It’s your fucking duty. It’s why you got an ’estate’. You are a necessary facet of democracy but you need to do your part and act like it so you deserve the protections and benefits provided to you for doing so - like benefit of trust and access to politicians.
With few exceptions, you’re failing to be our eyes and ears and mouths and are instead mouthpieces for ownership and interests.
If it was just your job to make money take off the news armour (yeah you Fox) and stand naked in front of us as the liars you are.
Oof sorry. Got ranty there. It’s all getting to be too much.
Can you explain the "estate" thing like I'm a 5 year old non-American? (Only one of those is actually true, but I won't say which one)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Estate
Just like within actual government there's supposed to be balance of power between different branches or houses, there's this idea that the role of the press is to hold governments accountable.
(More of an ELI12, but that's the gist of the idea)
You know, I thought I could but on brief search it’s… complicated.
This is the best nugget from Wikipedia that sums up the general notion I’m trying to state that the media has been afforded a role in society - and that they aren’t acting as an independent class.
The modern term the fourth estate invokes medieval three-estate systems, and usually refers to some particular force outside that medieval power structure, most commonly the independent press or the mass media.[3][4]
Hey little buddy, it's time for your nap.
This exactly. Well ranted.
If Journalists point that out and report on it, then the Republicans will refuse their interviews and to come on their shows.. and they much rather have the fall of democracy, than risk losing access.
Here in the land of the free and the home of the brave, we don’t have time to worry about the fall of democracy when the fall of ratings is on the line!
How will advertisers sell their keto gummy diet pills if no one is watching?
This is the paradox of liberalism.
You have blue MAGA outlets like NPR that spent the last 8 years being “fair” to both sides, telling their audience the antivax fascist psychopaths are just as valid and worthy as the left trying to give people education and healthcare.
As if conservative views are even worth recognizing.
Liberalism without a STRONG left wing always ends in fascism, and the liberals are more than happy to join the fascists (see: literally all liberal discourse on Lemmy).
Guess what the US has spent the past 80 years doing. Real coincidence every time a country leans left, they are overthrown by CIA puppets.
So now you have liberals in literal tears trying to get their guy elected without even fucking understanding the issues at play. They don’t give a shit.
Not all NPRs. Boston Public Radio, or at least Jim and Marjorie, the only time I ever heard them talking about antivaxers was when Art Caplan (a weekly regular..."American ethicist and professor of bioethics at New York University Grossman School of Medicine" per his Wikipedia) was tearing apart most of what they say.
But that's more like a talk news show. You kind of expect a little bit less neutrality in that.
Art Caplan was also recently on an episode of Nova talking about ethics in modern medicine. Think it was actually about vaccination (may have been designer babies).
"bbbbut thuh Dems haven't done anything to EARN my vote" and other such brain dead takes from ding dongs who don't understand basic pragmatic logic.
* From dingdongs who are repeating -- accidentally or on purpose -- some bullshit that was professionally constructed to emotionally resonate and sound convincing on surface level, so that when people spread it on social media it can do its job and help Trump get elected and fuck up the country absolutely beyond recognition
The reason, that you already got some upvotes for this, shows, that Lemmy has more users who are able to read more than a couple of words.
Sadly they are the only voices trying to keep the Dems aim to the left.
Dems kept sliding right after coopting the middle with Clinton. Basically a Good Cop-Bad Cop routine.
Now there is no left, aside from Sanders.
Authoritarian to the left, fascist to the right, here we are.
lol yeah, the whole concept of “earning” a vote screams unearned entitlement and narcissistic tendencies on part of the voter.
"The Dems aren't liberal enough so I'm going to revenge vote tRuMp"
These people do not exist in any significant number.
Neither of us can convince someone whose friends had their asses beat by cops at a university protesting Biden's action. Only Biden can do that, by ending the genocide.
When dems lose for not doing the things they need to do to get elected, are you going to blame the dems for not winning what should be an easy election by just doing the things the people want him to do, using all the means at his disposal, or are you going to blame every single voter in the US for not voting for a party that shows nothing but contempt for them?
"what should be an easy election" <- this is how we know you are campaigning for Trump. There is no such thing as an easy election. Since 1992, Democrats have won the popular vote in 7 out of 8 elections, but that didn't stop Bush from beating Gore, or Trump from beating Clinton.
lol, all your type does is talk about dems dems dems, not a single word about Republicans or how much worse they have proven to be when they are in office.
Trump said he would help Israel end the genocide, I guess that's what you want after all, right?
I notice a certain slight tendency in your comments to talk about China, implication that aid for Taiwan was "bought" from the US congress by someone, tendency to delve into the details of tariffs and suchlike.
Quick question for you: If I protest in China against a Chinese policy I don't agree with, what happens to me?
