Media News

News about the media.

Digital Media Win Again!

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Article in The Washington Post by Eric Wemple , 11/7/24

Headline: “Opinion – Trump wins! Another chapter in mainstream media’s decline.”

Subhead:  “A media critic’s tools seem ill-suited to analyze election night 2024, but a new era is at hand. “

“. . . Mainstream media organizations are suffering from cratering public trust and obsessing about how best to revive it. Does such an industry want to continue promoting polling results and polling averages and so on? Bailing on the setup would require a newsroom upheaval of sorts, meaning a reduction in the sugar-high horse-race stories that deliver daily click-a-thons for newspapers and broadcasters alike.”

“. . . There are other sources out there, to be sure, including cable news, podcasts and social media, on which a broad range of views and even misinformation are represented. But Trump in the final weeks of his campaign backed out of interviews with mainstream outlets — NBC News, CNBC, CBS News’ “60 Minutes” — and reveled in the embrace from nonmainstream voices with enormous audiences, like Joe Rogan, Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson. It’s possible that Trump will feel so coddled by those folks that he’ll forget all about legacy media outlets, along with his compulsion to bash them.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/11/07/trump-media-future-fragmentation/

Defending Legacy Media Over Internet Media?

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Article in The Washington Post by Catherine Rampell, 11/5/24

Headline:  “Opinion:  This election year, legacy media consumers came out on top”

Subhead:  “We’ve made our share of mistakes, but readers of traditional media understand the stakes of this election.”

“. . . If you had consumed all your election news this year exclusively from The Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal or other journalistic dinosaurs, you’d probably be well-informed. You’d have a sense of what the stakes are this election. You might even know what the candidates stand for! The same cannot be said if you instead primarily relied on TikTok influencers, random bros with podcasts or Discord streams, and Elon Musk’s X platform.”

“. . . We traditional journalists don’t get things right all the time. We have biases we’re often blind to. We make errors of omission, commission and emphasis. But we are (usually) embarrassed when we get stuff wrong, and we have procedures for transparently correcting our mistakes.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/11/05/media-2024-presidential-election/

Media and Decision-Makers

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Article in Axios by Avery Lotz, 11/5/24

Headline: “How media decision desks declare history”

“Behind-the-scenes decision desks have come to define the modern political media mechanics of Election Night, which stretches well beyond a single day.

“Why it matters: These desks’ role has been complicated by the challenges of declaring a winner in swing states with tight margins and the growing popularity of mail-in or early voting.”

https://www.axios.com/2024/11/05/decision-desks-election-night-trump-harris

Social Media Politically Ghosting?

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Article in Vox by Aja Romano, 11/2/24

Headline:  “Were Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin really shadow banned by Instagram and X?”

Subhead:  “What social media shadow ban rumors tell us about election anxiety.”

“In the lead-up to the election, allegations are flying that social media platforms have been “shadow banning,” or in some way filtering the political content of, celebrities. After multiple Latine stars spoke out against the racism and misogyny on display at last week’s Madison Square Garden rally, Ricky Martin posted an Instagram Story claiming that the platform was blocking a post he’d published on the subject. Users also speculated that their access to other public figures who posted about the rally, including Bad Bunny, was being somehow restricted.”

https://www.vox.com/culture/381925/instagram-shadow-ban-political-election-posts-ricky-martin-bad-bunny-twitter-x-censorship

Mainstream Media Trust is Low Now

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Article in The New Republic by Parker Malloy, 11/4/24

Headline: “We Already Know One Big Loser in This Election: the Mainstream Media”

Subhead:  “When your most loyal supporters start questioning your integrity, that’s not just a red flag—it’s a siren blaring in the newsroom.”

“Americans will head to the polls Tuesday in what feels like the most consequential election of our lifetimes. Again. Whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris emerges as the victor, there’s an issue that transcends outcome: a reckoning that’s long overdue in mainstream media.

“For years, major news outlets have twisted themselves into knots trying to appease critics on the right. In the process, they’ve alienated not just the left but anyone who cares about honest, fearless journalism. This isn’t just about bad optics or bruised egos; it’s about the very foundation of our democracy and the essential role a free press plays within it.”

“. . . The decision by The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times to spike their endorsements of Kamala Harris without warning or satisfactory explanation serves as a case study. This move didn’t come across as a principled stand for neutrality; it felt like capitulation, a betrayal of trust. ”

https://newrepublic.com/article/187890/2024-election-loser-mainstream-media

Slamming the Media

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Article in Al Jazerra, 11/3/24

Headline: “Trump slams media in Pennsylvania as Harris stumps in Michigan”

Subhead: “Republican presidential candidate also suggested he should not have left the White House after 2020 election defeat.”

