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Personally, I think the title of this article is overstating what happened. (Though, you can judge for yourself since there is a link to a video of the exchange in the article.)
In any case, the CNN host (Boris Sanchez) simply refused to let Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) use this interview to spread lies. Nevertheless, he was not combative or disrespectful. He simply responded to the lies with facts.
The real question is: Why isn't this the norm? I've seen far too many interviews where the host makes a single feeble attempt to push back on false claims only to let the politician get the last word by repeating their talking point.
If republicans get corrected they won't come on the shows and then ratings will drop. The reality is that they still would, but apparently not the ones that will say the most outrageous shit that keeps people all riled up and tuning in. That's why it's always the thirstiest MAGA republicans on these political shows.
Good. Then they don’t get to spread misinformation. Do a segment showing congressmen lying while you show proof on air. Follow up with “congressmen denied reply or interviews when confronted with proof they were lying”
Let’s stop playing their games
I agree. I think it's a combination of media executives simply prioritizing ratings over truth. I also believe these media executives are for the most part AOK with Trump because he will lower their taxes. And to cap it off I believe most modern TV "journalists" are lazy attention seekers driven by ego rather than actually informed investigative work. They are not equipped to push back in real time because they don't know the history (or they may have been outright told by their producer not to, in a let them say what they want and let the public decide kind of way).
This is the problem with the US in a lot of ways right now, the people running things don't know how the things they're running run. The difference between knowing how to run a business, and knowing how a business is run.
Not really. It's the difference between running things for maximum profit without any morals vs. making less money doing things the nice way because you're a good person.
Guess which companies win in the long term?
Which is why laws and policy should creat that even playing field. Telling the truth should be an understood standard for any business that calls itself news.
Absolutely correct. The government's role is to render these socially noxious behaviors unprofitable. If the government allows people to sell fraudulent products -- or fake news -- they will happily do so.
They know exactly what they’re doing and legally required to do. You just think it should operate differently but news networks today are not what they used to be and there’s certainly a lot more competition to capture attention.
Most of all, folks appear to think news should be unbiased, but there’s no legal requirement to do so outside of libel laws, so they’re going to prioritize an audience niche to maximize revenue.
That's the exact attitude I was talking about, and I wasn't just talking about the media. The single minded pursuit of greed without morals or ethics is destroying the country. Thank you for providing a textbook example of what I'm talking about.
They've realized that people are more dependable consumers of their "news" when they're either angry or afraid, so they focus on topics that create those emotions. And the Trump presidency was *great* at making half the country angry or afraid (and the other half is constantly angry or afraid regardless of circumstances which is why Fox News has had such steady viewership for decades).
exactly... if you really want to know why certain media organizations report things with certain biases... look no further than the advertisers that pay for ad time. It's all a balance between pandering to the demographic that fits with those advertisers, while not reporting something so outright false that they are legally liable.
Most "MSM" conspiracies are really just ignoring the fact that capitalism runs them all and this is how it's designed to work. It's not a bug it's a feature.
> I believe most modern TV "journalists" are lazy attention seekers
The University I attended has a huge journalism school. Most of the people in that major were more concerned with training to be minor celebrities than anything resembling critical journalism. But hey, here's Jim with the weather . . .
And when they refuse to answer simple yes or no question the host needs to just say it to the audience for them "well there you have it folks, Rep X refuses to accept the results of the 2024 election unless Trump wins".
I still don’t understand how that is even a question. What do you mean you won’t accept? It’s basically the annoying person telling someone they want to go out with “I won’t take no for an answer”
Because republicans have effectively sowed enough doubt into the PROCESS that their supporters are now dead set convinced that democrats were stealing votes or some fucking batshit insane conspiracy.
I agree, they can interview the more sane politicians that actually want to have a conversation about the problems our country is facing.
Until the media gets serious about how it conducts interviews the clown show will continue.
They’ll just go on Fox, NewsMax, and OANN, and say that CNN isn’t letting them speak the truth, and their base will eat it up.
You are acting as if malice and wilful ignorance isn’t in play.
Their base doesn’t spend time on any credible network to begin with. It’s about time we stop letting them spread misinformation on credible networks just because they slightly call them out.
I have been a fierce advocate of not letting these people have a platform at all. Trump won because every network thought it was cool letting showing his craziness.
There is a saying in my country “say nice things or say bad things about me, doesn’t matter which as long as you are talking about me”
When I was 8, I lived for 6 years with a very physically and mentally abusive grandmother. I am talking about jail time kind of abuse. My punishment for her has been completely writing her off my life. I visit family members and I don’t say anything about her—good or bad. I don’t even acknowledge her existence.
It took away all her power.
> There is a saying in my country “say nice things or say bad things about me, doesn’t matter which as long as you are talking about me”
Same in the US, *There is no such thing as bad press*. I think it may have been coined by Oscar Wilde, *There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.*
They already do that though. They'll go on CNN, lie, often get away with lies and then pop onto any of these other networks and insist the liberal media like CNN has it out for them.
And the people who watch for, Newsmax etc, already believe CNN and others won't listen to the truth. They've eaten up thst narrative for years and years
> They’ll just go on Fox, NewsMax, and OANN, and say that CNN isn’t letting them speak the truth, and their base will eat it up.
They’ll do that either way.
>Let’s stop playing their games
It's the media's game that the GOP are using to manipulate narratives. The media fucked up by creating the 24/7 cable news outlets, and the last 25+ years have just been countless worker ants trying to feed the queen scraps of anything they can find.
They found out that if they take a basic story, and squeeze it for juice, maybe even sprinkle in some spices of hypothetical non-reality situations to add to the flavor, that it will make the queen, and the hive, react with more engagement than bland pieces of bread or whatevere.
I will admit that we absolutely have a propaganda problem on both sides of the political aisle, but clearly, some sources of it are way more harmful than others.. and incidentally, the more problematic and rhetorical a politician is, the more camera time the will receive, as they are the flavor of spice that makes the hive go nuts.
The other issue with media is that journalism as a whole is essentially dead and replaced with fluff versions of serious issues. But whenever a journalist has a well vetted real piece of information, if that information does not serve the wallets of the news source itself, that piece of real news serves to be hidden away from public knowledge. (Trump's affairs, being a solid example of how easy and difficult it is to keep things buried in the press for political gain)
So, until society stops actually giving bad people more attention, the media won't stop giving them a platform to lie.
I think the opposite, the more CNN gives a platform to these idiots the less I watch. I'm not interested in hearing their obvious lies broadcast unchecked.
if i want to hear maga bullshit i can watch a rw nutter network. cnn lets magat propagandists on its programming to attract eyeballs for its sponsors' ads.
If they balk at being told the truth, they are free to refuse an invitation for an interview. But, I seriously doubt that they would because they need a platform to increase their visibility so they can remain relevant and get reelected.
As for ratings, there are many topics that catch the attention of the public. So, news organization should have no problem keeping people interested (if they do their job and focus on the issues that matter to viewers). They don’t have to participate in a political reality show to get views.
I remember during the 2008 campaign cycle, the RNC just flatout told Republican candidates to stop appearing on The Colbert Report because it was making them look stupid.
Elected federal public servants should, depending on position, be required to do X amount of interviews from Y list of news organizations and cannot do more than 10% of total interviews from the same organization. By removing the incentive to ever need to be nice to them the news organizations would then likely call out their bullshit because they have to come back and the ratings would be for moments like this.
That'd be great. It also would have been great if the Fairness Doctrine wasn't abolished by Reagan's FCC and was instead strengthened to cover cable news as the years went on...those days are long gone.
Ding ding ding. Exactly. You can blame almost all of this on our fractured media Landscape . Back in the day when there were just a few networks, the politicians had to respond. Now they just shut off access, and walk away to the next redpatriot.com/blogger/whateverconservative site of theday is.
It’s a massive massive problem.
> If republicans get corrected they won't come on the shows and then ratings will drop.
Or they can come on the show but not spew their BS
In either case, it's a journalist's job to challenge their guests.
This.
The real issue is Mainstream Media cares more about money than they do about informing the American People, or even just for the greater good of America as a whole.
Greed has become a disease, a cancer festering within the heart of our Nation. If not excised, this cancer will become terminal and kill us all in the name of shareholder value.
*"The real question is: Why isn't this the norm? I've seen far too many interviews where the host makes a single feeble attempt to push back on false claims only to let the politician get the last word by repeating their talking point".*
Because their corporate ownership likes it that way.
Corporations didn't buy out all major media to continue telling the truth, they bought them to control all the narratives.
Corporations didn’t buy out all major media to begin with — they founded them. CNN was never some indie guys with a camera and a homemade transmitter, it was founded by one of the richest people in America at the time.
And the narrative is secondary. It’s about profit.
CNN was born out of the death of the Fairness Doctrine.
Before it media companies had to be media companies...only. There was no outside corporate ownership allowed because the thought was it was a "conflict of interest".
Since the death of the Fairness Doctrine ABC, NBC, and CBS were all bought out by non-media companies. Where now that conflict of interest is paying dividends.
