James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas released a heavily edited video on Tuesday that quoted CNN health producer John Bonifield expressing skepticism about his network’s priorities. Despite O’Keefe’s well-deserved reputation for sleaze, lies and deceptive editing, the video does show a continuous shot of Bonifield complaining about his network’s insistence on continually pushing the did-Trump-collude-with-Putin? scandal to the headlines:
Just to give you some context, President Trump pulled out of the climate accords, and for a day and a half we covered the climate accords. And the CEO of CNN [Jeff Zucker] said in our internal meeting, he said, good job everybody covering the climate accords, but we’re done with that, let’s get back to Russia.
Russia was the main topic of 53 percent of Maddow segments (Intercept, 4/12/17)
Yes, “let’s get back to Russia.” An unsurprising prioritization from the network that neglected to ask a single climate change–related question during the presidential debates in 2016 (FAIR.org, 10/19/16), and couldn’t be bothered to broach the topic with the president in interviews this year (FAIR.org, 6/3/17). By placing the Russia story at the head of reporting about the Trump administration, CNN, MSNBC and other major news outlets have fostered the impression that they view other stories affecting real people’s lives—including climate, healthcare cuts and the travel ban—as being of lesser importance.
A recent Harvard Harris poll found a majority of Americans want the government to concentrate on issues like healthcare and the economy, rather than the endless Russia investigations spawned from the media frenzy. According to The Hill (6/23/17):
Sixty-four percent of voters said the investigations into President Trump and Russia are hurting the country. Fifty-six percent of voters said it’s time for Congress and the media to move on to other issues, compared to 44 percent who said the focus should stay on Russia.
Yet the media spotlight remains concentrated on the scandal at the expense of almost every other story. For many of the large papers and networks, the overarching storyline they are constructing assumes there is an understanding that “the Russians” were responsible for Trump’s victory last November. This storyline survives, even though thus far the closest we’ve gotten to proof was former Director of National Intelligence (and known perjurer) James Clapper’s January report alleging such collusion—a report that spent nearly half its length attacking a five-year-old version of the Russian media company Russia Today.
Perhaps it’s easier for the Democratic establishment to focus its energy on a new Cold War than it is to deal with the reality that Democratic fundraisers are now pushing the Trump agenda forward, as The Intercept‘s Lee Fang (6/23/17) reported recently.
And it helps to defuse the ticking time bomb of accountability for last year’s electoral loss; according to the campaign tell-all Shattered, Hillary Clinton was instructing aides “to make sure [election] narratives were spun the right way” within 24 hours of her concession speech.
The Russia story also shifts activist energy and attention away from the issues that could challenge the interests of the elites who run the networks. Healthcare, tax cuts and net neutrality, for example, are bread-and-butter subjects for the corporate interests that run cable news. It’s easier for journalists to point to a traditional adversary of the United States and decry interference in the democratic process than it is to examine issues where the president and their bosses may be on the same side.
Amazing how we’ve gone from an era where you couldn’t get the media to pay attention to real scandals of great importance and tons of evidence to prove them (60s political murders, the October Surprise, CIA/Contra drug running) to an era where you can’t get the media to stop paying attention to some silly accusations of which no one has any solid proof and which, even if it turns out to be true, will do little to change the direction of this country.
I liked Rachel back in the day, when her favorite thing was “Infrustructure”.
I used to like most of MSNBC back in the day, until I finally came to my senses and realized they’re just another corporate-owned lapdog of Washington. That was a tough pill to swallow.
If the Russia scandal reporting helps destroy the Dump administration , doesn’t that – in effect – address all the issues they are involved in in their coup? The EPA. climate change, health care. destroying the state dept, , etc?
My opinion is no – Trump is just one man, he is hardly the head of GOP death machine which would proceed apace without him. In any case – is it going to destroy Trump, or is it going to destroy the Democrats when it turns out there’s nothing there and they’ve wasted their time on a non-issue?
Worst still – it is making normal relations with arguably the second most important force in global politics absolutely impossible.
You lose me when you start taking James O’Keefe as your authority.
And using the words of the producer of CNN Health, not exactly the “international desk”, to help push a Glenn Greenwald-esque “nothing to see here, Russia is a big fat nothing burger, move along, pleb” narrative.
Because there really isn’t anything to see here. If there was, there’d be evidence by now.
To see the real agenda requires zooming out and looking at the bigger picture – sabre rattling to justify increasing the military budget, which ultimately benefits the MIC. Whenever Washington starts demonizing world leaders, it’s helpful to keep in mind that they’re getting ready to either dump more money into the military machine or overthrow that country’s government.
Not one word in this article acknowledging the fact that Russia is attacking not only the United States, but all of the democracies in the free world. Not one word.
