Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo — Page 580

I like that the responses focused solely on his examples of media.

darth_ender said:

I don’t think the newspapers or national networks are much more objective than cable programs, but I did deliberately choose polarized examples.

So, how do you feel that traditionally thought of as left-leaning outlets skew the news?

Mrebo said:

I like that the responses focused solely on his examples of media.

Well, there’s not much to argue with in the basic premise. Objectivity doesn’t sell. Centrism isn’t the same thing as objectivity, but I feel like the Washington Post has been doing pretty well walking the line there (for now). Objectivity? Nope, haven’t seen in in very big quantities anywhere.

I’m going to try to ask this question earnestly.

How many good things are going for Trump?

I ask it because others may have a view that I don’t have. I’m much more inclined to give a negative response due to my own political views and where I get my news, so I’d like to see what others have to say.

darth_ender said:

CatBus said:

darth_ender said:

or there is CNN and MSNBC

I hear this from a lot of conservatives. Do you really think there’s an anti-Trump bias here, or is this just a counterpoint to the left of FOX? All the standard leftist media boogeymen (CNN, MSNBC, NPR, NYT) seem pretty pro-Trump to me so far, just pro-Trump by omission rather than pro-Trump by commission like FOX. That’s the view from the left at least.

Just a quick look at CNN.com has several headlines that are embarrassing for Trump. Usually, I see far more. It’s often a mixture of news and opinion articles that are disparaging towards him. I’ll be honest, a part of me enjoys it and fills me with a proud “I told ya so” attitude towards the Republican Party of which I am a former member. On the other hand, I can’t help but feel like it’s excessive to the point that I find some of it hard to believe–like such extreme saturation of negative Trump news that it’s hard to know what’s really true and what is actually just people trying desperately to bring him down.

For the record, I still hope he does get brought down. I feel he is tremendously dangerous to our country and the world.

I dunno. The “news” (such as it is) today involves people having Twitter feuds and publishing tell-all books. As that goes, the CNN front page I’m looking at seems to cover those bases pretty neutrally, albeit with the salacious tabloid fever that flavors all news these days.

Now, I’m with you that the facts are anti-Trump. So if you report the facts objectively, you’re going to sound anti-Trump. But you’d have to pretty much ignore his tweets and random blatherings and focus on policies, and I’m afraid no media outlet’s going to do that in the clickbait economy.

I guess we may also be measuring bias differently too. If you’re upset the media hops over the latest Twitter gaffe at the expense of everything else, I’m with you. And Trump’s manner of Twitter usage pretty much ensures that that salacious gossip column style coverage is going to be anti-Trump because you’d have to be a crazy person (or FOX contributor) to support his tweets.

But as far as the real substantial news goes, I see CNN doing a lot of “our staff stenographer just wrote down what they said at the press conference without analysis”, which is pretty pro-Trump (also lazy). Or consulting “experts on both sides” which allows people to offer exercises in framing the issues rather than analysis of the issues (also lazy). And as the facts are anti-Trump, dropping any number of substantial stories skews the coverage in his favor.

So is media shallow? Hell yes. Lazy? Vapid? No argument. Liberal? Not so much.

yhwx said:

I’m going to try to ask this question earnestly.

How many good things are going for Trump?

I ask it because others may have a view that I don’t have. I’m much more inclined to give a negative response due to my own political views and where I get my news, so I’d like to see what others have to say.

It depends on what you mean by “good” and whether they’re things happening because or despite (or to spite) him. The big ones I see mentioned are: the tax law which included ACA mandate repeal, judicial nominations, strong economy, ISIS defeat in Iraq, recognizing Jerusalem as capital of Israel, assertion of a more muscular foreign policy, his travel ban has been mostly allowed to go into effect, did away with net neutrality, announced withdrawal from Paris Climate Agreement, North Korea wanting to open talks with South Korea, Saudi Arabia shakeup and reforms, opening areas for increased energy production.

Obviously a lot of these depend on your own point of view, but they’re items cited by his supporters.

You didn’t mention you can finally say “Merry Christmas” again 😉

Or is it that you can finally dream of a White Christmas?

CatBus said:

You didn’t mention you can finally say “Merry Christmas” again 😉

I forgot about that most important one of all!

Or is it that you can finally dream of a White Christmas?

That leads us to the 1942 film Holiday Inn.

Warbler said:

Mrebo said:

I like that the responses focused solely on his examples of media.

meaning?

That I liked it!

And that there was apparently nothing else to take issue with in the post 😛

That’s not for me to say.

I just find it funny. I kind of expected vociferous agreement. Little surprising nobody stood up for CNN at least - although I agree with ender.

Warbler said:

Mrebo said:

That’s not for me to say.

Just asking for your opinion.

I just find it funny. I kind of expected vociferous agreement.

That there is no real news anymore?

That Trump is, to quote Miss Piggy from the The Muppet Christmas Carol, “odious, stingy, wicked, unfeeling, and badly dressed.”

I think objectivity is greatly degraded across all news platforms.

The late timing and the headline of this article are hilarious

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/949616329463615489

Now that Russian collusion, after one year of intense study, has proven to be a total hoax on the American public, the Democrats and their lapdogs, the Fake News Mainstream Media, are taking out the old Ronald Reagan playbook and screaming mental stability and intelligence…

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/949618475877765120

…Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star…

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/949619270631256064

…to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius…and a very stable genius at that!

http://people.com/politics/fire-and-fury-libraries-harry-potter/?utm_campaign=peoplemagazine&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&xid=socialflow_twitter_peoplemag

The enormous demand for author Michael Wolff’s exposé on President Trump’s White House, “Fire and Fury,” has created a scramble for copies as online and physical retailers struggle to supply their customers. The crowded market has led some antsy readers to look in their local libraries instead, but they won’t find much luck there either at the moment.

“The demand for this book is huge,” said Peter Persic of the Los Angeles Public Library. “It’s comparable to the first day sales of the ‘Harry Potter’ books back in their heyday.

“What makes it especially unusual is [that it’s] a nonfiction,” Persic added. “Usually bestsellers of this type are fiction books. It’s probably our biggest nonfiction bestseller in years, since anyone can remember.”

I just bought it…