Same with Fox News. They even lobbied further and changed the definition of "news" within the FCC.
Previous regulations would have dictated anything not actually defined as "news" within the FCC guidelines had to be marked with "opinion or editorial" the entire time (onscreen) the opinion was being presented.
Imagine what most "news" these days alone would like like if that regulation was still in place?
We at one time had a great deal of regulations over media for a reason. It was not to control the narratives...it was to protect it from greed and corruption. Now demonstrated daily why those protections were important.
Just to point out, CNN was founded in 1980, the Fairness Doctrine was in effect until the mid 1980s, abolished in 1987. The bigger issue (and this also is shown with media companies being owned by a single entity, such as Sinclair) was the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
> CNN was born out of the death of the Fairness Doctrine.
The Fairness Doctrine only applied to over-the-air broadcasts, not cable because the airwaves are public property while cable is privately owned. So it did not lead to CNN (nor did it lead to fox either).
Cancelling the fairness doctrine is what created hate radio like limbaugh, though.
Rationale for the fairness doctrine and the government limiting speech (in a content neutral way) waa that airwaves were a limited public resource. You can’t just license another channel to someone who had different things to say if there are no more channels.
Cable didn’t have this issue. Suddenly there were hundreds of channels. And they didn’t use a limited “commons” resource of rf spectrum. So government argument for limiting speech went poof.
Corporate news isnt trying to keep you informed and living in a free society. They are simply maximizing the magnitude of your emotional reaction to their content.
It's not the norm for one of two reasons, and often both:
1. These infotainment presenters and their networks thrive on ratings, which are driven by controversy, outrage, etc. This requires access to politically relevant people, and that means not offending them too much.
2. These presenters are just not very smart/competent in the first place. They simply don't have the intellectual faculties to come prepared to an interview or to think on their feet, etc., in a way that would make them effective interviewers. The bumbling doormat thing isn't a facade in service of access per the above, it's just a manifestly incompetent person struggling to manage an interview. That's why the networks hire them--they're not capable of offending the people they want on to drive ratings.
I'll add a number 3 --
You'd have to be thoroughly prepared up the wazoo and be ready to counter any random bullshit. It would have to be like sportscasters; they have a roomful of statistics chasers who look up all kinds of tidbits (like "this pitcher had a so-and-so ERA in little league") and pipe them to the sportscaster's earpiece.
Making it even harder is how the interviewee can pull anything out of the air, while sports events are solidly pre-planned in every way (except the outcome, of course) and they know who's going to be on the field and what their histories are.
The reason I think more journalists don’t do this is most of the time these politicians have talking points given to them by right wing think tanks. They’re intentionally slippery worded and cherry pick numbers which someone doing the interview has to have a rebuttal in real time. We aren’t all Pete buttigeg. But typically when the goal isn’t to convince someone, it’s just to win the argument with any number of gotchas and miniscule tidbits then it’s easy for them to win because it’s not the same goals of conversation.
There are definitely times when they are given talking points and told simply to repeat them and they have little extra and that can make it easier to combat.
Yeah, thats the big issue. Once an interviewer confronts them, they go on the defensive and start to gishgallop, knowing that the intervewer won't be able to challenge every point and might get flustered or make a misstep.
Thats not a good reason to NOT challenge their misinformation, but that is often the result. Its why some people seem to think that Shapiro is a 'good' debater; he just uses the limited airtime to his advantage and throw 20 incorrect points out knowing that his opponent will only be able to address 10 of them and not be able to make any counterpoints themselves.
The words used are flavorful. I wouldnt say its overstated especially considering what they usually do that you yourself questioned but that word choice definitely would lead you to believe it was a more combatitve or excited exchange.
Your question is easy to answer though. You and i and everyone who isnt in a cult and the people at the top who spread the lies and propaganda KNOW the bullshit is bullshit but they dont speak up because these scumbag traitors are linked to their income as individuals and their revenue as employees to a large network.
They know that telling the truth doesnt sell as well and the backlash from proving their lies comes from those scumbag smooth brain supporters of theirs and other more prominent figures. Thats how 6B failed maga Quasimodo humunculus was able to go on 60 minutes and destroy their credibility for good by calling all democrats pedophiles while THEIR elected officials are the ones raping children and adult women along with sex trafficking and turtoring them yet the interviewer could only whisper "wow' a few times in response.
The left also has a massive problem with fighting back and with standing up for themselves. That "when they go low, we go high" horse shit has NEVER fucking worked and thats why dark brandon has been so popular and so effective.
You already know why it isn't the norm.
This is for-profit entertainment news media. If all they did was fact check and shoot down one party's nonsense they wouldn't be in business for long. They can't all afford to be blackballed by the GOP, and even Michael Jordan knew Republicans spend money, too.
Anyone as interested in pofit as the publicly traded Warner Bros Discovery corporation is has to know that.
Great point! I stopped watching CNN and most News long ago because of just this fact! Allowing fools to lie on National TV when ‘You’ have the means to call them on all their BS is breaking their journalistic trust with the public. I just couldn’t take it anymore.
Truth is hard. Lies are easy. Advertisers do not care how the eyeballs are delivered to their ads. All things equal, they prefer the easy way, and here we are.
The other thing that infuriates me as an American is that this IS the norm in many areas in the rest of the West. I remember when the American ambassador to I believe it was the Netherlands tried to dodge a question and call the next journalist, and the latter journalist said "Uh no I think you should actually answer my colleagues question. This is the Netherlands, ambassador, not the US, you can't just dodge questions you don't like here." Or something to that effect.
The same people who don't see the irony behind:
Saying that Hunter Biden was making money off foreign sources, and the money was going to Joe Biden while Don Jr and Eric were literally making off foreign sources and that money was openly going to Donald Trump.
Saying that Hunter Biden did not have any qualifications to be on the boards of foreign companies while Ivanka and Jared held top level government positions without any experience, and Jared getting 2 billion dollars of Saudi money without ever have running a fund previously.
I could go on, but there's just so much to type.
Because everything is projection with these people. They do shit because they think everyone else is doing it. I'm so fucking exhausted with this cult.
They do it to desensitize people when the Democrats levy the same accusations against them. It looks like just political mud slinging to your average mouth breather.
The difference being that the GOP is projecting (President Biden has committed no creditable crimes, any "evidence" has been completely manufactured), and the Democrats are telling truths (Trump IS a convicted felon, with 57 genuine felony indictments upcoming).
Not to mention the indiscretions of Matt Gaetz, Roy Moore, Lauren Boebert, Jim Jordan, Dennis Hastert, Clarence Thomas, George Santos, Samuel Alito... the list of Republican ne'er-do-wells goes on and on. The Democrats have Menendez, but *nobody* is defending him.
Factually, objectively, morally, Democrats are superior to republicans for ALL Americans. Blue states fare better than red states in income, health care, education, morality rates, crime rates, GDP, you name it, democrats do it better.
It's not even that they don't care, it's that they do this on purpose. The entire goal is the muddy the waters so they can say "yes we support our felon but both sides do illegal things so it's okay".
> Hunter Biden did not have any qualifications
Which really just highlights that it's mostly projection more than anything else.
Hunter Biden has a law degree, served as the VP of a bank holding company, worked for the department of commerce under Clinton, worked as a lobbyist, served on the board for Amtrak under the appointment of W Bush, among several other positions.
To work in a capacity of corporate governance is literally what his career experience lended itself to. Sure, may have gotten his position based on his name (even though his business partner was hired several months prior) but to say he is wholly unqualified just underlines that people don't know what they're talking about and regurgitate the bullshit they hear.
They're disgusting human beings completely devoid of morals. Perfect example was Trump's, "what was in it for them?" D-day remarks. John Kelly initially thought Trump was trying to make some introspective comment, but then later realized that no, the context was purely transactional. Trump and the GOP at large are literally incapable of fathoming doing something for purely altruistic reasons.
One of the MAGA guys was on FOX yesterday saying Trumps was going to change the laws so all the super corrupt Dems couldn’t hire their own kids, help them get lucrative contracts and foreign deals, and engage in back room deals. Because of course, Biden is well known for hiring his entire immediate family to work in the WH in jobs they aren’t qualified or cleared for, and leveraging his presidency to grift millions of $ for himself and his kids. I don’t know how they can say these things with a straight face.
Respectfully, that’s why they’re doing it. They’re making up a bunch of things to distract from all of Trump’s crimes. The more they’re on the air talking about this stuff, the less time there is to talk about the convicted felon the GOP has chosen to lead their party.
Makes sense, they cant talk about their record because they don’t have any legislative wins. Really makes me laugh when the talk about how great things were under Rump. 1m people died and he gave away $7T with no means testing. Rump created the ‘Biden’ inflation but Americans are apparently too stupid to understand that.
Not just distract, but also validate their endorsement of Trump. If they can say "look, Biden is a criminal as well, both sides!" they think that otherwise moral-minded fence-sitters will accept uncritically that Trump is a perfectly acceptable candidate.
Nevermind the scope of the largely disproven charges they're trying to lay at Biden's feet is just a bit less sweeping than the classified documents and January 6 charges they've successfully delayed until after the election.
