this is of course on the whole dishonest but it’s nice to see dipshit mcgee over here admitting the guy tried to destroy the country. baby steps. https://t.co/diHIPbQD91
— World Famous Art Thief (@CalmSporting) June 22, 2022
I usually call them Idiots, which they are, but they have the self-preservation instincts of a subway rat. These guys loved having TFG in the Oval Office, churning out reams of copy 24/7, no need for the high-dollar ‘journalists’ to do more than stenography — with the hopes of TV facetime and maybe a fat book deal to keep them interested, when it all got kinda repetitive.
But what has he done for them lately?
What they don’t want, at this moment in time, is for the possible downfall of the Trump Crime Cartel to let the rubes — er, their target markets — see how rotten and shaky the whole Republican party edifice actually is. If this means downvoting TFG in order to preserve a figleaf of deniability, well, Mr. You’re-Fired should’ve known the job was dangerous when he took it!
journalist in the year 2022: really striking to me how trump turned out to be a bad president https://t.co/PlQS3MgDSa
— Comirnaty By Nature (@canderaid) June 22, 2022
(Sam Stein’s modest self-attribution on Twitter is Politico/MSNBC. Beating heart of the great media beast, and yet not a clue to be found there. )
Callback to Rich ‘Sparklepants’ Lowry, Editor of the National Review, back in 2020:
Great day to revisit this tweet https://t.co/YncbdgYLsx
— Isaac Chotiner (@IChotiner) June 21, 2022
And, apparently, those “well-heeled benefactors” are still willing to throw money down the Klout rat-hole…
“Semafor has raised $25 million from wealthy individuals, with a goal of cultivating direct relationships between its journalists and its audience.”
… Justin Smith and Ben Smith surprised the media world early this year when they said they were leaving prominent jobs at Bloomberg Media and The New York Times to start a global news organization, Semafor. They said it would tackle the lack of trust in media and compete for English-language readers against outlets like CNN, The Times and The Washington Post.
The coverage is set to start this fall, they said in a recent interview, with a staff of about 30 journalists based in London, New York and Washington, D.C., and another international location, either in Africa or the Middle East. The operations will initially be supported by around $25 million from investors, with early revenue coming from advertising and live events. They plan to eventually charge for subscriptions. They hired Rachel Oppenheim, an advertising executive at The Times, to be the company’s chief revenue officer.
The money to get started comes from a variety of wealthy people, including the crypto-billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried and his brother Gabe; Jessica Lessin, the founder of The Information; David G. Bradley, chairman emeritus of The Atlantic; and John Thornton, co-founder of the American Journalism Project and The Texas Tribune. Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire founder of Bloomberg L.P., was pitched but decided not to invest.
Justin Smith, who had been the chief executive of Bloomberg Media, said Semafor’s decision to seek money from wealthy individuals rather than venture firms was a sign that the founders were not looking to cash out anytime soon. In the interview, he said that he and Ben Smith, who was a media columnist at The Times, wanted to leave behind a news organization that would last for generations. Both have committed to work on the project for at least 10 years…
“I think the business model conditions for global news media are better in 2022 than they’ve ever been since before the internet arrived,” Justin Smith said, “and it has to do with the ubiquitous broad adoption of subscriptions and the loosening grip of tech platforms on global ad markets.”…
Sounds like a high-dollar SubStack, only with celebrity ‘professionals’ to do the ghostwriting for its sponsors:
… Reporter bylines will be sized similarly to headlines, part of an effort to cultivate direct relationships between Semafor’s journalists and its audience. Employees will be encouraged to offer their own perspective on social media “in a fair, analytical way,” said Ben Smith.
He said the company aimed to have a different relationship with its reporters than other newsrooms, including by ensuring that journalists receive “all or most” of the financial upside of their intellectual property, such as book deals or movie rights…
Wonder if Tucker Carlson pitched in a token few hundred thousands, as a good-faith investment. Maybe he just put it on his Fox company expense account, under ‘publicity’?
Punchbowl News, when Politico isn’t *quite* enough like Tiger-Beat-on-the-Potomac:
guachi
Nothing like a nice Anne Laurie post getting stomped on in less than a minute.