“Trump slams media in Pennsylvania as Harris stumps in Michigan

Republican presidential candidate also suggested he should not have left the White House after 2020 election defeat.”

“. . . Trump said: “ ‘To get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news and I don’t mind that so much.’ ”

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/3/trump-slams-media-in-pennsylvia-as-harris-talks-to-black-church-in-michigan

Trump Media and Mexico

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Article in ProPublica by Robert Faturechi, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski, 11/2/24

Headline:  “Trump Media Outsourced Jobs to Mexico Even as Trump Pushes “America First””

Subhead:  “On the campaign trail, Donald Trump threatened businesses that send jobs south of the border, while his own company that runs the Truth Social platform outsourced coding jobs to workers in Mexico, outraging some staff members. “

“ormer President Donald Trump’s social media company outsourced jobs to workers in Mexico even as Trump publicly railed against outsourcing on the campaign trail and threatened heavy tariffs on companies that send jobs south of the border.

The firm’s use of workers in Mexico was confirmed by a spokesperson for Trump Media, which operates the Truth Social platform. The workers were hired through another entity to code and perform other technical duties, according to a person with knowledge of Trump Media. The reliance on foreign labor was met with outrage among the company’s own staff, who accused its leadership of betraying their “America First” ideals, the person said.”

https://www.propublica.org/article/donald-trump-media-outsourced-jobs-mexico-truth-social

Article In MediIte by Jennifer Bowers Bahney. 11/3/24

Headline:  “Trump’s Media Company Reportedly Outsourced Jobs to Mexico — Amid Trump Pledge to Impose Tariffs on Companies That Outsource Jobs”

Article in Raw Story by Robert Faturechi ,11/2/24

Headline:  “Trump Media outsourced jobs to Mexico as Trump pushed ‘America First'”

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-media-outsourced-jobs-to-mexico-zas-trump-pushed-america-first/

FCC vs. Kamala?

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Article in The Guardian by Edwad Heimore, 11/3/24

Headline:  “FCC regulator claims Harris appearance on SNL violates ‘equal time’ rule”

Subhead:  “Commissioner says appearance on show ‘is a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC’s Equal Time rule’ “

“A US government communications regulator has claimed that Vice-President Kamala Harris’s surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live violates “equal time” rules that govern political programming.

“Brendan Carr, a commissioner with the federal communications commission (FCC), claimed on the social platform X that Harris’s appearance on the show “is a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC’s Equal Time rule”.

“Carr made the claim in response to an Associated Press alert to Harris being on the show that night.

“The purpose of the rule is to avoid exactly this type of biased and partisan conduct – a licensed broadcaster using the public airwaves to exert its influence for one candidate on the eve of an election. Unless the broadcaster offered Equal Time to other qualifying campaigns,” Carr, a Trump appointee, added.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/03/harris-appearance-snl-equal-time-rule

Article in The Hill by Tara Suter – 11/03/24

Headline:  “FCC commissioner claims Harris on ‘SNL’ violates ‘equal time’ rule.”

“This is a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC’s Equal Time rule,” Commissioner Brendan Carr posted on the social platform X Saturday in response to a post from The Associated Press about Harris being on the show that night. ”

https://thehill.com/homenews/4968217-fcc-commissioner-claims-harris-on-snl-violates-equal-time-rule/

Media Interested in Men Only?

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LA Times Photo

Article in L.A. Times by Lorrain Ali, 11/2/24

Headline:  “Ali: The election is supposedly about women’s issues. Why are the media so obsessed with men?”

Subhead:  “There’s been no shortage of wide-lens examinations into the political leanings of the Y chromosome set.”

“You could fill Madison Square Garden and the Ellipse with the number of stories focused on where male energy is amassing in this election. How will young men vote? What about men’s economic concerns? Trump is gaining support among men of color, say some polls. On the other hand, Harris may be gaining ground with Black men … while she’s losing with Latino men.”

“. . . Fixating on the male voter does make sense in other quarters, like a controversial ad created by the Progress Action Fund now airing in swing states. It uses the intrinsically female issue of abortion and turns it into an issue for men.”

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2024-11-02/the-election-is-about-womens-issues-so-why-is-the-media-so-obsessed-with-men