Selective Coverage

Media Caused War?

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Article in The Guardian by Jason Stanley, 6/13/25

Headline:  “The mainstream media has enabled Trump’s war on universities”

Subhead:  “For the past decade, the US press has fueled a moral panic over leftists on campus while failing to report on the right’s assault”

“. . .The US mainstream media has waged a decade-long propaganda campaign against American universities, culminating in the systematic misrepresentation of last year’s campus anti-war protests. This campaign has been the normalizing force behind the Trump administration’s attack on universities, as well as a primary cause of his multiple electoral successes. Unless the media recognizes the central role it has played, we cannot expect the attack to relent. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/13/mainstream-media-trump-universities

 

Cheering Fallen Senator

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Article in Media Matters by Gideon Taaffe, et. al., 6/12/25

Headline:  “Right-wing media immediately cheer Sen. Alex Padilla being thrown to the ground and handcuffed at Noem press conference”

Subhead:  “After clearly identifying himself, the California senator was pushed into a hallway, forced to the ground, and handcuffed”

“Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) was forcibly removed from Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s June 12 press conference in Los Angeles amid ongoing protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests. Right-wing media immediately began to justify the incident, falsely claiming that the senator had not identified himself, misrepresenting Padilla’s behavior, and defending the actions of law enforcement.

In a video of the incident, Padilla is clearly heard identifying himself as ‘Sen. Alex Padilla.’ . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/right-wing-media-immediately-cheer-sen-alex-padilla-being-thrown-ground-and-handcuffed

Is Manufactured News, News?

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Article in The Contrarian by Josh Levs, 6/12/25

Headline:  “Avoiding the media trap of the military parade”

Subhead:  “Help Americans see that standing against authoritarianism is patriotic.”

The military parade and protests planned for this Saturday present the media with a big opportunity to educate America. . .”

“They can explain why any hint of this being a birthday celebration for President Donald Trump rather than a celebration of the Army’s 250th birthday is not befitting a democracy, in which the people — not one person — rule. . .”

The media can help Americans who don’t follow the news closely understand why moves from the Trump administration endanger our democracy . . . And, crucially, the media can fact check those who try to use this Saturday to push anti-democratic movements under simplistic slogans.”

But instead, here’s what we’re likely to see: two-dimensional reporting that fails to dig into the issues and partisan reporting that casts the two sides as good guys vs. bad guys. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://contrarian.substack.com/p/avoiding-the-media-trap-of-the-military

Make Media do the Job?

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Article in The Contrarian by Josh Levs, 6/4/25

Headline:  “Veterans’ D-Day rally is a chance to set the media straight”

Subhead:  “Americans need to know how Trump is hurting those who served.”

“Over the next two weeks, a new battle will take place over the U.S. military. The chief theater in which it’s fought will be the media. . .”

“Having spent two decades inside big legacy media, and now tracking its epic failures through my podcast and newsletter They Stand Corrected, I know some things we can expect. Unfortunately, Trump and his supporters are likely to get the exact kinds of storylines they want — unless the rest of us push the media to do its job. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://contrarian.substack.com/p/veterans-d-day-rally-is-a-chance

Reluctant Reporting Truth

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Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 6/2/25

Headline:  “Even Fox & Friends can’t completely deny that the GOP’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” is set to blow up the deficit”

“Reality crept into Fox News’ coverage of the Republican tax bill on Monday when a Fox & Friends co-host acknowledged that the legislation will increase the budget deficit because the GOP Congress is prioritizing President Donald Trump’s tax cut agenda. . .”

“But Fox & Friends’ Ainsley Earhardt acknowledged the following morning that the bill will cause the deficit to increase due to its tax cuts — though she minimized by how much.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/even-fox-friends-cant-completely-deny-gops-big-beautiful-bill-set-blow-deficit

Can Student Journalists do Their Jobs?

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Article in Poynter by Adelina Yankova, 5/27/25

Headline:  “Student reporters are under pressure to protect sources — and still tell the truth”

Subhead:  “As fear spreads on campuses, journalists face a new dilemma: How do you build trust when few are willing to be named?”