The 1/6 Committee has done a great job using whatever non-Democratic sources they can to make their case – Republicans, British filmmakers, Capitol Police – and it’s made it very hard for Republicans to mount an effective counterattack.
schrodingers_cat
That Trump is a racist is news to our media betters tells you all that you need to know about them. They have been asleep at the switch and complicit.
My friend’s son knew it when the Orange One came down that escalator and announced his candidacy. He was only 12 then.
The Oracle of Solace
It’s a source of endless frustration that the people who are paid Big Money to explain politics to the nation either don’t know anything or won’t explain anything. I’ve only made fifty bucks off my explanations and I feel like I do a better job than these millionaires. But then, of course, if I were a millionaire, I might be trying to defend my class interests by pretending everything is fine. I don’t know, but I would be willing to find out, for science. I need to find a billionaire willing to shovel money at me so we can measure when it changes me!
Joe Falco
Cartoonist Matt Bors would often draw a strip that satirized the mainstream media Sunday pundit shows with a cast of characters sitting in the roundtable discussion that included a literal American nazi in a nice suit with swastika armband. It’s not too far off from what this latest “news” venture will be. Better see if one of the backers also have more direct financial ties to the Kremlin as Adam had talked about in his nightly post. Russia may want to start over after burning its foreign Russia Today outposts to the ground.
Another Scott
This is good.
+1
(via Popehat)
Cheers,
Scott.
Felanius Kootea
@schrodingers_cat:
We apparently have a media landscape populated with verrrry slow learners.
mrmoshpotato
@schrodingers_cat:
Ain’t that the truth! Fuckin’ garbage, boot-licking stenographers.
NotMax
(
stifles guffaw
) Yeah, right. CNN+ lasted what, 10 minutes?Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Related, does anyone have opinions about News Nation? They brand themselves as being a straight news network
Jackie
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Have you watched it? What’s your opinion?
Elizabelle
We are not well served by these courtesans. Who depend on the king’s favor, or their masters’.
kalakal
To misquote Humbert Wolfe
“You cannot hope
to bribe or twist,
thank God! the
BritishUS journalist.But, seeing what
the man will do
unbribed, there’s
no occasion to”
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Jackie:
I haven’t yet. Though them being owned by Nexstar doesn’t fill me with confidence. A local TV station is owned by them and often presents a conservative slant in their local news coverage
Edit:
Found this: Variety article from last year:
That last paragraph tells you all you need to know, thinking the newsrooms of major mainstream news is “left-leaning” is lmao worthy
phdesmond
@mrmoshpotato:
i had a clue when he came down the escalator and gave a speech and closed by calling Hispanics rapists.
Jackie
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Only you can determine if they’re a legit source of news. Asking us – without previewing yourself – is pointless.
Kent
@phdesmond: I had a clue when he tried to lynch the Central Park 5 a decade or two before that
Major Major Major Major
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): you’re well informed, I imagine giving it a watch might help you evaluate it.
phdesmond
@Kent:
right.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Jackie:
@Major Major Major Major:
I asked because I generally trust the folks here and their opinions
catclub
$25M to start a news network seems pretty low.
RepubAnon
Calling Tucker Carlson a Fox News Host is like calling John Wayne Gacy a clown.
Benw
My breaking point was the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The media coverage of a uniquely successful operation presented as a total failure with no context was galling.
Major Major Major Major
Here, have a Samwise pic, y’all https://twitter.com/tynanpants/status/1539822499692683265?s=21&t=ZGxgQO6oQ-RfIZCh0CvYPg
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Major Major Major Major:
Another excellent addition to the Annals of Cats Laying on Keyboards! Samwise is a cutie
Benw
@Major Major Major Major: thanks for that. So chill
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Anyone speak kitten?
Major Major Major Major
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): when Sam does that it’s because he’s looking at a pigeon.
Sister Golden Bear
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
The tell is how hard they promote themselves as “unbiased U.S. news & video delivered from the heartland of America.” and “news that represents the full range of perspectives across the country.”
Nope, no dog whistles there, no siree.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): As MMMM said, cats “chatter” when frustrated looking at something – usually an indoor cat looking at a bird outside. They want to get out and chase it and can’t. Hence, frustration.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Major Major Major Major:
So did my cat Bilbo. He loved watching birds and chipmunks through my sliding glass door
@Sister Golden Bear:
Yikes. “Delivered from the heartland of America” is about as dogwhistlely as you can get
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan):
I feel kinda bad for the cats then lol
phdesmond
this was interesting to read elsewhere:
Steeplejack
@Major Major Major Major:
How do you like that K[3/4]80 keyboard? Been thinking about getting one and using it with tablet or even cell phone for travel and leaving the notebook computer at home. Lightening the load. But I want something I can type reasonably fast on.