(This isn't a whataboutism -- China doing something doesn't excuse the US police from doing a much milder version of the same thing. I don't think they should be beating or arresting protestors here either. I'm just curious how universally you apply this concern for protestors who had their asses beat.)
Yes I will blame the voters who think their pride is more important than the safety of others.
Dems lose? We all lose. You people seem to forget you're fucking everyone. Your feelings don't matter, outcomes do. If you know Trump wins in this scenario, and you know there may be no more free elections, how does this "force the Dems to learn for next time?" Braindead ideological bullshit. You're a fucking cult.
Sure but when Trump becomes president and you start to realise what you’ve done, don’t expect any help, sympathy, or even basic human decency.
Private Media's duty is to the shareholders.
And if you look at who the big shareholders are voting for (and donating to and campaigning for) it's the Trump GOP.
Sinclair Media, iHeartCommunications, News Corp, Amazon Media Group, Twitter...
These guys are lockstep with the conservative movement.
These groups also donate heavily to the DNC.
Play both sides, so you always come out on top.
But the folks they support are inevitably the most conservative Democrats in the bluest states. Obstructionists like Lieberman, Machin and Sinema, who exist entirely too say "No" from the inside of the party.
The end of democracy in the U.S. is not going to come from fascist conservatives, but from too-busy-with-life normies, the type who don’t vote in anything but presidential elections. They’re just too busy to notice anything other than their bills.
In their minds, they’re going to “punish” the blues for inflation while ignoring that the reds only ever made them poorer. These type of people don’t care about genocides (someone else’s problem, there’s always brown people dying, Israel is an ally etc), abortion rights (only stupid people get pregnant or only sluts need that), or trans people (that’s too weird for them). They don’t care about climate change (it’s a topic up for debate, it’s not factual), but have kids. They don’t care about workers rights, but work deadend or multiple jobs. They don’t care about getting more healthcare rights, but are a medical emergency away from bankruptcy.
I am not saying these people are dumb or callous, they need outreach and they need to be presented clearly with their options and outcomes. If you can, volunteer to sign people up to vote and present what’s at stake.
In my country, basically everyone accepts climate change, except perhaps the most conservative and those who already believe in conspiracy theories. What is going on in the US?
Those who believe in conspiracy theories have become our conservative party. Some (myself included) would argue they've always been there or that that's always been the nature of the republican party. But the important thing here in the modern day is that the conspiracy theorists now control half of the country's political system.
I'm personally of the opinion that conspiracy theory is the result of a fundamental unwillingness or inability to engage with reality. If that is the case then why on earth would you choose to believe in climate change? It's scary, and an existential threat to humanity if it's taken seriously. Besides, theres a lot of money to be made burning the planet.
I think at the end of the day that's what the American right's denial of climate change boils down to. Everyone in that party participates in some way in denying reality in favor of a collective fantasy. What's one more denial?
Rings true, but the hard to swallow fact also is that they only think they’re “so busy with life” because they’re chasing the American pipe dream.
But but Biden didn’t personally go to Gaza to act as a human shield against Israeli shelling, so I don’t care if Trump wins!!
For those autists out there. The /s is pretty heavily implied. And we love you.
He is still approving for weapons to be sent ...
So he either did even remotely satisfactory in that regard or it's not a really big deal, right?
So, something the better journalists have to be careful with, is using neutral language even in certain clearly one-sided situations. That's not just to not upset people on both sides; it helps to inform the truth to those who want to read carefully and critically.
If I read, "beware! The right-wingers are conspiring to make a fascist government!" then all I can do is shrug at another sensationalist conspiracy clickbait.
If I read factual details of things said, done and published by said right-wingers: it turns out I'm capable myself of seeing something is bad or good. Sure, it's still the journalist's job to interpret the facts to a degree, but those facts should be as transparent as possible and attaching inflammatory language, even if appropriate, often obscures that.
There is a place for opinion writers. But we need, I think, more of the less-opinioned honest truth for honest people. Even if that scares you that readers might not take up your call to arms as quickly as you think they ought.
Sorry, that went a bit off the rails, because I'm not quite sure how to express - though I still think it's true - the important place for journalism that doesn't call a spade a spade but tells you its shape so you can understand.
Both sides is a falacy since for most human subjects it's incredibly rare for there to be only two options.
Real Journalism is discussing the situation on its own implications, merits and demerits, and presenting options and explaining their pros and cons.
The whole "both sides" reporting is an artifact of it being Propaganda in a system with a Power Duopoly, so mainstream media frames all human subjects with political implications to match that polical system's own artificially reduced set of choices so as to make it seem like that political system is well suited to deal with human subject with political implications.