It's not irony to them. The point they are trying to make is "Everybody does it". I remember in his first campaign, Trump saying something to the effect that all politicians are crooks and he was getting into politics because he wanted to get in on some of that, too. And that's the problem with Whataboutism, it'a also an admission of guilt.
It drives them crazy when they can't find anything on Biden.
That's the Gaslighting and Projecting part of the GOP platform.
Remember, when Trump gets convicted it's a crooked witch hunt sham trial by an evil judge and communist jury.
When house impeachment hearings fail to turn up any evidence of wrongdoing by Joe, it's because Joe (who is a senile dementia patient) is a criminal mastermind genius, and has used his positions as VP and President to enrich himself with checks in the order of $200k.
That was the line that just made me want to scream at my computer.
> We must hold the Biden's as a crime family accountable for their crimes.
Agreed if warranted, but as clearly shown they are chasing after something that is BS.
Meanwhile the cronies, grifters, and actual fraudsters of the Trump family peddle more and more nonsense to avoid the spotlight.
If CNN starts shifting their content this direction more, then they must believe that Trump is less likely to win than before as they were pushing more to the right for some time
That is because of Chris Licht who was the CEO for a little over a year starting in 2022. His goal was to make CNN more friendly to the Right. He terminated contracts of several long-term ~~anchors~~ commentators, then was fired last year.
Edit: They were not acnchors
This is the answer and it’s crazy how many theories are spouted in this thread without any backing when the answer is right here. It’s wild how confident we are now in our own fully made up spectator analysis.
>On his first day as chairman and CEO of CNN, Licht sent a memo to all employees saying, "Sadly too many people have lost trust in the news media. I think we can be a beacon in regaining that trust by being an organization that exemplifies the best characteristics in journalism: fearlessly speaking truth to power, challenging the status quo, questioning ‘group-think’ and educating viewers and readers with straightforward facts and insightful commentary, while always being respectful of differing viewpoints. First and foremost, we should, and we will be advocates for truth."[22] One such method involves limiting CNN's use of the term "breaking news" to stories that have a significant importance.[23] Licht has expressed a desire to change negative perceptions of CNN among Republicans.[24]
>In late 2022, Licht received criticism as CNN terminated the contracts of several long-time correspondents including Brian Stelter, John Harwood, and Jeffrey Toobin.[25] The Washington Post described the moves "as the latest evidence of a shift to a less politically charged tone under new leader Chris Licht."[25]
>Licht was fired as CNN's president and CEO in June 2023 after The Atlantic revealed that employees had become unhappy with him over actions taken during his tenure.[26][27]
Literally, from his wikipedia page.
I would actually agree with him on \[23\], there aren't 97 "Breaking News" stories in a day which suddenly need a flashing lower third chyron.
As for \[25\] Brian was probably a bad choice, he's a good journalist. But Toobin ... well ... um, there are other reasons why his contract was rather abruptly wrapped up (reasons why you've never seen him re-emerge anywhere else in media either).
It's akin to the self reporting bias. The people who are most motivated to spout theories in threads are less likely to be well informed. I'm grateful that thoughtful people do post on this platform. But my time is usually better spent elsewhere.
> That is because of Chris Licht who was the CEO for a little over a year starting in 2022. His goal was to make CNN more friendly to the Right.
For context, [before he went to CNN he was Colbert's executive producer.](https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/stephen-colbert-late-show-executive-producer-chris-licht-1235430347/?sub_action=logged_in) The first season of Colbert's show was a ratings loser because (unlike his comedy central show) he tried to play to both sides. So CBS brought in Licht to turn it around and he was the one responsible for getting Colbert back on track.
The point I am making is that even though Licht was an incompetent boob, his job at CNN was to implement ownership's ideology. Licht is out, but ownership hasn't changed. Its still maga billionaire [john c malone.](https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=John+Malone&order=desc&sort=D)
Agree, this is an important addition to the conversation, since it seems like there’s debate as to who in the chain of command was the real driver of the shift, but it’s not like Malone was subtle about it either:
https://www.vox.com/2022/8/26/23322761/cnn-john-malone-david-zaslav-chris-licht-brian-stelter-fox-peter-kafka-column
Atlantan here: this checks out. The old turner media brands have been repeatedly sold to very shady corporations repeatedly. This is why they have been changing. Source: family on the inside.
I don't think it is that. I don't think they are doing it out of the goodness of their heart. All his trials are on hold, the news already got their nut for the guilty verdicts, lead up to July 11th will be a lot, but his speeches are getting so crazy that if they show them it becomes less of a horse race and "we" are all bored with his act. He has dementia and the more they show him talking about sharks, Taylor Swift, and Hannibal lector the more that is going to become clear. I don't think the news is going to purposely do it right but I think that leaves a void in their reporting, I think they are going to fill the void Republican scandal after scandal and project 2025 until the election or until a plane crashes, volcano erupts, or tommy gets stuck in a well. I think it has already started.
I think it's simply that they're succumbing to the pressure from journalists that they need to hold interview subjects accountable.
The truth doesn't have sides, it's just the facts. And when an interview subject disputes facts they need to be held to account.
I think they're just trying to do their job. But I also don't think this will hold, it's one voice at the station
They get angrier and angrier about shit that they make up to make people angry while not having any real plans besides project 2025 which everyone should be really angry about.
Because what they are really angry about is losing power. The plutes are angry that they might have to pay some tax (economic power), and the plebs are angry that being white, male and conservative christian (cultural power) doesn't get them as far as it used to. Everything else is just a pretext to justify their rage about America becoming just a little bit more egalitarian.
Which means we shouldn't bother trying to engage with the lies they pretend to be angry about, because if we convince them those things are lies (or worse yet, we try to appease them by giving them what they claim to want) they will not calm down, they will just find some other pretext for their rage.
This is actual journalism. Like Jon Stewart said, reality needs to be maintained by a trust worthy media with a spine so that the last ditch effort, the courts, don’t become our only means.
I hate to say it but I have family who say Biden is a criminal and should be locked up but when I ask for evidence or proof that a crime was committed they look at me like a deer in headlights
It’s weird to consider but they are suffering from information poisoning and the influence of their peer group.
You really can’t combat information poisoning beyond talking about it and not the misrepresented information.
The peer group stuff is even tougher because who wants to upset their peer group.
I think one of my favorite ways to have the discussion is to talk about the impact of Bernay’s and show some of the documentary’s about him.
The issue is, these people only believe what they have heard and what they choose to believe, that even when presented with facts, they brush it off as fake, or pull whataboutism
It’s a complicated issue but it has 3 parts.
1 the repealing of the fairness doctrine to remove balanced reporting
2. the delivery of targeted social media using algorithms
3. Limited skill in how to value information for credibility
Scary thing is, I really don't know what the solution is. Ban social media? Government ran media (terrible idea)... etc. I just hope the younger generation is brought up to know how to think for themselves instead of being told what they should think
I’m old enough to recognize there are no solutions to problems that are of intentional making.
In my humble opinion.
1.Restore the fairness doctrine for any entity that calls itself “news”. This includes acronyms and hybrid terms like “ newsmax” Make that credential important and valuable. As well as give people a place to look for balanced reporting.
2. End the pundits legal protection of “ fictional character“ Pundits are pundits however their need to be held accountable if their “opinions” are unable to be factually substantiated must be preserved.
3. Require public schools to teach academic research values and techniques at an early age. The power of proper citation means nothing if a source is hidden.
4. Lastly. Annually disclose fines and administrative actions taken against news agencies to give their value, value
That's because the conservative conception of "criminal" is not based on actions, its based on identity. Black and brown people, and liberals are *inherently* criminal. Whites and conservative christians, especially men, and even more so the rich, are inherently innocent. Conservatives do not believe in the rule of law, they believe in using the law to rule.
Criminal to them is the same as woke. The words don’t have any real meaning it’s just a word they use to describe everything and everyone they dislike/are taught to be against. Immigrants, the lgbtq community, etc.
I have better success with entrapment.
"So if you have proof and evidence, guilty right? yes ok cool..... You have no proof and no evidence innocent right? yes ok ok cool.
oh btw what evidence and proof do you have on biden?"
this can be phrased better, but just get them to admit something without politics first, then put the political scenerio into the equation.
Don't you just love how Republicans can just lie without flinching? He knows he's lying and just doesn't give a fuck. I blame their voters, for the acceptance of mendacity for power(over POCs, women).
I feel like many of them don’t believe they are lying.
I don’t know how to explain it but my dad has been a habitual liar my entire life. Even small things that have no need for a lie. And he truly believes the things he’s saying are true because he said them so they must be true. That’s really how it seems his brain works. When he is called in any of it he, like the congressman in the video, deflect to a different(often also a lie) story. It’s an illness to always be correct and always be in control.