Major Major Major Major
@Steeplejack: I wouldn’t say it’s very good for typing on. The keys lack depth. But I’m spoiled by mechanical keyboards.
NotMax
FYI.
Steeplejack
@Major Major Major Major:
Is it just a cat pillow then? I’m not talking about it as my main keyboard, but something to travel with. Maybe a small mechanical keyboard would work.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@NotMax:
Legal proceedings take a long time. I’d almost forgotten about the Dominion/Smartmatic defamation suits. I hope Powell and Ghoulini are taken to the cleaners too
piratedan
man…. I wonder what tomorrow’s hearing will bring (other than how Trump hollowed out the DOJ, with the assistance of Barr).
just running in my head the laundry list of likely GOP politicians that are on my own personal sedition list… will appreciate any arguments for or against…
would likely be guilty as hell – Hawley, Cruz, McConnell, Grassley, Johnson, Paul, Lee, Scott and Tuberville from the Senate…
Could be on the short list…. Blackburn, Lummis, Cassidy, Kennedy, Cornyn, Graham and Collins
In the House….. Cawthorn, Brooks, Biggs, Gosar, Gohmert, Greene, McCarthy, Jordan, Roy, Laudermilk, Nunez, Banks and Stefanik all come to mind…
Just speculating on who was either involved or likely knew what was going to happen… and I would not be shocked if my list is short by a few folks as well.
Chetan Murthy
@piratedan:
That piece of shit Qbert, for sure.
James E Powell
@schrodingers_cat:
The whole press/media world was so focused on their hatred of Hillary Clinton that they collectively decided to give Trump a pass.
Major Major Major Major
@Steeplejack: it’s my husband’s, he thinks it’s fine I guess. But I feel like my fingers just slip all over it.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@James E Powell:
I’m having flashbacks to the hours long coverage of an empty podium, waiting for Trump to speak alone. CNN etc gave Trump billions in free advertising
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Steeplejack:
If you’re interested, I looked up this NYT article recommending a few small mechanical keyboards
Link
BillinGlendaleCA
I have a personal rant…
So we were going to do Father’s Day dinner with the kid last Sat night, but she was going to a baby shower that afternoon and suggested we postpone it to the next day we both weren’t working so we’d have more time together. So, we scheduled it for this Sunday. She asked if she could bring her boyfriend along and I agreed, since we’d not meet him and she’s getting serious about their relationship. So, last Saturday, I visit madame and she has a lady there who madame introduces me to and then on the way out the door tells me she’s invited her to join us on Sunday along with a guy we’ve known for about 20 years. So on Monday, we’re talking about where to go for dinner, and she wants to go out, I say that I’m uncomfortable with going out(I mask at work all the time, and it can be quite uncomfortable).
I’m not happy about any of this, either going to a restaurant, even though we may eat outside or with additional guest who I was not even asked if it would be OK to join us. I guess I’ll show and walk home when they go to dinner.
NotMax
‘@Steeplejack
Got a few minutes? #1 and also #2
patrick II
Stringer Bell: Is you takin’ notes on a fuckin’ criminal conspiracy?
Trump: No, I’m going to have a British guy take a video.
Basilisc
Two bureaus in the US, and no bureau in Asia? I guess 4.5 billion people, including the world’s most dynamic economies and two rising powers who are not exactly at peace with their neighbors, don’t seem likely to generate what these guys consider “news”. Or not likely enough to give up their kids’ places in top NY private schools.
opiejeanne
@ BillinGlendaleCA: We had a Father’s Day get-together on Sunday, and this evening our son tested positive for Covid. His wife took him to the ER because he was so sick and had a fever over 100, and all of the other symptoms. He tested negative at home but the doctor told him that there’s a strain that is not detected by the home tests, so yay. Fun.
This means that everyone who was here on Sunday has been exposed. I let everyone know this evening.
He couldn’t get a prescription for Paxlovid at the ER for some reason. He has to find a personal doctor in order to get a prescription; he doesn’t have one yet because he just moved to the area in late January and hasn’t been able to take time off to get one, until now.