(I've actually lived in a couple of countries with different levels of actual political freedom, from the UK which is a lot like US and arguably in some ways even less representative, to The Netherlans which has Proportional Vote, and it's pretty much guaranteed that the way the established Press frames news closelly matches the limitations in political choices in that system)
Then if you go out of mainstream media and look at amateurs (i.e. social media posts) the way they frame subjects is also almost invariably like the Propaganda they grew up with, IMHO not because of them trying to be manipulative but because that's all they've ever known and seen all around them, though the result is still that in their parroting of a sometimes more sometimes less rationalised version of somebody else's talking points, they follow the same falacious structuring.
There are a handfull of less mainstream media who actually mostly practice Journalism and a few diamond-Journalist amongst the muck which is mainstream media, but generally well established news media will not stray away from a framing that justifies the very system that made them "established".
Real Journalism is discussing the situation on its own implications, merits and demerits, and presenting options and explaining their pros and cons.
Agreed
The whole "both sides" reporting is an artifact of it being Propaganda in a system with a Power Duopoly
Both sides is a falacy since for most human subjects it's incredibly rare for there to be only two options.
'Both sides' is also a shorthand for both or more. I like your description of "discussing the situation on its own implications..." but I think it's common in human discourse to frame things in two main perspectives and discuss from there.
Absolutely - and I agree entirely. However - there are a lot of choices that get made with regards to words and context indicators when writing a piece (Video is a whole other box of frogs but similiar things apply).
Just sticking to text, let's say, I'm not suggesting that the NYT should write a front page article entitled Watch Out: Crazy Trump Will Kill Us All (although, that's upsettingly not a zero-percent chance either.)
What I am saying is that they need to stop giving trump the benefit of neutrality. That was a typical and to a small-extent-reasonable excuse they made in 2016. "Let's see what kind of President he'll be" and "maybe he'll grow into it" and sorts of rationalizations that I ranted against at the time and I think was extremely validated by the subesquent nightmare of an administration.
So that's over. Now, we know who he is - he's the kind of guy who lies at the drop of a hat. He'll do it by force of habit. He's incapable of empathy. He's so singularly focused on grabbing money (not 'making money' now, he doesn't care about that), and weilding power over his perceived enemies that he's an absolutely dismal choice for president. He staged a failed coup right in front of us. And still remains unrepentant. Anyone who's not a complete cult member can see that.
So the NYT writing their article can use that to leverage his latest outrageousness and limit the faux-respect (he deserves none) such as "former President". Fuck that - that's not a "fact" as much as it is an "editorial position". He's also a former game show host. He's also gone bankrupt five times. (four? five, whatever) He's never been a billionaire. These are facts. They don't use those. Why not.
Because. The tenor of the NYT is that they are "supposed" to be lofty - distanced - respectful. Well, they're failing us with that. Trump is using that against them and us.
Maggie Haberman's mom used to be trump's publicist. And she's the trump-whisperer? Fuck.
Same can be applied to any of the video-based services. (Minus the sniffly air of old money). I'll try to use a future post to dive into one of the articles and really highlight it because once you see it, it's pretty blatant they're tipping the scales towards trump. It shouldn't be close at all. It is because they're doing that. On purpose.
That's because journalism has more or less lost all semblance of integrity, so it's turned into "what cheap clickbait can I crap out today to maximize my clicks?" That's why instead of the hard-hitting investigation and journalism we got with Watergate, we get "TRUMP = LITERAL NAZI, CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT WHY"
Everything should be prefaced with the fact conservatives don't think it's possible they can lose.
Is this a meme?
Journalists say this all the time. Does this guy only follow fox news?
Okay it's Saturday May 11th, what are the stories from CNN, NBC, ABC, WaPo, and NYT (front pages please) which say that. I just checked and there weren't any.
There's trump-in-court, trump-in-irs-trouble, other things like "some say he shouldn't be campaigning in a blue state on his day off from court" or whatever.
It's not like a breaking news story. It's got to be folded into the telling of all the other stories about him. He tried - and failed - to stage a goddamned coup for fuck's sake.
Incompetently planned, ridiculously reasoned, as one would expect, but he did it nonetheless and I want it to say IN EVERY ARTICLE ABOUT HIM that he tried to stage a coup which failed. Interview justice officials as to what - EXACTLY- are they going to do when he does it again. What protections are in place to prevent him from gutting appointees and protections? Where are those news stories?
And why, after 2016 and everything that we're saying here happened then, would anyone need to explain this?
Their whole framing of the story should acknowledge that he's an enemy of the United States. He got dozens of CIA assets killed, he supported our enemy in a shooting war that's still going on, and he tried to kill a bunch of politicians to seize power. Instead, they're treating him like a candidate for president. Every single newspaper should be running stories about what a catastrophe it would be if someone who's so clearly hostile to the United States managed to seize control of the United States government.
It's like those editors from World War 2 that wanted to tone down coverage of Hitler because he's a popular and successful leader. I mean, your statement's not fully objectively wrong. But also, objectively, you're missing the point.
