For WaPo, Flourishing Elites Are a Matter of Perception
Election Focus 2020: The Washington Post gave us a major piece telling us how Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are two sides of the same populist coin.
Do Media Really Care About Money in Politics?
Election Focus 2020: If media really cared, they would make some distinctions between the different kinds of money corrupting our elections, and their size and impact—context that’s been lacking in the “they all do it” coverage of the issue.
Debate Moderators Frame Questions to Define Acceptable Politics
Media debate hosts use their platform less to inform voters in an even-handed way than to define which positions—and candidates—are acceptable, and which are not.
Media Stoop to ‘Russian Assistance’ to Explain Sanders’ Rise
Election Focus 2020: The Washington Post’s poorly sourced, evidence-free and quickly walked-back report became the basis for endless stories linking Russia and Bernie Sanders.
WaPo Backing Limited Impeachment Was Constitutional Disaster
A critical flaw with corporate media’s coverage of Donald Trump’s impeachment was how it obscured the extent of the Trump administration’s litany of impeachable offenses.
Media Vapors Over Vaping Cloud Public Health Goals
There’s been a moralist war on nicotine vaping for years, despite the scientific near-consensus that it is far safer than conventional cigarettes, which kill 480,000 Americans a year.
Bernie Sanders Can’t Win (by as Much) Unless Youth Vote Surges (Like It Recently Has)
Election Focus 2020: Even when you assume that Bernie Sanders supporters won’t vote as much as they say they will, and will vote when they say they won’t, Sanders still wins
NYT’s Look at Democratic Tax Plans Is an Orgy of Really Big Numbers
Election Focus 2020: The New York Times gives a a true orgy of really big numbers in the form of trillions of dollars of additional taxes and spending, providing readers with no context that would let them know how much impact these taxes are likely to have on the economy and/or their pocketbooks.
Bernie Sanders Plunges to First Place
Election Focus 2020: While some coverage is still stuck in denial on Bernie Sanders, for the most part corporate media have moved on to the next stage of grieving, which is anger.
Cop-Hating Vandals or Pro-Democracy Activists?
The message from the media is clear: Their protesters are good, regardless of what they do; ours are vandals, thugs or criminals. Their cops are bad; ours are unimpeachable heroes under fire for just doing their jobs.
Factchecking NPR’s Attempted Takedown of Bernie Sanders
Election Focus 2020: a piece by two of NPR’s leading political reporters, which aired just before the Iowa caucuses, provides a view of how journalists speak with authority on issues they seem to know very little about.
Pundits Look to Bloomberg as Their Anti-Sanders Savior
Election Focus 2020: At the nation’s elite newspapers, it’s not hard to find pundits jumping on the Michael Bloomberg train as Joe Biden’s star plummets.
Backlash After Kobe Bryant’s Death Illustrates Continued Resistance to Discussing Sexual Assault
Some writers were able to accurately depict the entire truth of Kobe Bryant’s legacy while still honoring the tragedy of his and his daughter’s death and the positive impact Bryant had on sports.
For Media in New Hampshire, Losing Is Winning and Winning Is Losing
Election Focus 2020: The “stop Bernie at all costs” mentality explains why some of the media simply ignored Sanders’ victory altogether, part of a longstanding Bernie blackout strategy.
No. 1 Sponsor of Terrorism? US Media Name Iran, but Overlook a Candidate Closer to Home
Even on the debate’s own terms, there’s a much stronger case that the US rather than Iran is actually the world’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism.
Left Media and Venezuela: An Exchange
An exchange between Gabriel Hetland and Lucas Koerner over Koerner’s “How Western Left Media Helped Legitimate US Regime Change in Venezuela.”
ABC Asking for Attacks Was a Lazy Way to Run a Debate
Election Focus 2020: The first half hour of the debate was almost entirely given over to non-policy sparring over electability (including the bogeyman of socialism) and experience.
Manufacturing Success: CNN’s Premature Parade for Buttigieg in Iowa
Election Focus 2020: Four days after the Iowa caucuses took place, no victor has been declared, and the vote remains mired in controversy and irregularities. But if you’ve been watching CNN for the last few days, you could be excused for imagining Pete Buttigieg had won.
Media Urge Palestinians to Take Crumbs—Because Democracy Is Not on Offer
Pretend that colonial larceny underwritten by the US empire is the only option available to Palestinians, and it’ll be harder for them to build support for a just outcome.
How Corporate Media Make Pete Look Like He’s Winning
Election Focus 2020: Declaring that great centrist hope Pete Buttigieg has won something is something that corporate media are clearly eager to do—even in an exceedingly close race in which, rather famously, not all the votes have been counted yet.
