Big Journalism failed miserably again during this election campaign.
I fully expect it to fail the evening of Nov. 5, when "news" organizations will run and post live coverage of Trump declaring victory. That alone will be malpractice of the highest order.
Whatever happens in this election, one of my missions in the next few years will be to help rebuild honorable journalism in America.
But it'll have to be from the grassroots up, because the so called "mainstream media" can't be fixed.
I've been disappointed to see journalists I respect sticking with Twitter, but the more dangerous Musk gets, the less I can maintain that respect.
Important post from @caseynewton at Platformer:
Musk's vile platform will be "voter fraud" central for the Trumpists in coming days.
Elon Musk’s effort to deny Kamala Harris an election victory is already underway. Can it work?
Platformer (www.platformer.news)
Journalists, what the eff are you still doing there? You are supporting one of democracy's most effective enemies.
Don't you have a conscience, or did you put it in cold storage?
Semafor should post the full audio of the NY Times internal meeting (adjusting volumes so that the Times can't figure out via triangulation who was holding the recorder). The story reporting on the event is grossly insufficient especially given Semafor's right-wing leanings...
It’s an extraordinary look inside a key American institution under intense external scrutiny and internal pressure.
(www.semafor.com)
Can anyone point me to resources on how to report trouble -- e.g. right-wing intimidation -- at polling places?
The always vile James O'Keefe is back in action, and his naive helpers aren't just going to endanger election workers -- and trust in the election itself, which looks like the goal here -- but themselves.
BTW, NY Times, calling O'Keefe "conservative" is like calling a Stalinist a "liberal" --
Want to know why the Dow Jones Industrial Average keeps going up? One key reason: They replace stocks that aren't doing well with ones that are.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nvidia-replace-intel-dow-jones-212628611.html
How on earth does Musk still have a security clearance?
The world’s richest man is coordinating with the world’s most dangerous dictator.
(www.thebulwark.com)
Europe's Green parties know Jill Stein is a spoiler for Trump. The idea that she cares what they think is laughable, however.
US Green party leader urged to withdraw from presidential race to prevent Donald Trump victory
the Guardian (www.theguardian.com)
Your daily reminder that if the Biden administration had done anything resembling this -- Trump regime blocked aid to Puerto Rico after its disastrous hurricane -- it would have dominated the news for days or weeks.
As it is, one outlet cared.
Remember as well: This is how a new Trump regime will handle disasters: States that voted for Harris won't get help, period.
Findings from a new inspector general report show how Trump officials blocked hurricane aid for Puerto Rico and obstructed a probe looking into the withholdings.
NBC News (www.nbcnews.com)
@jeffjarvis has written an excellent explainer about why so many people are discouraged, and disgusted, with "mainstream media's" malpractice in political journalism: https://www.cjr.org/analysis/liberals-infuriated-media-cancel-subscription-editorial-endorsement-times-washington-post-jarvis.php
Dear journalists: Trump and his cult have been calling Democrats and liberals one vile slur after another, nonstop. Biden **may** have insulted the cultists in New York (but probably was referring to the "comedian").
Has it occurred to you that these are not equivalent situations? Why are you treating it that way?
The right-wing screams of agony are charades, pure and simple.
But so, I guess, is political journalism.
The worst part of Big Journalism's political coverage malpractice is that so many Americans have no real idea of what will happen to the nation if Trump gets back in the White House.
Until very recently (like last week), our major news organizations downplayed what a fascist government would do. They've quoted Trump rather than explaining what he plans.
One of my post-election goals, no matter what happens, is to do what I can to replace Big Journalism, from the ground up, with the real thing.
Musk's campaign PAC is even more evil than you knew, but about as evil as you'd imagined.
America PAC door knockers were flown to Michigan, driven in the back of a U-Haul, and told they’d have to pay hotel bills unless they met unrealistic quotas. One was surprised they were working to elect Donald Trump.
WIRED (www.wired.com)
Everyone should read -- and think hard about -- Rick Perlstein's latest commentary.
He poses a series of ugly hypotheticals that could easily come true in a new Trump administration.
And he asks, "What will you do?"
If the worst happens in this election, we ALL should be preparing to answer this question.
Because our answers will be decisions -- to be collaborators in fascism, or members of the resistance. There can be no middle ground.
Life-changing choices we may be forced to make if Donald Trump wins
The American Prospect (prospect.org)
Topics in the latest edition of my "Cornerstone of democracy" newsletter -- a compendium of the best of political reporting/commentary (and more) -- include:
-- Courage when it counts
-- The fascist rally at Madison Square Garden
-- The Bezos betrayal
-- The Musk connection
I curate to save you time. Please subscribe (it's free), and let other folks know about it.
A compendium of the best reporting and commentary surrounding the pivotal 2024 elections in the United States. You will rarely find horse race coverage here, or the standard "both sides" BS that passes so often for political journalism. What you will find are links, with brief commentary, to work that
The cornerstone of democracy... (cornerstone.ghost.io)
Jeff Bezos can't hide his betrayal of trust behind pious words like these. However much he says that is true here -- and much of it is -- he's avoiding the real issues.
Not least is a total lack of transparency about what was promised in the conversation his space company henchmen had with Trump on the very day Bezos ordered his editorial page editor to kill the Harris endorsement.
He's right that people don't trust Big Journalism. His actions are one reason why.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/28/jeff-bezos-washington-post-trust/
A vote for a third party this year is a vote for fascism.
A vote to punish Harris even though you know Trump is vastly worse is a vote for fascism.
Not voting is a vote for fascism.
This is the starkest choice in decades: democracy or fascism.
It truly is that simple.
I'll never stop being amazed that journalists are using Elon Musk's rancid propaganda platform to complain about newspaper owners' interference with editorial content.
Marty Baron, former Washington Post editor, did it on Friday.
Irony is too meek a word to capture this kind of willful blindness...