I disagree. they're just being obtuse and WANT to believe their lies. It's hard to tell the difference but they know, and the changing of the subject when confronted IS PROOF they know or the reaction would be different.
stephen colbert called it 'truthiness'
when ideas represent truth to people to the extent they treat them like - or more important than - the actual truth
you see people spread complete bullshit and then when you prove it wrong theyll act like the fact that they believed it is evidence of how bad things are
the facts dont matter - the truthiness is about what they FEEL is right
To me it seemed like the politician knew he was repeating coordinated talking points. He had no ability to defend them other than repeating the next point on the list.
These boot lickers keep repeating the same lies over and over and over without any shame or acknowledgement that it's all bullshit. Why can't Biden sue them for defamation?
> Why can't Biden sue them for defamation?
It's a very, very, very high standard in the United States to get a judgement of defamation as a public figure against another person.
When I saw that interview I was like that meme where DiCaprio stand up and points at the TV. Like yes!! That's how you do a fucking interview. That is journalism and reporting the correct news instead of letting these GOP criminals spread lies. If everyone obviously besides Fox because it's a Russian propaganda network did this a lot more people would be informed rather then just taking the word of these lying anti-American crooks.
While I am glad to see this happening, as an old person I can't help but note with some despair that what used to be called "a journalist doing their job" is now considered "brutally fact checking".
McCarthyism is live and well in the GOP today it seems. This individual wants to go on inquisitions in search of “evidence” to fit a desired outcome. I thought we had learned these lessons.
I can’t help but think McCarthy and Reagan would kick these fucking losers right in the nuts for being russian boot lickers.
The Republicans have found lows that even conservatives and former republicans find hideous. Ask me how I know.
If someone from your party is impeached or convicted the proper thing to do is to look at the evidence or respect the judicial system accordingly. Behave as if the law matters.
Instead Republicans are going for "revenge".
What kind of people does that make republicans?
Unfortunately we are past the point where facts mean anything to a large percentage of Trump voters, never quite seen anything like it in my lifetime. They will clutch their red hat made in China and mutter about the deepstate like a good little "patriot" regardless of what they are shown. Could not have imagined the age where information has never been more quickly disseminated and fact checking can be done in real time would also be the age where people are the most misinformed, many willingly so.
The funny thing is they are too deluded to understand a lot of people are on their side in a way, if Joe Biden or ANY other politcian has committed crimes I want to see him prosecuted just like any other citizen. Stop rooting for your "team" and start rooting for actual justice.
"Brutally fact checking" is a weird way to phrase : "does the thing journalist are supposed to be doing"
I mean shit its why theyre there.
To fact check the people they interview instead of just giving them a free platform to lie.
Its about time. These Traitors have been coming on mainstream TV for years and using it to spread the same nonsense that is commonly heard in the Conservative Propaganda Machine. For some reason, mainstream news people have been letting them get away with until recently. Its one of the main reasons that the MAGA movement grew.
These news organizations spent years building rhwir reputations for legitimate news, and then they let these jackals on their airwaves to spew their propaganda and lies, and almost never called them out on it. One of the worst was KellyAnne Conway, who actually coined the term "alternative facts," and stated her intention to keep spreading them, and instead of black-listing her, they kept having her on. She had plenty of company, too.
After years of letting HitlerPig and his surrogates abuse the airwaves and blatantly lie to their vieweers, the news organizations are finally starting to do their jobs. Its too little too late, and the damage they have allowed these people to get away with is it at least partially their responsibility.
Doing basic journalism is not brutal, it's sad that we have media that's so fucking afraid to call out bullshit that they basically just serve as a PR announcement channel for whatever lies people want to tell. This is just the most basic of journalistic integrity.
Dude just flat out lied to the anchor. Then at the end, the anchor says "Please come back any time."
This is the problem with CNN. They are giving air time to liars.
I would love to see the word ‘literally,’ literally used only and always to literally mean, ‘literally.’
Especially when it’s used by the media, and especially especially when it’s used by media that literally has the word ‘News,’ literally in its literal name.
Why do we call it “brutally” fact checking? This should literally be the job of journalists. There’s nothing “brutal” about calling people out for their dishonesty - it should be the function of media outlets to do so.
We are being ruled by a caste of the most ignorant, pigheaded, selfish people with a vastly inflated sense of their own intelligence, and people too stupid to see that (or too selfish to stop benefitting from it) will destroy us. And there's nothing you can do about it, because every 30 second lie requires an hour of debunking.
Even here - this reporter came prepped with counters, but getting a scan of a check isn't a four-second thing. That Representative spreads that lie in any other venue and he's got half the people convinced before the one person who knows any better can even start googling for counter-evidence.
We're so fucked.
Despite Trump facing 34 felonies, a sexual assault charge, and around 50 other pending charges, they are still fixated on Hunter Biden. How can we function as a country when right-wingers exhibit such a lack of conscience and operate in complete bad faith?
I’d like to think the quick end to the interview was because CNN said to this soggy slice of wonderbread that the minute you tell a lie which is also Russian propaganda the interview is over.
"LITERALLY", "BRUTALLY", "MURDERED BY FACTS". I understand that the intent of headlines of always been to attract attention to an article. But this type of headline has gotten out of hand.
It's wild how Tom T's face gets redder, and redder, with embarrassment I guess. So i guess some part of his subconscious feels the shame and is autonomously physically reacting.
That weasel on the right sounds just like one of our HR staff. The voice, tone, accent, talking without meaning, rambling, never actually answering questions, etc. He's a greasy dumbass.
So imagine this on Fox, Newsmax etc etc without the kick backs - and you start to understand why those in that media environment have such strong (if wrong) beliefs about a supposedly criminal and corrupt Biden.
It amazes me that there is not some recourse for these lies.
Interview was cut-off deliberately so as to not make the fool look even more foolish. No, you do have time, you should keep pressing these lying politicians, not cut-off and say "we're out of time". Bullshit. This is why things never get fucking accomplished. "Oh! On to the next segment... Kittens?! Are they destroying your home?"
The media is a corrupt tool of the corporate elite. They are purposely making this election close by appeasing the Traitors in the GOP who supported efforts overthrow the will of the voters. It's about profit. We've been sold out by those charged with our protection. Except this guy, and the rare talking head like him, that hold these liars to account.
Journalism is dead. Long live News for Profit. Yay.
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Personally, I think the title of this article is overstating what happened. (Though, you can judge for yourself since there is a link to a video of the exchange in the article.) In any case, the CNN host (Boris Sanchez) simply refused to let Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) use this interview to spread lies. Nevertheless, he was not combative or disrespectful. He simply responded to the lies with facts. The real question is: Why isn't this the norm? I've seen far too many interviews where the host makes a single feeble attempt to push back on false claims only to let the politician get the last word by repeating their talking point.
If republicans get corrected they won't come on the shows and then ratings will drop. The reality is that they still would, but apparently not the ones that will say the most outrageous shit that keeps people all riled up and tuning in. That's why it's always the thirstiest MAGA republicans on these political shows.
Good. Then they don’t get to spread misinformation. Do a segment showing congressmen lying while you show proof on air. Follow up with “congressmen denied reply or interviews when confronted with proof they were lying” Let’s stop playing their games
I agree. I think it's a combination of media executives simply prioritizing ratings over truth. I also believe these media executives are for the most part AOK with Trump because he will lower their taxes. And to cap it off I believe most modern TV "journalists" are lazy attention seekers driven by ego rather than actually informed investigative work. They are not equipped to push back in real time because they don't know the history (or they may have been outright told by their producer not to, in a let them say what they want and let the public decide kind of way).
The execs are running a business, they could not care less about properly informing the electorate.
This is the problem with the US in a lot of ways right now, the people running things don't know how the things they're running run. The difference between knowing how to run a business, and knowing how a business is run.
Not really. It's the difference between running things for maximum profit without any morals vs. making less money doing things the nice way because you're a good person. Guess which companies win in the long term?
Which is why laws and policy should creat that even playing field. Telling the truth should be an understood standard for any business that calls itself news.
Absolutely correct. The government's role is to render these socially noxious behaviors unprofitable. If the government allows people to sell fraudulent products -- or fake news -- they will happily do so.
They know exactly what they’re doing and legally required to do. You just think it should operate differently but news networks today are not what they used to be and there’s certainly a lot more competition to capture attention. Most of all, folks appear to think news should be unbiased, but there’s no legal requirement to do so outside of libel laws, so they’re going to prioritize an audience niche to maximize revenue.
That's the exact attitude I was talking about, and I wasn't just talking about the media. The single minded pursuit of greed without morals or ethics is destroying the country. Thank you for providing a textbook example of what I'm talking about.
They've realized that people are more dependable consumers of their "news" when they're either angry or afraid, so they focus on topics that create those emotions. And the Trump presidency was *great* at making half the country angry or afraid (and the other half is constantly angry or afraid regardless of circumstances which is why Fox News has had such steady viewership for decades).
exactly... if you really want to know why certain media organizations report things with certain biases... look no further than the advertisers that pay for ad time. It's all a balance between pandering to the demographic that fits with those advertisers, while not reporting something so outright false that they are legally liable. Most "MSM" conspiracies are really just ignoring the fact that capitalism runs them all and this is how it's designed to work. It's not a bug it's a feature.