You might say, as Higgins does, “It’s easier for journalists to point to a traditional adversary of the United States and decry interference in the democratic process than it is to examine issues where the president and their bosses may be on the same side,” but the answer is a third possibility that this author misses. Perhaps because it is too easy, perhaps because it doesn’t fit the narrative of the corporate media of his own mind, but Eoin Higgins website carries almost 50 Jill-Stein-related articles, most which he wrote. Of the 10 or so I looked at, all seemed written as fan letters to the elegant Ms. Stein.
As Eoin writes in his “Sunday Readings: November 27, 2016,” “One smear (of many) Stein endured throughout the campaign was being an agent of Vladimir Putin.” It is a short piece, and Eoin ends it by quoting an article by someone named Chris Brown:
“‘if you have criticized a policy or action that Vladimir Putin has also criticized at some point (even if the reasons for your critique might differ wildly from his), then you are automatically a Russian agent or a ‘useful idiot.’ …either you must accept everything the US government says and does at face value, believe it implicitly and support it whole-heartedly, or else you’re a traitor acting on behalf of the Russkies — or you might as well be.'”
Again, Eoin misses the 800-pound Russian bear in the room, because Jill Stein did her criticizing of a policy or action that Vladimir Putin has also criticized while seated at the Russian table of Putin as his honored guest—immediately to his left, while immediately to Putin’s right was former U.S. General, Trump surrogate and suspected traitor Michael Flynn, who is under investigation for lying to Congress about that very meeting, as well as for receiving money from Putin cohorts. No doubt, Eoin Higgins blames anyone but Stein voters for the plague the world calls U.S. President Trump—to the point of simply ignoring that her presence at Putin’s table most assuredly did give him comfort, as well as aid in his propaganda efforts.
“Democrats and Republicans are historically indistinguishable,” paraphrasing (or probably accurately quoting) Higgins’ worldview. Just ignore allowing blacks to take government contracts, ignore union laws, ignore integrating the armed services, ignore the 1964 Civil Rights Act, protecting minority rights to rent and buy homes on the open market, protecting voting rights, protecting gay rights, women’s rights, immigrant rights, a god-damned list as long as a whole person’s arm that includes protecting the rights of the disabled who have no arms or legs to measure lists on.
The correct answer is that all of these issues are priorities, but one of them has the added excitement of possible treason and certain cozying-up to VLadimir Putin. The correct answer eludes Higgins entirely, as his Quixotic championing of alleged true liberalism marches on.
I have been a fan of FAIR for about 20 years, all due to its objective research of the failings of the media. Higgins’ level of petty, specious, sophomoric and pseudo-leftist prattle and character assassination does not meet the requirements of that task.
20 years, huh? Yet this is the article (of many countering the “Russia/Putin bad” narrative) that you choose to write a diatribe about?
“Not one word in this article acknowledging the fact that Russia is attacking not only the United States, but all of the democracies in the free world. Not one word.”
Because there’s “not one word” to write. What are you even talking about? Why don’t you bother to cite some examples?
Seems like you’ve bought into the mainstream media’s propaganda… which is strange for someone claiming to be a fan of FAIR for 20 years.
Meanwhile, while you were railing on with the failed Clintonite narrative:
Trump Election Panel Requests Detailed Data on All US Voters
“This meritless inquisition opens the door for a misguided and ill-advised Commission to take steps to target and harass voters and could lead to purging of the voter rolls.'”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/30/refusing-abet-suppression-states-reject-trump-demand-voter-data
I invite anyone curious about the claims in Mr. Housden’s comment to visit the piece in question, here: https://eoinhiggins.com/sunday-readings-november-27-2016-96a0eee1bfb7
A clear reading of the article will illuminate the differences between the reality of what I wrote on 10/27 and Mr. Housden’s… creative… interpretation.
When Housden began with “Not one word in this article acknowledging the fact that Russia is attacking not only the United States, but all of the democracies in the free world. Not one word.” it was immediately clear he had nothing of value to add.
Anyone paying any attention at all knows it is the USA, oft driven by the Israel Lobby, that has been doing the invading/bombing/occupying.
This fake news article mentioned not one word about the three videos that exposed CNN internal corruption. For news that is real, click below:
https://www.rt.com/shows/news-with-ed-schultz/394727-news-with-ed-june-29/
Rachel’s attack on Jill Stein were so over the top and based on things she knew were being miss-characterized that it made me do a little research where I came across this.
I found it even more interesting because I’m reading Charles Johnson’s “Nemesis” and am flabbergasted as to how someone as “smart” as her could characterize our now 17 year middle east war as “Drift,” unless she’s stupid or being paid to make us dumb.
http://www.trivisonno.com/maddow-cia
The latter. As are all corporate-owned media.
