Media News

News about the media.

Do the Media Promote the Idea That Incendiary Talk is “Free Speech”?

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Article in the Daily Kos by Laura Clawson 6/3/23

Headline:  “The media has embraced the claim that free speech means freedom to commit crimes”

“It’s bad enough that one of the main Republican talking points regarding Donald Trump’s latest federal criminal charges is an attempt to erase the distinction between free speech and criminal conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. What’s worse is that the traditional media is, in its “neutral” mode of reporting, taking these claims seriously.“

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/3/2184990/-How-many-times-do-we-have-to-say-that-Trump-s-crimes-aren-t-a-free-speech-issue

Media Often Use Right-wing Verbiage to Describe the News

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From the Jennifer Rubin article, Washington Post 6/28/23.

Headline: “Will Trump seek a plea deal? Jennifer Rubin answers your questions”

The reality is that the Mar-a-Lago search was not a “raid” the FBI served a court-ordered search warrant obtained with probable cause. Yet every news outlet refers to it as a “raid,” which has a negative connotation.

“. . . the media’s mistakes are many: Referring to the charges against Trump as “mishandling” secret documents; failing to point out Biden had nothing to do with appointment of the special counsel investigating Trump; refusing to explain that average citizens not the prosecutor returned the indictment; declining to press each and every Republican as to whether he or she condones stashing such documents in unsecured locations.

“Substituting false balance and artificial neutrality for truth-seeking and educating the voters remains a major problem in media coverage. Too many reporters are deathly afraid of being accused of “liberal bias,” so they bend over backwards to allow the GOP to set the terms of debate”.

Can’t Pay for the News? Tough Luck. No Journalism for You.

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Opinion article from the New York Times by Lydia Polgreen, 6/13/23

Headline:  “It’s Not a Good Sign When People Who Don’t Pay for News Have So Little to Choose From”

“For the better part of two centuries, news that was free (or at least felt free, owing to its reliance on advertising) was good business. But the advertising dollars that once underwrote ambitious mass journalism are now stuffing the pockets of technology billionaires. We’re all — even those of us willing and able to pay for quality journalism — the poorer for it.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/13/opinion/media-layoffs-journalism-internet.html

    Media Future in Computer World

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    From the New York Times Columnist Gail Collins 8/12/23

    “But on a more cosmic level, Bret, I worry and wonder all the time about the future of the media in a wireless world. Very hard to make money doing critical chores like covering state and local government. Or even just pursuing hard news.”

    Is National TV News Really “News”

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    Washington Post opinion article by Jennifer Rubin,  5/7/23

    “The current state of TV news distresses me greatly. New outlets could spend their 24/7 coverage doing investigative reporting and deep dives into critical subjects; instead, they spend hours chewing over the same few stories. Panelists talk about the same items and raise the same arguments. CNN could try to do something innovative: real investigations, longer segments to explain complex issues, in-depth interviews with experts, etc. Imagine if it devoted just an hour a day to threats to democracy or the impact of climate change on different regions of the country. Apparently it believes there is no audience for anything other than regurgitated news and stale talking points. This is a critical moment for our democracy, and we need a better TV media than what we have.”

    Jennifer Rubin, opinion columnist

    The Mighty CNN Head Falls

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    Article in The Guardian by Martin Pengelly 6/7/23.

    Headline:  “CNN chief Chris Licht to leave cable news network days after Atlantic profile”

    Sub-head:  “Embattled chairman was under siege from within after article in the Atlantic revealed decisions made over Trump town hall“

    The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

    And on the pedestal, these words appear:

    . . . Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

    Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

    Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

    The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

    Excerpt from the Poem Ozymandias by Percy Shelley

    Goodbye Chris Licht from CNN.

    https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/jun/07/chris-licht-leaves-cnn

    Support for Local Media Outlet Requested

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    Local Journalism is difficult. From “Tony’s Kansas City” 5/20/23

    https://www.tonyskansascity.com/2023/05/kansas-city-beacon-blog-bemoans.html

    From an article in the independent Kansas City Beacon by Stephanie Campbell 5/19/23

    https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2023/05/19/independent-kansas-city-journalism/

    Headline:  “Investing in local news to bridge divides, empower citizens and create lasting change in Kansas City”

    “The future of journalism (lulz) is nothing more or less than begging rich people to pay big bucks for a digital mirror that merely offers slanted opinions & biased reports which satisfy the fickle sensibilities of our ruling elites.”

     

    No Profit, No News – News in a Nutshell?

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    Article in The Guardian by Jane Martinson, 5/19/23

    Headline:  “Vice and BuzzFeed were meant to be the future of news. What happened?”

    “While Vice and BuzzFeed were trying and failing to develop their own business plans, legacy media companies had to develop new ways to make money as circulation and advertising revenues declined. Faced with increasingly loud voices online, for some that meant a move towards more partisan media. Or, “news for angry old people”, as Roman Roy in Succession describes ATN . . .

    “If that’s all that is left after the money and tech men have finished experimenting with news online, then, young and old, we should all be angry.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/20/vice-and-buzzfeed-were-meant-to-be-the-future-of-news-what-happened

    Bye bye Vice and Buzzfeed?

    Now – What Was That Thing Called “Journalism” Again?

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    Article in futurism.com,  5/11/23 Is Google getting ready to replace human journalists? From Futurism 5/11/23

    Headline:  “Google Unveils Plan to Demolish the Journalism Industry Using AI”

    https://futurism.com/google-ai-search-journalism


    Chat GPT Future Journalist?

    “The Silicon Valley giant has long claimed that its goal is to maximize access to information. SGE (AI-powered search interface, dubbed ‘Search Generative Experience’) though, seemingly seeks to do something quite different — and if the company doesn’t figure out a way to compensate publishers for the labor it’ll be gleaning from the journalists, the effects on the public’s actual access to information could be catastrophic.”

     

    How to Translate the Media

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    From Daily Kos, May, 2023 :

    “. . . when a reporter relays information from “a source close to” someone important, we’re probably looking at a shopped story—one the source was explicitly asked to give to the media. When they say “who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly,” that just means the source doesn’t want their own name attached. And yes, “source close to ‘(newsmaker)’ can often just mean ‘(newsmaker)’ themselves.”