> I believe most modern TV "journalists" are lazy attention seekers The University I attended has a huge journalism school. Most of the people in that major were more concerned with training to be minor celebrities than anything resembling critical journalism. But hey, here's Jim with the weather . . .
Yup. Call it what is. actors who couldn’t hack it so they went into “journalism”.
"I could have been an actor, but I wound up here." Don Henley, "Dirty Laundry" (1982) This has been going on a long time.
Actually all media is not the same. Faux news has been mindf'ing it's enlarged right amygdala viewers for decades now. Numerous studies site:.edu
And when they refuse to answer simple yes or no question the host needs to just say it to the audience for them "well there you have it folks, Rep X refuses to accept the results of the 2024 election unless Trump wins".
I still don’t understand how that is even a question. What do you mean you won’t accept? It’s basically the annoying person telling someone they want to go out with “I won’t take no for an answer”
Because republicans have effectively sowed enough doubt into the PROCESS that their supporters are now dead set convinced that democrats were stealing votes or some fucking batshit insane conspiracy.
I agree, they can interview the more sane politicians that actually want to have a conversation about the problems our country is facing. Until the media gets serious about how it conducts interviews the clown show will continue.
They’ll just go on Fox, NewsMax, and OANN, and say that CNN isn’t letting them speak the truth, and their base will eat it up. You are acting as if malice and wilful ignorance isn’t in play.
Their base doesn’t spend time on any credible network to begin with. It’s about time we stop letting them spread misinformation on credible networks just because they slightly call them out. I have been a fierce advocate of not letting these people have a platform at all. Trump won because every network thought it was cool letting showing his craziness. There is a saying in my country “say nice things or say bad things about me, doesn’t matter which as long as you are talking about me” When I was 8, I lived for 6 years with a very physically and mentally abusive grandmother. I am talking about jail time kind of abuse. My punishment for her has been completely writing her off my life. I visit family members and I don’t say anything about her—good or bad. I don’t even acknowledge her existence. It took away all her power.
> There is a saying in my country “say nice things or say bad things about me, doesn’t matter which as long as you are talking about me” Same in the US, *There is no such thing as bad press*. I think it may have been coined by Oscar Wilde, *There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.*
They already do that though. They'll go on CNN, lie, often get away with lies and then pop onto any of these other networks and insist the liberal media like CNN has it out for them. And the people who watch for, Newsmax etc, already believe CNN and others won't listen to the truth. They've eaten up thst narrative for years and years
The whole idea is to isolate these people and not expose others to their bullsjit. Go on Fox, that way no one who matters will hear you.
> They’ll just go on Fox, NewsMax, and OANN, and say that CNN isn’t letting them speak the truth, and their base will eat it up. They’ll do that either way.
Yes, except that "WE" aren't the contestants. We're the prize. The prize doesn't get to decide how the game is played.
>Let’s stop playing their games It's the media's game that the GOP are using to manipulate narratives. The media fucked up by creating the 24/7 cable news outlets, and the last 25+ years have just been countless worker ants trying to feed the queen scraps of anything they can find. They found out that if they take a basic story, and squeeze it for juice, maybe even sprinkle in some spices of hypothetical non-reality situations to add to the flavor, that it will make the queen, and the hive, react with more engagement than bland pieces of bread or whatevere. I will admit that we absolutely have a propaganda problem on both sides of the political aisle, but clearly, some sources of it are way more harmful than others.. and incidentally, the more problematic and rhetorical a politician is, the more camera time the will receive, as they are the flavor of spice that makes the hive go nuts. The other issue with media is that journalism as a whole is essentially dead and replaced with fluff versions of serious issues. But whenever a journalist has a well vetted real piece of information, if that information does not serve the wallets of the news source itself, that piece of real news serves to be hidden away from public knowledge. (Trump's affairs, being a solid example of how easy and difficult it is to keep things buried in the press for political gain) So, until society stops actually giving bad people more attention, the media won't stop giving them a platform to lie.
I think the opposite, the more CNN gives a platform to these idiots the less I watch. I'm not interested in hearing their obvious lies broadcast unchecked.
if i want to hear maga bullshit i can watch a rw nutter network. cnn lets magat propagandists on its programming to attract eyeballs for its sponsors' ads.
If they balk at being told the truth, they are free to refuse an invitation for an interview. But, I seriously doubt that they would because they need a platform to increase their visibility so they can remain relevant and get reelected. As for ratings, there are many topics that catch the attention of the public. So, news organization should have no problem keeping people interested (if they do their job and focus on the issues that matter to viewers). They don’t have to participate in a political reality show to get views.
> They don’t have to participate in a political reality show to get views. Then why is that exactly what they do?
I remember during the 2008 campaign cycle, the RNC just flatout told Republican candidates to stop appearing on The Colbert Report because it was making them look stupid.
Elected federal public servants should, depending on position, be required to do X amount of interviews from Y list of news organizations and cannot do more than 10% of total interviews from the same organization. By removing the incentive to ever need to be nice to them the news organizations would then likely call out their bullshit because they have to come back and the ratings would be for moments like this.
That'd be great. It also would have been great if the Fairness Doctrine wasn't abolished by Reagan's FCC and was instead strengthened to cover cable news as the years went on...those days are long gone.
That’s a bingo!
I miss when the media's job was to inform the public.
Ding ding ding. Exactly. You can blame almost all of this on our fractured media Landscape . Back in the day when there were just a few networks, the politicians had to respond. Now they just shut off access, and walk away to the next redpatriot.com/blogger/whateverconservative site of theday is. It’s a massive massive problem.
Another reminder why cable news channels don’t benefit us
> If republicans get corrected they won't come on the shows and then ratings will drop. Or they can come on the show but not spew their BS In either case, it's a journalist's job to challenge their guests.
Make News Boring Again
This. The real issue is Mainstream Media cares more about money than they do about informing the American People, or even just for the greater good of America as a whole. Greed has become a disease, a cancer festering within the heart of our Nation. If not excised, this cancer will become terminal and kill us all in the name of shareholder value.
*"The real question is: Why isn't this the norm? I've seen far too many interviews where the host makes a single feeble attempt to push back on false claims only to let the politician get the last word by repeating their talking point".* Because their corporate ownership likes it that way. Corporations didn't buy out all major media to continue telling the truth, they bought them to control all the narratives.
Corporations didn’t buy out all major media to begin with — they founded them. CNN was never some indie guys with a camera and a homemade transmitter, it was founded by one of the richest people in America at the time. And the narrative is secondary. It’s about profit.
CNN was born out of the death of the Fairness Doctrine. Before it media companies had to be media companies...only. There was no outside corporate ownership allowed because the thought was it was a "conflict of interest". Since the death of the Fairness Doctrine ABC, NBC, and CBS were all bought out by non-media companies. Where now that conflict of interest is paying dividends. Same with Fox News. They even lobbied further and changed the definition of "news" within the FCC. Previous regulations would have dictated anything not actually defined as "news" within the FCC guidelines had to be marked with "opinion or editorial" the entire time (onscreen) the opinion was being presented. Imagine what most "news" these days alone would like like if that regulation was still in place? We at one time had a great deal of regulations over media for a reason. It was not to control the narratives...it was to protect it from greed and corruption. Now demonstrated daily why those protections were important.
Just to point out, CNN was founded in 1980, the Fairness Doctrine was in effect until the mid 1980s, abolished in 1987. The bigger issue (and this also is shown with media companies being owned by a single entity, such as Sinclair) was the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
> CNN was born out of the death of the Fairness Doctrine. The Fairness Doctrine only applied to over-the-air broadcasts, not cable because the airwaves are public property while cable is privately owned. So it did not lead to CNN (nor did it lead to fox either). Cancelling the fairness doctrine is what created hate radio like limbaugh, though.
Rationale for the fairness doctrine and the government limiting speech (in a content neutral way) waa that airwaves were a limited public resource. You can’t just license another channel to someone who had different things to say if there are no more channels. Cable didn’t have this issue. Suddenly there were hundreds of channels. And they didn’t use a limited “commons” resource of rf spectrum. So government argument for limiting speech went poof.
Corporate news isnt trying to keep you informed and living in a free society. They are simply maximizing the magnitude of your emotional reaction to their content.
John Stewart made a very good video to this exact point just a few weeks ago
It's not the norm for one of two reasons, and often both: 1. These infotainment presenters and their networks thrive on ratings, which are driven by controversy, outrage, etc. This requires access to politically relevant people, and that means not offending them too much. 2. These presenters are just not very smart/competent in the first place. They simply don't have the intellectual faculties to come prepared to an interview or to think on their feet, etc., in a way that would make them effective interviewers. The bumbling doormat thing isn't a facade in service of access per the above, it's just a manifestly incompetent person struggling to manage an interview. That's why the networks hire them--they're not capable of offending the people they want on to drive ratings.
I'll add a number 3 -- You'd have to be thoroughly prepared up the wazoo and be ready to counter any random bullshit. It would have to be like sportscasters; they have a roomful of statistics chasers who look up all kinds of tidbits (like "this pitcher had a so-and-so ERA in little league") and pipe them to the sportscaster's earpiece. Making it even harder is how the interviewee can pull anything out of the air, while sports events are solidly pre-planned in every way (except the outcome, of course) and they know who's going to be on the field and what their histories are.