Perhaps you are right in suggesting that the interference in our election process by a foreign power to install their candidate is not newsworthy, but is it fair and even sensible to make your case by referencing a poll from a dubious source, Harvard-Harris, regularly used by the Alt-Right to support their causes?
Left, right, doesn’t matter. Facts are facts no matter the source.
I am actually so amazed that so many people who are supposed to be journalists are acting like crazy people in the 1950s and wanting everyone to duck and cover our lives away. Weird, really weird.
I actually think that Putin is the only sane one in NOT wanting to get into a war. I think all the other generals want some war cred so they can get onto more war maker industries boards when they retire One Putin is worth any numbet of slaying mad dog strange mattis types.
corporate/state media baby, keeping you uninformed and misinformed.
This is what happens when a news organization becomes the quasi arm of a political organization. News becomes secondary and creating scandal becomes primary. Journalistic integrity goes out the window as stories with only one source (or no source) are headlined. Small things of a negative nature are given a literary magnifying glass and made to appear of vast importance. This is the point where many people start to view particular news services as nothing more than propaganda and tune out unless they politically agree with the stories being published, whether true or not. This is where journalism starts to perish as a check on democracy.
I read and watch both liberal and right wing sources, deliberately avoiding living in a tribal bubble that banishes other viewpoints. A careful analysis of which sources hew to facts and vet information shows clearly tons of outright lying on FOX News, Breitbart, and other right wing propaganda media. I find MSNBC has an agenda, but if they make a mistake, they promptly correct it, they report verifiable actual news, not provable lies like on the right, which is about an emotional, fear based, my kind is better than you mentality where anyone that disagrees is a bitter enemy, and any dirty trick to brainwash susceptible minds is fine and dandy if power is achieved. And here you all are attacking MSNBC for unbalanced reporting. Maddow in particular does long deeply researched segments on many issues, in addition to the Russian “smoke”.
Your article is not accurate. Russian meetings were not revealed by Flynn, Sessions, and Kushner on their security clearance applications, the changing of the Republican platform at the convention to be pro-Russia which J.D. Gordon confessed was accomplished by him with orders from Bannon and Trump to achieve it, while they showed ZERO interest in any other platform issue, Trump ‘s complete dereliction of duty in the face of another country’s malicious cyber attack, and much more, merits attention. Yes, the Russian “smoke” is discussed often on MSNBC, but I have seen long discussions of the other issues you claim are neglected with my own eyes as a regular watcher of MSNBC. In this case, you are not being fair and accurate.
As for the Intercept, Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill have done some great things over the years, but their sloppiness in getting an important source arrested and not monitoring unsafe practices by their reporters, and their constant negative take on the US is not admirable. All countries are a mixture of good and bad, and despite the many bad things in US history, if one grades on a curve, our country looks pretty good in the whole history of the world, though lately things are woeful, I admit. I’m disappointed on the bias in this piece, and sometimes on the Intercept as well.
David Shapiro
Sacramento, CA
correct me if i am wrong : i think US and Russia should have a working relation. in order to get there officials from both sides have to talk to each other. period. i suppose you have made your mind up about “cyber attacks” because neither you nor anybody else has presented proofs that they were “foreign government ” orchestrated.
“[The Intercept’s] constant negative take on the US is not admirable.”
Actually, yes it is. Any journalist courageous enough to shine a spotlight on our government’s corruption and misdeeds should be commended, not demonized. Independent media like the Intercept are crucial in a society where the actual fake news comes from mainstream media, which exists to spread the government’s propaganda.
Speaking of which, “RussiaGate” is a myth, a manufactured “scandal,” and any outlet that continues to peddle such disinformation cannot be trusted. Sorry, even the “beloved” Maddow needs to put food on her table.
July 6, 2017 Trump finally turns on Russia as he warns Putin to STOP his aggression in Syria and Ukraine as he issues full-throated attack on radical Islamic terrorism AND government bureaucracy to delight of thousands of Poles who chant his name
President Donald Trump browbeat Russia on Thursday for its ‘destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere and its support for hostile regimes including Syria and Iran’ and urged Vladimir Putin’s government to join the US and its allies in the fight against violent extremism.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4670380/Donald-Trump-Poland-s-president-plot-against-EU.html
Too bad Russia isn’t behind Cross Check…the GOP program to disenfranchise POC voters in order to ensure GOP wins…maybe then the Democrats would start talking about it and the corporate-run mainstream & public media would start reporting on it. I guess it’s easier for the Dems to blame Nader, Stein, Berniebros, and Russia when they lose than to fight the GOP for the voting rights of some of their biggest supporters.