“Last December, Andrew Massie got a text from his roommate: He thought he had story for him. An hour later, Massie, who is a journalist at The Fordham Ram student newspaper, returned home to find several people waiting to talk. The ensuing three-month reporting journey led Massie to sift through documents and interview 26 people about alleged administrative negligence by a Fordham dean.

“Still, when the story was published in the Ram on March 5, it featured only two named sources.

“Most of the interviewees, who feared for their current jobs and future employment prospects, would only speak to Massie, the features editor of the Ram, under the condition of anonymity. In some cases, the interviews were fully off the record, meaning Massie had to confirm their testimony with others.

“Massie’s experience is increasingly common for student journalists across the country as they reckon with people’s hesitance to be named in stories. . .”

Read the full story here:

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2025/student-journalism-challenges-anonymous-sources-off-record/

Journalism Requires Evidence?

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Article in Daily Kos by Bison, 5/26/25

Headline:  “On anonymous sources, aging presidents, and the media’s eternal craving for redemption from Damnation”

“Yes, the recent book Original Sin introduces new reporting that escalates concerns about President Biden’s mental and physical decline to near-scandalous levels. But that’s precisely the problem. Much of the content is based on anonymous sources. This approach might hold in journalism but fails the standard of evidence required in history and political science, where claims must be transparent and verifiable. Instead of offering clarity, the book ends up echoing a long-standing, distorted narrative promoted by right-wing media: that Biden is a hollowed-out figure, mentally absent and manipulated by shadowy figures. At that point, it veers into propaganda—not journalism. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/5/26/2324415/-The-Gospel-According-to-Whispers-How-Original-Sin-Became-Scripture-for-Media-Reckoning?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

Book Sales Drive Media?

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Article in AlterNet by Ailia Zehra, 5/22/25

Headline:  ” ‘Fake outrage to gin up ratings’: Critics say Tapper’s book is ‘everything wrong with the media’ “

“CNN anchor Jake Tapper is being criticized over the information he supposedly had about former President Joe Biden’s mental acuity before the 2024 election as he promotes his new book about the former president’s decline.

“Some commentators have argued that talking about President Donald Trump’s actions and their impact is more important than discussing Biden’s cognitive health during his presidency.

“Political commentator Tristan Snell wrote on the social platform X: “Dear Jake Tapper, No, the original sin was JANUARY 6 — and not convicting Trump immediately after. Anything else is fake outrage to gin up ratings and book sales.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/jake-tapper-book/

Media Ignore Charges

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Article in The Intercept by Natasha Lennard, 5/20/25

Headline: “Trump is Prosecuting a Congressional Democrat for Doing Her Job. The Media’s Response: No Big Deal”

Subhead:  “You’d never know reading the New York Times that charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver are nothing but an authoritarian attack.”

“You may have come across a common thought experiment that asks how the establishment U.S. media might cover a given domestic news event were it to occur in a maligned foreign country. The latest disturbing news from Donald Trump’s Justice Department, for example, might be framed as something like: ‘Trumpist regime targets opposition politician with fabricated charges for carrying out oversight.’

“Instead, the typical mainstream reports were muted on the Justice Department’s obscene decision Monday night to charge New Jersey Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver with ‘assaulting’ a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer when the member of Congress attempted to conduct an oversight visit earlier this month at a massive, new ICE detention facility in her hometown of Newark . . .”

Read the full article at: 

https://theintercept.com/2025/05/20/trump-prosecuting-democrat-mciver-ice-media/

Look for News Behind the Curtain

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Article in Daily Kos by Egberto Willies, 5/19/25

Headline:  “Media fixation on Biden is a distraction. Why they fear AOC. Frum blasts tariffs like no other.”

“The Biden tapes, sadly, along with his cancer diagnosis, are creating a mainstream media distraction again. Why do they hate AOC? Conservative David Frum nails tariffs for the attack on the poor. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/5/19/2323223/-Media-fixation-on-Biden-is-a-distraction-Why-they-fear-AOC-Frum-blasts-tariffs-like-no-other?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web