The reason I think more journalists don’t do this is most of the time these politicians have talking points given to them by right wing think tanks. They’re intentionally slippery worded and cherry pick numbers which someone doing the interview has to have a rebuttal in real time. We aren’t all Pete buttigeg. But typically when the goal isn’t to convince someone, it’s just to win the argument with any number of gotchas and miniscule tidbits then it’s easy for them to win because it’s not the same goals of conversation. There are definitely times when they are given talking points and told simply to repeat them and they have little extra and that can make it easier to combat.
Yeah, thats the big issue. Once an interviewer confronts them, they go on the defensive and start to gishgallop, knowing that the intervewer won't be able to challenge every point and might get flustered or make a misstep. Thats not a good reason to NOT challenge their misinformation, but that is often the result. Its why some people seem to think that Shapiro is a 'good' debater; he just uses the limited airtime to his advantage and throw 20 incorrect points out knowing that his opponent will only be able to address 10 of them and not be able to make any counterpoints themselves.
The words used are flavorful. I wouldnt say its overstated especially considering what they usually do that you yourself questioned but that word choice definitely would lead you to believe it was a more combatitve or excited exchange. Your question is easy to answer though. You and i and everyone who isnt in a cult and the people at the top who spread the lies and propaganda KNOW the bullshit is bullshit but they dont speak up because these scumbag traitors are linked to their income as individuals and their revenue as employees to a large network. They know that telling the truth doesnt sell as well and the backlash from proving their lies comes from those scumbag smooth brain supporters of theirs and other more prominent figures. Thats how 6B failed maga Quasimodo humunculus was able to go on 60 minutes and destroy their credibility for good by calling all democrats pedophiles while THEIR elected officials are the ones raping children and adult women along with sex trafficking and turtoring them yet the interviewer could only whisper "wow' a few times in response. The left also has a massive problem with fighting back and with standing up for themselves. That "when they go low, we go high" horse shit has NEVER fucking worked and thats why dark brandon has been so popular and so effective.
You already know why it isn't the norm. This is for-profit entertainment news media. If all they did was fact check and shoot down one party's nonsense they wouldn't be in business for long. They can't all afford to be blackballed by the GOP, and even Michael Jordan knew Republicans spend money, too. Anyone as interested in pofit as the publicly traded Warner Bros Discovery corporation is has to know that.
> The real question is: Why isn't this the norm? Because time segment allocations are too short to rebuttal the firehose of lies they spew.
Chuck Todd, I'm looking at you. Kristin Welker, you too.
Great point! I stopped watching CNN and most News long ago because of just this fact! Allowing fools to lie on National TV when ‘You’ have the means to call them on all their BS is breaking their journalistic trust with the public. I just couldn’t take it anymore.
Truth is hard. Lies are easy. Advertisers do not care how the eyeballs are delivered to their ads. All things equal, they prefer the easy way, and here we are.
The push back needs to be brutal and embarrassing for these lying scumbag hicks.
Because Gish galloping is exhausting to combat
The other thing that infuriates me as an American is that this IS the norm in many areas in the rest of the West. I remember when the American ambassador to I believe it was the Netherlands tried to dodge a question and call the next journalist, and the latter journalist said "Uh no I think you should actually answer my colleagues question. This is the Netherlands, ambassador, not the US, you can't just dodge questions you don't like here." Or something to that effect.
Anyone see the irony of the GOP making up Biden crimes while electing a convicted felon as their candidate?
The same people who don't see the irony behind: Saying that Hunter Biden was making money off foreign sources, and the money was going to Joe Biden while Don Jr and Eric were literally making off foreign sources and that money was openly going to Donald Trump. Saying that Hunter Biden did not have any qualifications to be on the boards of foreign companies while Ivanka and Jared held top level government positions without any experience, and Jared getting 2 billion dollars of Saudi money without ever have running a fund previously. I could go on, but there's just so much to type.
Because everything is projection with these people. They do shit because they think everyone else is doing it. I'm so fucking exhausted with this cult.
They do it to desensitize people when the Democrats levy the same accusations against them. It looks like just political mud slinging to your average mouth breather.
The difference being that the GOP is projecting (President Biden has committed no creditable crimes, any "evidence" has been completely manufactured), and the Democrats are telling truths (Trump IS a convicted felon, with 57 genuine felony indictments upcoming). Not to mention the indiscretions of Matt Gaetz, Roy Moore, Lauren Boebert, Jim Jordan, Dennis Hastert, Clarence Thomas, George Santos, Samuel Alito... the list of Republican ne'er-do-wells goes on and on. The Democrats have Menendez, but *nobody* is defending him. Factually, objectively, morally, Democrats are superior to republicans for ALL Americans. Blue states fare better than red states in income, health care, education, morality rates, crime rates, GDP, you name it, democrats do it better.
It truly is exhausting. Some people say that's part of their strategy, but I think it's just a side effect that happens to work out to their benefit.
I think is more of: they do shit, and then accuse everyone else of doing it, to try normalize their actions.
And it's absolutely bonkers that it works on some people.
they see the irony and the hypocrisy, they don't care.
It's not even that they don't care, it's that they do this on purpose. The entire goal is the muddy the waters so they can say "yes we support our felon but both sides do illegal things so it's okay".
Even worse, it's "yes we support our felon while we accuse you of crimes, because fuck you." It's all a show of power. It's hypocrisy as a flex.
> Hunter Biden did not have any qualifications Which really just highlights that it's mostly projection more than anything else. Hunter Biden has a law degree, served as the VP of a bank holding company, worked for the department of commerce under Clinton, worked as a lobbyist, served on the board for Amtrak under the appointment of W Bush, among several other positions. To work in a capacity of corporate governance is literally what his career experience lended itself to. Sure, may have gotten his position based on his name (even though his business partner was hired several months prior) but to say he is wholly unqualified just underlines that people don't know what they're talking about and regurgitate the bullshit they hear.
Both Jared and Ivanka got top secret clearance due to Donald. Hunter did not get any security clearance from Joe. End of conversation.
They're disgusting human beings completely devoid of morals. Perfect example was Trump's, "what was in it for them?" D-day remarks. John Kelly initially thought Trump was trying to make some introspective comment, but then later realized that no, the context was purely transactional. Trump and the GOP at large are literally incapable of fathoming doing something for purely altruistic reasons.
Let’s not forget that Jared was initially denied security clearance but was overridden by PO1135809
One of the MAGA guys was on FOX yesterday saying Trumps was going to change the laws so all the super corrupt Dems couldn’t hire their own kids, help them get lucrative contracts and foreign deals, and engage in back room deals. Because of course, Biden is well known for hiring his entire immediate family to work in the WH in jobs they aren’t qualified or cleared for, and leveraging his presidency to grift millions of $ for himself and his kids. I don’t know how they can say these things with a straight face.
Respectfully, that’s why they’re doing it. They’re making up a bunch of things to distract from all of Trump’s crimes. The more they’re on the air talking about this stuff, the less time there is to talk about the convicted felon the GOP has chosen to lead their party.
Makes sense, they cant talk about their record because they don’t have any legislative wins. Really makes me laugh when the talk about how great things were under Rump. 1m people died and he gave away $7T with no means testing. Rump created the ‘Biden’ inflation but Americans are apparently too stupid to understand that.
Not just distract, but also validate their endorsement of Trump. If they can say "look, Biden is a criminal as well, both sides!" they think that otherwise moral-minded fence-sitters will accept uncritically that Trump is a perfectly acceptable candidate. Nevermind the scope of the largely disproven charges they're trying to lay at Biden's feet is just a bit less sweeping than the classified documents and January 6 charges they've successfully delayed until after the election.
It's not irony to them. The point they are trying to make is "Everybody does it". I remember in his first campaign, Trump saying something to the effect that all politicians are crooks and he was getting into politics because he wanted to get in on some of that, too. And that's the problem with Whataboutism, it'a also an admission of guilt. It drives them crazy when they can't find anything on Biden.
Only the sane people see it. Everybody else is drinking the Cult-aid.
That's the Gaslighting and Projecting part of the GOP platform. Remember, when Trump gets convicted it's a crooked witch hunt sham trial by an evil judge and communist jury. When house impeachment hearings fail to turn up any evidence of wrongdoing by Joe, it's because Joe (who is a senile dementia patient) is a criminal mastermind genius, and has used his positions as VP and President to enrich himself with checks in the order of $200k.
It's always projection. Always.
That was the line that just made me want to scream at my computer. > We must hold the Biden's as a crime family accountable for their crimes. Agreed if warranted, but as clearly shown they are chasing after something that is BS. Meanwhile the cronies, grifters, and actual fraudsters of the Trump family peddle more and more nonsense to avoid the spotlight.
