But it is getting worse. Last night was remarkable in that the truth was nowhere to be found, and the media was totally unconcerned about the firehose of lies. Trump seems to have groomed them to simply ignore the veracity of everything he says. Everything. No rules. This is how the media functions in fascist dictatorships.
@mastodonmigration No question that #CNN simply decided not to even try to do journalism last night. But media dereliction of duty started as soon as they saw Trump was good for ratings. Once you start down a waterslide, you're kind of committed.
@mastodonmigration IMO politicians also need to anticipate what the press will do. I have no idea why Biden would even appear in a debate with Trump, because it merely legitimizes Trump and gives him another national platform to spew his lies (which he predictably did).
Biden should have anticipated the garbage media coverage and declined, and gone on the offensive, saying that Biden doesn’t debate with convicted felons and rapists, or something along those lines. Don’t give the media material for their garbage coverage.
All this may be true. Biden should have been much better prepared for the Gish gallop (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gish_gallop). But, the role of the media in permitting such a free flow of unchecked, uncorrected, lies and disinformation on a national stage, is still a major issue. Both are true.
Not trying to excuse his performance or blame any of his handlers. Whatever was done in those 7 days, it didn't work. And yes, it is a very big problem that he does not seem capable of prevailing in such a forum.
Another issue, and the one this post addresses, is the willing acceptance of rank dishonesty by Trump on the national debate stage.
@mastodonmigration@LALegault With Trump on the stage, one can rest assured that whatever is discussed will not be substantive (the moderator isn’t going to help). When you remove substance from the content, you’re left with stage performance, completely detached from reality. In that format, Trump excels, because he’s a master bullshitter.
IMO Biden performed badly, precisely because nobody cared about substance.
@mastodonmigration
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a billion tweets begging, "the media," who are the seven guys who are exactly the enemy to do the right thing is failing our democracy
Not begging the media. Completely understand that "the seven guys are not our friend." In order to address a problem, we need to clearly identify it. The media's tacit acceptance of Trump's dishonesty is a very big problem. So, how do we address it?
@mastodonmigration cannot find a single op-ed demanding that the lying, delusional, felon, insurrectionist, rapist presumptive MAGA Republican should step down. Not one.
@mastodonmigration
CNN is media? I don't think that CNN is media or journalism. CNN is a juvenile attempt at pretending to be relevant. CNN is old and stale and how in hell did CNN manage to bribe their way into a presidential debate? ridiculous format, braindead moderators, and as I understand it, one wasted bullshit of a presentation. I believe that CNN is acronym for Crap Nauseating Neocons.
@mastodonmigration I think it's foolish anymore to believe there is a form of media that serves the general public. Even on it's face it's absurd given who owns and wields it. Seen from the perspective that their primary function is to condition the public to accept things that only serve the select few, the media does an outstanding job. Convincing people they have a stake, a player in the game, when the goal is already predetermined. Give them the slow horse
@mastodonmigration Yeah.... I feel like I just watched the Olympic Committee hand Tonya Harding the gold because assaulting Nancy Kerrigan showed competitive initiative, and they really didn't want to see Kerrigan win anyway.
@mastodonmigration Kafaybe will soon be adjudicated as law precedent by TFG’s Supreme White Christian Nationalist Court.
ALL media shall be required to follow along or be punished out of business for lack of loyalty to the dictator. Oligarchs and their party can’t turn America into Russia fast enough.
@mastodonmigration Well, observing the reports concerning the debate from Germany, I read many reports and opinion pieces like the one from NYT posted below. The critizism of Trump being the Republican candidate still is harsh.
Thanks for sharing this piece. Had not seen it. Spot on. Unfortunately, at least yesterday, the media was focused on Biden's clumsy debate performance and not on Trump's lies. This seems to be shifting now as the media begins to take the temperature of a public horrified by the Trump they witnessed. We shall see.
@mastodonmigration good luck not having a bad debate against Trump. His whole repertoire was stacked with propaganda and diatribe, without any inclinations in the spirit of debate.
@mastodonmigration The focus on the Biden-Trump debate that I have seen is worse than woeful. I have yet to see even one post where the policy differences of the 2 parties was identified and discussed. It’s insane to talk about who did or did not perform well, or lie, and ignore the main game - what policies do these parties intend to introduce? Policies are far more important than the personalities of the Party figureheads.
@mastodonmigration in USA 5 corporations own most media people see though with online content that is a bit more complicated now. They are all businesses except PBS. News used to be a loss leader then morphed into a profit center. No idea how that gets fixed. I know I avoid corporate media for news or analysis except maybe for real business and specialist stuff that need info to be reasonably factual. Getting rid of foreign owned propaganda bullhorns like the Murdoch trash would help.