Emerald
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): And while they focused on that empty podium, often they’d have a little square in the lower right-hand corner with Hillary actually speaking, but without audio. No doubt they saw that as equal coverage. I’ve rarely turned on CNN since.
If we lose our democracy, it’ll be entirely the fault of the media.
eclare
@opiejeanne:
I hope your son is ok. A doctor in an ER cannot write a prescription? That is infuriating.
Dan B
@Major Major Major Major: Crows here with little fierce Ba Boo. And Scrub Jays. Both must be within 25 feet on the power lines
I’m certain this was the inspiration for Mars Attacks.
Dan B
@phdesmond: Horrifying to read. Her husband was kept from her in her dying moments. His testimony at trial about the emotional trauma will be devastating.
BillinGlendaleCA
@opiejeanne: Hope your son is doing OK, I can sort of see an ER doc wanting to defer to a primary care doc, but not all of us have one, I don’t.
Dan B
@opiejeanne: Terrible news and the bureaucratic malfeasance of the American Healthcare system. We’re with Kaiser and they find ways to take care of emergencies. I believe it’s from its origins as patient owned Group Health.
Raise holy hell! Call TV reporters. It’s a story about bureaucracy versus a vulnerable individual. If someone can cry on camera at the hospital while an administrator is on the phone with a pushy reporter the earth and heavens will move
You may have to wait until 5 or 6 AM for the morning commute time reporters.
Raven
Well, apparently insomnia is a side effect of a femoral nerve block!
AxelFoley
@patrick II:
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Baud
@Raven:
That stinks. Hopefully the meds are working at least.
Liminal Owl
@Another Scott: Beau of the Fifth Column is always good.
raven
@Baud: It just dawned on me that, when the boss lady picked me up, I hit a bunch of here iced coffee. I know there is no scientific basis but it ALWAYS wire me! That and the steroid may have done it. I just walked Artie and shot the breeze with a neighbor and the weakness is still there but the discomfort I’ve felt standing for a period of time is less. That good!
Baud
@raven:
Yeah, I can’t drink coffee after noon or I’ll be up all night.
Jeffery
I would be nice if the GOP base actually cared about the republic. They don’t. Their interests come first. If that means doing away with the current form of government it’s OK with them.
It isn’t like this is new position. They have never liked having anyone else having a say in how things should be run.
If and when they do get control again they will never let go.
WaterGirl
@ BillinGlendaleCA: Happy Father’s Day!
Oh, you thought that Father’s Day was going to be about you? Just because you are the father???
Thoughtless people are thoughtless. It’s too bad they are being that way on the day that’s supposed to be for you.
J R in WV
@Benw:
Yes, this.
Plus Biden was following in the wake of a diplomatic agreement reached by the previous administration, not breaking new ground on his own.
I was impressed by the speed and efficiency of the operation, personally. But the Mass Media needed for some reason to show the crowd of desperate would be refugees clinging to the outside of a huge aircraft repeatedly. For some reason.
Josie
@raven: Sounds like good news about the procedure?
different-church-lady
”We’re starting a new news organization because we feel reporters aren’t treated enough like celebrities.”
Brachiator
@ BillinGlendaleCA:
Have you and your family gone out less because of Covid? Could it be that the people involved want an opportunity to socialize?
Since your daughter wants to bring her special guy, it might be good to try to be accommodating.
Belated Happy Father’s Day.
Steeplejack
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Thanks.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
Thanks.
Paul in KY
@schrodingers_cat: They knew it too, they would just play dumb or dissemble when the topic came up.
Paul in KY
@The Oracle of Solace: They are not paid the money ‘to explain politics to the nation’. Ha, ha! They are paid to push certain viewpoints that their paymasters want pushed.
dnfree
@ BillinGlendaleCA: Get a doctor. For real. Don’t wait until you need one.
J R in WV
@Baud:
I, on the other hand, can take a nice nap after finishing my morning coffee, after a good night’s sleep. Love sleeping. Was never into naps until the plague, when they became a valuable hobby…
BillinGlendaleCA
@Brachiator: I was fine with her bringing her BF, it is the other folk I have a problem with as well as going out. We have a 7% positivity rate here in LA.
BillinGlendaleCA
@dnfree: Can’t afford one.