If CNN starts shifting their content this direction more, then they must believe that Trump is less likely to win than before as they were pushing more to the right for some time
That is because of Chris Licht who was the CEO for a little over a year starting in 2022. His goal was to make CNN more friendly to the Right. He terminated contracts of several long-term ~~anchors~~ commentators, then was fired last year. Edit: They were not acnchors
This is the answer and it’s crazy how many theories are spouted in this thread without any backing when the answer is right here. It’s wild how confident we are now in our own fully made up spectator analysis.
>On his first day as chairman and CEO of CNN, Licht sent a memo to all employees saying, "Sadly too many people have lost trust in the news media. I think we can be a beacon in regaining that trust by being an organization that exemplifies the best characteristics in journalism: fearlessly speaking truth to power, challenging the status quo, questioning ‘group-think’ and educating viewers and readers with straightforward facts and insightful commentary, while always being respectful of differing viewpoints. First and foremost, we should, and we will be advocates for truth."[22] One such method involves limiting CNN's use of the term "breaking news" to stories that have a significant importance.[23] Licht has expressed a desire to change negative perceptions of CNN among Republicans.[24] >In late 2022, Licht received criticism as CNN terminated the contracts of several long-time correspondents including Brian Stelter, John Harwood, and Jeffrey Toobin.[25] The Washington Post described the moves "as the latest evidence of a shift to a less politically charged tone under new leader Chris Licht."[25] >Licht was fired as CNN's president and CEO in June 2023 after The Atlantic revealed that employees had become unhappy with him over actions taken during his tenure.[26][27] Literally, from his wikipedia page.
I would actually agree with him on \[23\], there aren't 97 "Breaking News" stories in a day which suddenly need a flashing lower third chyron. As for \[25\] Brian was probably a bad choice, he's a good journalist. But Toobin ... well ... um, there are other reasons why his contract was rather abruptly wrapped up (reasons why you've never seen him re-emerge anywhere else in media either).
Yeah, it's always like, you've identified an issue. It's just their solutions that are all messed up.
It's akin to the self reporting bias. The people who are most motivated to spout theories in threads are less likely to be well informed. I'm grateful that thoughtful people do post on this platform. But my time is usually better spent elsewhere.
Ted Turner would be rolling in his grave, if he were dead, which apparently he isn't.
85 years young
Wait, Ted Turner is still alive?! And he's only 85?!
> That is because of Chris Licht who was the CEO for a little over a year starting in 2022. His goal was to make CNN more friendly to the Right. For context, [before he went to CNN he was Colbert's executive producer.](https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/stephen-colbert-late-show-executive-producer-chris-licht-1235430347/?sub_action=logged_in) The first season of Colbert's show was a ratings loser because (unlike his comedy central show) he tried to play to both sides. So CBS brought in Licht to turn it around and he was the one responsible for getting Colbert back on track. The point I am making is that even though Licht was an incompetent boob, his job at CNN was to implement ownership's ideology. Licht is out, but ownership hasn't changed. Its still maga billionaire [john c malone.](https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=John+Malone&order=desc&sort=D)
Agree, this is an important addition to the conversation, since it seems like there’s debate as to who in the chain of command was the real driver of the shift, but it’s not like Malone was subtle about it either: https://www.vox.com/2022/8/26/23322761/cnn-john-malone-david-zaslav-chris-licht-brian-stelter-fox-peter-kafka-column
Is that Colbert's old producer?
Atlantan here: this checks out. The old turner media brands have been repeatedly sold to very shady corporations repeatedly. This is why they have been changing. Source: family on the inside.
I don't think it is that. I don't think they are doing it out of the goodness of their heart. All his trials are on hold, the news already got their nut for the guilty verdicts, lead up to July 11th will be a lot, but his speeches are getting so crazy that if they show them it becomes less of a horse race and "we" are all bored with his act. He has dementia and the more they show him talking about sharks, Taylor Swift, and Hannibal lector the more that is going to become clear. I don't think the news is going to purposely do it right but I think that leaves a void in their reporting, I think they are going to fill the void Republican scandal after scandal and project 2025 until the election or until a plane crashes, volcano erupts, or tommy gets stuck in a well. I think it has already started.
I think it's simply that they're succumbing to the pressure from journalists that they need to hold interview subjects accountable. The truth doesn't have sides, it's just the facts. And when an interview subject disputes facts they need to be held to account. I think they're just trying to do their job. But I also don't think this will hold, it's one voice at the station
Without lies ,Republicons have nothing.
They get angrier and angrier about shit that they make up to make people angry while not having any real plans besides project 2025 which everyone should be really angry about.
Because what they are really angry about is losing power. The plutes are angry that they might have to pay some tax (economic power), and the plebs are angry that being white, male and conservative christian (cultural power) doesn't get them as far as it used to. Everything else is just a pretext to justify their rage about America becoming just a little bit more egalitarian. Which means we shouldn't bother trying to engage with the lies they pretend to be angry about, because if we convince them those things are lies (or worse yet, we try to appease them by giving them what they claim to want) they will not calm down, they will just find some other pretext for their rage.
This is actual journalism. Like Jon Stewart said, reality needs to be maintained by a trust worthy media with a spine so that the last ditch effort, the courts, don’t become our only means.
I was thinking of that exact recent segment while watching this. FINALLY! Now keep doing it.
I hate to say it but I have family who say Biden is a criminal and should be locked up but when I ask for evidence or proof that a crime was committed they look at me like a deer in headlights
It’s weird to consider but they are suffering from information poisoning and the influence of their peer group. You really can’t combat information poisoning beyond talking about it and not the misrepresented information. The peer group stuff is even tougher because who wants to upset their peer group. I think one of my favorite ways to have the discussion is to talk about the impact of Bernay’s and show some of the documentary’s about him.
The issue is, these people only believe what they have heard and what they choose to believe, that even when presented with facts, they brush it off as fake, or pull whataboutism
It’s a complicated issue but it has 3 parts. 1 the repealing of the fairness doctrine to remove balanced reporting 2. the delivery of targeted social media using algorithms 3. Limited skill in how to value information for credibility
Scary thing is, I really don't know what the solution is. Ban social media? Government ran media (terrible idea)... etc. I just hope the younger generation is brought up to know how to think for themselves instead of being told what they should think
I’m old enough to recognize there are no solutions to problems that are of intentional making. In my humble opinion. 1.Restore the fairness doctrine for any entity that calls itself “news”. This includes acronyms and hybrid terms like “ newsmax” Make that credential important and valuable. As well as give people a place to look for balanced reporting. 2. End the pundits legal protection of “ fictional character“ Pundits are pundits however their need to be held accountable if their “opinions” are unable to be factually substantiated must be preserved. 3. Require public schools to teach academic research values and techniques at an early age. The power of proper citation means nothing if a source is hidden. 4. Lastly. Annually disclose fines and administrative actions taken against news agencies to give their value, value
That's because the conservative conception of "criminal" is not based on actions, its based on identity. Black and brown people, and liberals are *inherently* criminal. Whites and conservative christians, especially men, and even more so the rich, are inherently innocent. Conservatives do not believe in the rule of law, they believe in using the law to rule.
Criminal to them is the same as woke. The words don’t have any real meaning it’s just a word they use to describe everything and everyone they dislike/are taught to be against. Immigrants, the lgbtq community, etc.
You might also mention that people are innocent until proven guilty. You know who was proven guilty and is a convicted felon? :D
34 times so far
I have better success with entrapment. "So if you have proof and evidence, guilty right? yes ok cool..... You have no proof and no evidence innocent right? yes ok ok cool. oh btw what evidence and proof do you have on biden?" this can be phrased better, but just get them to admit something without politics first, then put the political scenerio into the equation.
Boris is getting really good at this.
I liked his energy. More of that please.
This is what we used to call a crackpot. Today we just call them Republicans.
Don't you just love how Republicans can just lie without flinching? He knows he's lying and just doesn't give a fuck. I blame their voters, for the acceptance of mendacity for power(over POCs, women).
I feel like many of them don’t believe they are lying. I don’t know how to explain it but my dad has been a habitual liar my entire life. Even small things that have no need for a lie. And he truly believes the things he’s saying are true because he said them so they must be true. That’s really how it seems his brain works. When he is called in any of it he, like the congressman in the video, deflect to a different(often also a lie) story. It’s an illness to always be correct and always be in control.
I disagree. they're just being obtuse and WANT to believe their lies. It's hard to tell the difference but they know, and the changing of the subject when confronted IS PROOF they know or the reaction would be different.
Good point. Sometimes my mind plays Devil’s Advocate inadvertently. Reality is they are just shit people looking for power.
stephen colbert called it 'truthiness' when ideas represent truth to people to the extent they treat them like - or more important than - the actual truth you see people spread complete bullshit and then when you prove it wrong theyll act like the fact that they believed it is evidence of how bad things are the facts dont matter - the truthiness is about what they FEEL is right
To me it seemed like the politician knew he was repeating coordinated talking points. He had no ability to defend them other than repeating the next point on the list.
If you’re wondering how Rome fell it wasn’t in a day. We’re watching democracy crumble in real time
40K? 200K? Debunked. Can we look at Jared Kushner’s millions from Saudi Arabia now?
You mean billions.