I guess that you're right they cant explictly say "Trump is a facist" because they will get sued but they hint at in and imply it in so many articles. Here's a quick search which shows what I mean about journalists talking about this. You could find 10+ of these types of posts from each of the big news sites.
Opinion: Trump’s praise of dictators tells us all we need to know
'It's happening right here': The authoritarian threat to American democracy
Why does Trump keep talking like a fascist? Because it works
Twelve signs Trump would try to run a fascist dictatorship in a second term
Talk of a Trump Dictatorship Charges the American Political Debate
Let's be honest here: how many people are really still getting their news from one of those formally mainstream outlets? Not a single news outlet is in the top 50 most visited websites. Cable and satellite subscriptions are at an all-time low and nobody even bothers hooking an antenna up to their TV anymore. We all just stream everything. And when's the last time you've seen a newspaper on a driveway? I know I haven't in over a decade.
What I'm saying is that what CNN, NBC, ABC, NYT, etc. don't report on is irrelevant, because nobody gets their news from them anymore. Most people get their news from social media and word-of-mouth.
100% THIS.
BoTh SiDeS has already gotten people killed!
Hahahah imagine expecting liberal media to stop fascism.
Liberalism creates the conditions of fascism; Capitalism tends towards crisis, eventually it must be buttressed by applying colonial methods at home.
Liberals always do everything they can to keep us on the path towards fascism, since socialism represents a greater threat to capitalism.
I'm so glad idiots like you are a joke to the silent majority, who will continue living free under liberalism long after fascism and communism are forgotten.
Have you been frozen since the 90s? All the proclamations that liberalism won and it was the end of history, and we'd just have technocratic tweaks to capitalism forever were wrong.
Capitalism tends towards crisis when it can't expand its markets, it's structural.
Hell this very post is about liberals being complicit with or facilitating the rise of fascism.
Because there's nothing new under the sun, you can study the same dynamic in 1930s germany. The choice is socialism or barbarism, and the liberals choose barbarism every time.
On the other hand, this is all MSNBC talks about.
..........why am I being downvoted?
If fascists are attempting a takeover of our government then it would be irresponsible for Biden to accept the results if he loses the election.
I read another stupid and dangerous take, look at the username, and of course.
I'm sorry I forgot we're just supposed to let them win
Single party dictatorship is acceptable 🤣
Dude calls himself a fascist in his own comments
Biden needs to stop this fascist takeover by putting Trump in jail or by giving Trump massive fines so he can't campaign properly. Kick him off the ballot in various states. That will show that fascist who's boss. Make cnn or msnbc write hit pieces on Trump, non-stop. Nice.
"the current leader needs to stop fascist activities by behaving exactly like a fascist!"
"How Democracies Die" goes into this in quite a bit of detail. Once the fascists start breaking the rules, there's a terrible temptation to start fighting back in kind, violating norms like the one against politically motivated prosecutions dictated by the executive branch, which it's easy to decide it's time to start breaking, because we have to do something or else they might take over the fucking country. Breaking those rules is one of the last stages in the collapse of the democratic system which will hasten the fascist takeover, though. It must not be done. As counterintuitive as it sounds, you have to fight the uphill battle continuing to obey the rules against people who are breaking them. It sucks but in most cases it's the only move that leads to any good outcome.
Biden is doing the right thing by staying out of the prosecutions and letting the DOJ for some awful fuckin reason handle them at the same glacial pace that it handles everything. Why they're doing that, I don't know, but Biden is right to stay out of it.
Can someone send me actual proof that this is happening? Not some crackpot conspiracy theories?
Here's a list. Some excerpts:
slashing U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) funding, dismantling the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security
invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807 to deploy the military for domestic law enforcement and directing the DOJ to pursue Trump adversaries
create a federally funded "American Academy" that would deliver online courses and grant free degrees that excluded "wokeness or jihadism". The plan would also be funded by taxing the endowments of major universities
every state report exactly how many abortions take place within its borders, at what gestational age of the child, for what reason, the mother's state of residence, and by what method
There's lots more.
What is happening? That they're writing stories about trump as if he's normal and just another presidential candidate?
Yeah, we can send you examples of that. Do you need to know more about Project 2025 or the multitudinous and fascistic threats he's made on the campaign trail?
This is literally a conspiracy theory.
Says the Trump supporter
No, this is a literal conspiracy.
So is Trump threatening these journalists somehow, or paying them off perhaps?
As I recall, journalists had no difficulties being critical of him before, during, and after his presidency, writing countless of hit pieces without suffering any sort of consequences.
To my knowledge, none of them have been disappeared, sued, or otherwise silenced, the worst that would happen to them was Trump tweeting something mean about them in retaliation.
Why would they be afraid all of a sudden to be critical of him?
Sometimes conspiracies literally exist. It's where the word comes from.
