The Media/Journalism Thread

[Khan]

That's perhaps the most ironic part of the MSM's relationship with Donald Trump: no matter how much they attempt to tip the scales of this election in his favor, they refuse to see just how vulnerable they would be in a second Trump administration.

[DRW50]

 

[Vee]

Taking a break from seething and spitting nails that Harris is in the race at all let alone doing well, Jonathan Martin offers a coping mechanism:

[Vee]

Ridiculous that this had to air. They should've fought it in court.

 

[DRW50]

@Vee That's pathetic, even moreso after Romney made it clear he wants no part of ties to Harris.

[Vee]

I admired Mitt for his stance against Trump at a few key points in the last several years (particularly re: impeachment), but in the end he always defaults to trying to thread the impossible needle where he will come out the victor. I think he's delusional. There is no party base that will ever accept him now, even if he just manages to deftly keep Trump's name out of his mouth.

[DRW50]

I understand why Harris needs to work with Charlamagne given his influence and the huge backers he has in the media establishment, but similar to what happened with the 60 Minutes interview, I feel like this may be a setup.

[Vee]

The Alex Thompson/Frank Luntz/Dave Weigel ouroboros - Weigel seems unaware or uninterested that he himself has been drifting rightward back to his libertarian roots for years since his Bernie Bro period (and his chastisement for sexist behavior at the Post which caused him to exit) and that he and Thompson (who breathlessly RT'ed an anti-Harris oppo clip out of context) are essentially cut from the same cloth:

 

Edited October 12, 2024 by Vee

[DRW50]

I'm mostly surprised Luntz even admitted his mistake. Someone said Thompson just took that literally from an RNC clip.

Weigel definitely has a rightward frame which he is less and less interested in hiding and is very defensive of media criticism (he was chiding people who pointed out the NYT headline defending Trump's support of eugenics).

Edited October 12, 2024 by DRW50

[DRW50]

 

[Vee]

More dishy Nuzzi/Lizza business (albeit a bit too sympathetic to Nuzzi, it is a good background primer for both).

 

Edited October 12, 2024 by Vee

[Xanthe]

Summary: Lizza's family is mob-adjacent so we shouldn't be surprised if he did it. People who complain about Nuzzi are just jealous because she's so pretty and good at her job. Also who can blame her for being dazzled by a Kennedy. Ugh.

[Wendy]

Nope. Not jealous.

Nuzzi is supposedly a journalist. Journalists are SUPPOSED TO have some objectivity/ethics. She was reporting on RFK, Jr. as a presidential candidate, yet was having an affair with him. That compromises whatever she reported about him.

It's BECAUSE she is supposedly pretty that people seem to want to give her a pass. And no. She's a damn adult. She is no better than a writer for Weekly World News, that parody rag that used to have covers about aliens having Elvis' baby or whatnot.

She clearly has no boundaries/ethics.

[JaneAusten]

I guess success and decency is relative and if you're a white woman and blond you get the benefit of what? Being good because I guarantee you the men(and it's mostly men) defending her don't care a bit about her alleged talent. Next you'll tell me the women are more critical because she's prettier and more successful than we are. Nope.  We women know how hard it is to get ahead and our behavior has to be way above males to be treated equally, and even when that happens, we still aren't treated the same.  Are you suggesting that the presidential race this year is super close and in 2016 was lost because the male candidate was far more qualified? GMAB.

I don't think she's that talented as a journalist. Exactly what stories has she broken. And cozying up to people like Steve Bannon and Milo Yiannopoulos and Right Wing Nationalists. She's basically a gossip columnist for White Supremacy. I'd equate her with Eva Braun not Nelly Bly.  But I guess we all have our own opinions.

Plus, a real journalist would not have gotten involved or if so, would have distanced herself from her subject.  And we are decades past this fascination with the Kennedy men.  These people were raised in the midst of privilege and misogyny. Especially a man who is 70 years old.  The man drove his late wife to suicide, and when her family wanted her body moved to their plot, he did what? He moved her body half way across the cemetary ALONE because "The Kennedy Plot was getting too full". Is that a man to be drawn to?

Edited October 13, 2024 by JaneAusten

[Khan]

I'm with @JaneAusten: the so-called "Kennedy mystique" is an antiquated notion.  They might have been on the right side of history when it counted, but at the end of the day, they're still an embodiment of white privilege and toxic masculinity.