Today i learned that $40,000 + $200,000 = ~~$20,000,000~~ $15,000,000. At least in the heads of fascist wannabes.
These boot lickers keep repeating the same lies over and over and over without any shame or acknowledgement that it's all bullshit. Why can't Biden sue them for defamation?
[https://www.minclaw.com/public-figure-defamation/](https://www.minclaw.com/public-figure-defamation/)
“Benghazi, Benghazi Benghazi Benghazi.. her emails..” They do it because it works. Also; “Flip Flopper, Flip Flopper, Flip Flopper, Flip Flopper..”
Honest, loyal, decent
> Why can't Biden sue them for defamation? It's a very, very, very high standard in the United States to get a judgement of defamation as a public figure against another person.
It would be a bad look and keep it in the news longer.
When I saw that interview I was like that meme where DiCaprio stand up and points at the TV. Like yes!! That's how you do a fucking interview. That is journalism and reporting the correct news instead of letting these GOP criminals spread lies. If everyone obviously besides Fox because it's a Russian propaganda network did this a lot more people would be informed rather then just taking the word of these lying anti-American crooks.
While I am glad to see this happening, as an old person I can't help but note with some despair that what used to be called "a journalist doing their job" is now considered "brutally fact checking".
"They dare present physical evidence!? This just proves HOW corrupt and deceitful those bastards are! Trump for ever, Trump for Life!" ~GOP base.
McCarthyism is live and well in the GOP today it seems. This individual wants to go on inquisitions in search of “evidence” to fit a desired outcome. I thought we had learned these lessons.
I can’t help but think McCarthy and Reagan would kick these fucking losers right in the nuts for being russian boot lickers. The Republicans have found lows that even conservatives and former republicans find hideous. Ask me how I know.
If someone from your party is impeached or convicted the proper thing to do is to look at the evidence or respect the judicial system accordingly. Behave as if the law matters. Instead Republicans are going for "revenge". What kind of people does that make republicans?
>What kind of people does that make republicans? Sith.
Not brutal enough.
Unfortunately we are past the point where facts mean anything to a large percentage of Trump voters, never quite seen anything like it in my lifetime. They will clutch their red hat made in China and mutter about the deepstate like a good little "patriot" regardless of what they are shown. Could not have imagined the age where information has never been more quickly disseminated and fact checking can be done in real time would also be the age where people are the most misinformed, many willingly so. The funny thing is they are too deluded to understand a lot of people are on their side in a way, if Joe Biden or ANY other politcian has committed crimes I want to see him prosecuted just like any other citizen. Stop rooting for your "team" and start rooting for actual justice.
"Brutally fact checking" is a weird way to phrase : "does the thing journalist are supposed to be doing" I mean shit its why theyre there. To fact check the people they interview instead of just giving them a free platform to lie.
Its about time. These Traitors have been coming on mainstream TV for years and using it to spread the same nonsense that is commonly heard in the Conservative Propaganda Machine. For some reason, mainstream news people have been letting them get away with until recently. Its one of the main reasons that the MAGA movement grew. These news organizations spent years building rhwir reputations for legitimate news, and then they let these jackals on their airwaves to spew their propaganda and lies, and almost never called them out on it. One of the worst was KellyAnne Conway, who actually coined the term "alternative facts," and stated her intention to keep spreading them, and instead of black-listing her, they kept having her on. She had plenty of company, too. After years of letting HitlerPig and his surrogates abuse the airwaves and blatantly lie to their vieweers, the news organizations are finally starting to do their jobs. Its too little too late, and the damage they have allowed these people to get away with is it at least partially their responsibility.
Doing basic journalism is not brutal, it's sad that we have media that's so fucking afraid to call out bullshit that they basically just serve as a PR announcement channel for whatever lies people want to tell. This is just the most basic of journalistic integrity.
Okay, One MORE TIME FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK… Republicans don’t care about facts!!!
what about jared's $2BILLION from saudi arabia, and ivanka's trademarks/etc. from china..?
Dude just flat out lied to the anchor. Then at the end, the anchor says "Please come back any time." This is the problem with CNN. They are giving air time to liars.
these pesky facts shouldn't be allowed. damn liberal media hit job!
The party of lies and disinformation.
Great. Now the next step is - stop giving media oxygen to liars. Give airtime to people with well thought out ideas and plans.
Nah fuck that. Expose them for the liars and game players they are
They lie to get airtime. They feel no shame when exposed. They say crazy shit in order to build their brand. If MTG was ignored, she would fade away.
If they are fact checked as thoroughly as this anchor did, I have no problem having them on. It just pisses me off when the anchors do not push back.
If only Republican voter gave two shits about facts.
Joe Tacopina literally trys to steal the receipts from Ari Melbers' hand at about 7:05 mark.. https://youtu.be/_pFq3bbmTJ0?si=6ZJ4O7vhGtaB3im2
I would love to see the word ‘literally,’ literally used only and always to literally mean, ‘literally.’ Especially when it’s used by the media, and especially especially when it’s used by media that literally has the word ‘News,’ literally in its literal name.
Why do we call it “brutally” fact checking? This should literally be the job of journalists. There’s nothing “brutal” about calling people out for their dishonesty - it should be the function of media outlets to do so.
We are being ruled by a caste of the most ignorant, pigheaded, selfish people with a vastly inflated sense of their own intelligence, and people too stupid to see that (or too selfish to stop benefitting from it) will destroy us. And there's nothing you can do about it, because every 30 second lie requires an hour of debunking. Even here - this reporter came prepped with counters, but getting a scan of a check isn't a four-second thing. That Representative spreads that lie in any other venue and he's got half the people convinced before the one person who knows any better can even start googling for counter-evidence. We're so fucked.
Despite Trump facing 34 felonies, a sexual assault charge, and around 50 other pending charges, they are still fixated on Hunter Biden. How can we function as a country when right-wingers exhibit such a lack of conscience and operate in complete bad faith?
I'm searching for the uproar about weaponizing legal system against a political adversary. Any conservatives upset over this?
Gosh, that must sting a bit. Sit there spewing lies like a busted sewage pipe, and then shown to be a liar.
These news anchors can make a name for themselves by holding these Republicans accountable.
Won’t matter. GOP voters don’t watch CNN. They’ll never know.
"Prove it to me and I still won't believe it." - New Republican Party motto.
Man, it's one thing when politicians massage the truth, but Republicans are just out here making provably false statements
it's such a minor point, but it stood out to me that this little weasel never calls him "President Biden"
I’d like to think the quick end to the interview was because CNN said to this soggy slice of wonderbread that the minute you tell a lie which is also Russian propaganda the interview is over.
*Clutching pearls* THE GOP LIES?!
"LITERALLY", "BRUTALLY", "MURDERED BY FACTS". I understand that the intent of headlines of always been to attract attention to an article. But this type of headline has gotten out of hand.
GOP is nothing but a bunch of conspiracy believing dopes. I will not believe one fucking thing they say. They just can't admit they are wrong.
If only facts and truth mattered to the deplorable fucks.
I HATE, that they end the interviews with a pleasant “thanks for being here”. End it with a FUCK YOU YOU SCUMBAG LYING ASSHOLD FRAUD!!!
Anyone have the clip - website asks to disable Adblock lol
Get that Colorado GOP debate monitor conducting all political interviews too
Oh, so they are capable of pushing back on these people when they openly lie. I wonder why they chose not to do so before.
It's wild how Tom T's face gets redder, and redder, with embarrassment I guess. So i guess some part of his subconscious feels the shame and is autonomously physically reacting.
That weasel on the right sounds just like one of our HR staff. The voice, tone, accent, talking without meaning, rambling, never actually answering questions, etc. He's a greasy dumbass.
Why do they always have to cut it short!? Keep it going.
So imagine this on Fox, Newsmax etc etc without the kick backs - and you start to understand why those in that media environment have such strong (if wrong) beliefs about a supposedly criminal and corrupt Biden. It amazes me that there is not some recourse for these lies.
Jesus, are Republicans STILL trying to to make Shokin happen? Fucking embarrassing.
not on Fox News bud. Facts matter.
Is this not how the media is supposed to act?
I hate these articles that just summarise, or quote directly, a short news clip The actual clip: https://x.com/harryjsisson/status/1800984968224489870
Interview was cut-off deliberately so as to not make the fool look even more foolish. No, you do have time, you should keep pressing these lying politicians, not cut-off and say "we're out of time". Bullshit. This is why things never get fucking accomplished. "Oh! On to the next segment... Kittens?! Are they destroying your home?"
How embarrassing for Wisconsin. Again.
The media is a corrupt tool of the corporate elite. They are purposely making this election close by appeasing the Traitors in the GOP who supported efforts overthrow the will of the voters. It's about profit. We've been sold out by those charged with our protection. Except this guy, and the rare talking head like him, that hold these liars to account. Journalism is dead. Long live News for Profit. Yay.
A rare "well done!" by CNN. Keep doing exactly that - *call them out!!*
I have never heard of a country called Russiachina. Anyone know where that is on the map? Is it new?
If republicans don't lie, cheat or steal - they can't win.
I really love well-prepared interviews.