House north lawn.

“ ‘MUST WATCH: @PressSec smacks down Fake News loser @PeterAlexander as he tries to run cover for the WASTE, FRAUD, and ABUSE in the federal government,’ the account posted to its more than 723,00 followers.

“But Alexander asked a reasonable question, and it was far from the ‘smackdown’ the page claimed it was.

“ ‘We’re now hearing from constituents in some traditionally red districts complaining about what they say is the chainsaw approach, saying that it’s being done very sloppily, the cuts to jobs and spending. How do you respond to that criticism?’ asked Alexander.

“ ‘I love how the media takes a few critics when the overwhelming response from the American people is support for what this administration is doing,’ replied Leavitt.”

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/21/2305338/-Oh-look-the-White-House-is-using-social-media-to-smear-reporters?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_8&pm_medium=web

Some Media Spread Lies

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Article in Mediaite by Isaac Schorr, 2/20/24

Headline:  “Conservative Media Should Tell the Unvarnished Truth About Donald Trump’s Ghastly Attacks on Ukraine”

Subhead:  “Nefarious forces are at work in the shadows.”

According to Mark Levin, there are ‘a handful of pseudo-intellectuals funded by the likes of George Soros and Charles Koch’ who are ‘adopting policies that in many ways are un-American’ and would have once made others wonder if they were working for a foreign government. . .

“On Wednesday’s edition of his radio show, Levin ably debunked a series of misleading and outright false claims about the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. . .

“Stating the obvious, Levin observed that ‘Ukraine did not invade Russia. Russia invaded Ukraine. What were they supposed to do? Roll over and play dead?’ he asked incredulously.

“Who are these Soros-funded pseudo-intellectuals? Who are these un-American, pro-Putin knaves?

Over the last few days, Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Elon Musk have taken turns assassinating the character of Ukrainian leadership and parroting the propaganda of Russian leadership..”

https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/conservative-media-should-tell-the-unvarnished-truth-about-donald-trumps-ghastly-attacks-on-ukraine/