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You are here: Home / Politics / Media / Our Media ‘Betters’ Open Thread

Our Media ‘Betters’ Open Thread

by Anne Laurie|  November 2, 20229:52 pm| 62 Comments

This post is in: Media, Open Threads, Our Failed Media Experiment, Schadenfreude

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Oh, for us NPR reporters this democracy stuff is soooooo tiresome! https://t.co/NIcwUp66If

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) November 2, 2022

CNN, MSNBC and Fox all carrying this live, while main broadcast nets are not. https://t.co/YuxDOabmEq

— Eli Stokols (@EliStokols) November 2, 2022

But why doesn’t the White House take us SERIOUSLY?!?

every time Biden pisses off NYT political reporters I like him more. https://t.co/E9uYBpBQf7

— James Palmer (@BeijingPalmer) November 2, 2022


Wikipedia:

The Skimm (styled theSkimm) is an American media company, founded in 2012 by Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin, providing a subscription-only newsletter. The newsletter is a digest of news stories intended to be simple and easy to read…

In the fall of 2016, theSkimm interviewed 12 of the major candidates for U.S. President and registered 110,000 people to vote in the 2016 election…

In October 2018, theSkimm announced that they have over 7 million subscribers…

Yes, but can *they* get multiple, one-on-one interviews with TFG?…

The White House said Biden spoke with theSkimm for their pubbed interview today.
But was it really an interview?
From tonight’s WWPhttps://t.co/uwRrmAECcq pic.twitter.com/oedUFoZ8ib

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) November 2, 2022

The president can't give interviews with unimportant outlets. If they're interviewing the president they're important by definition. If you're only interviewing your friends, well

— Millard Fillmore's porcelain zither (@agraybee) November 2, 2022

No one told you to cultivate exactly one source and then coast off that for years. https://t.co/920pUZTumw

— Millard Fillmore's porcelain zither (@agraybee) November 2, 2022

Well, we’ll show *him*!…

A broken newspaper. This is what the management wants. It has nothing to do with journalism. pic.twitter.com/k2Dmrf9HtJ

— Tom Watson (@tomwatson) November 2, 2022

He’s choosing to participate in media that isn’t incentivized to portray him negatively on a constant basis and is more frequently listened to by people. Also helping reduce press clout

— Elisabeth 🏳️‍⚧️🇺🇸 (@foodsevelt) November 2, 2022

"Biden needs to reach out to young people"

Biden: "Hey kids I'm on BeReal"

"No we meant he needs to talk to Ross Douthat."

— Millard Fillmore's porcelain zither (@agraybee) November 2, 2022

"The three major news outlets" are Maggie, Ross Douthat, and Chris Cilizza

— bango is my father (@giannis_mvp) November 2, 2022

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Reader Interactions

62Comments

  1. 1.

    Martin

    November 2, 2022 at 10:02 pm

    “Biden verbally fumbles”

    It’s called a stutter. Look it up. Had it since he was a kid.

  2. 2.

    Suzanne

    November 2, 2022 at 10:03 pm

    Everyone here dunks on Maggie Haberman a lot, and for good reason, but Ross Douthat is the one that just fills me with burning hot lava rage.

  3. 3.

    HinTN

    November 2, 2022 at 10:03 pm

    Adam may not like his Nat Sec advisor but I’m down with his comms gang!

  4. 4.

    Dangerman

    November 2, 2022 at 10:04 pm

    I haven’t heard a really good Fuck ‘em lately.

    So, for the Bettors (intentionally spelled, as they seem to have an interest in the outcome), FUCK ‘EM.

    /efg

  5. 5.

    HinTN

    November 2, 2022 at 10:05 pm

    @Martin: It’s just circle jerk click bait. Water off a duck’s back, man.

  6. 6.

    HinTN

    November 2, 2022 at 10:05 pm

    Deleted, double… ???

  7. 7.

    bbleh

    November 2, 2022 at 10:05 pm

    They’re courtiers, and they’re no less shallow, venal, hypocritical, bootlicking, or bewilderingly self-satisfied than courtiers of any other era.

    The OTHER people at TNYT and WaPo actually seem to be doing pretty good work these days.  I consider my subscription worthwhile for that.  There’s no denying that the international coverage of TNYT is good.

    But the political coverage is as broken as half (a particular half) of the system it covers.  About all they’re good for is the occasional juicy tidbit, and even that has to be taken with a shaker of salt because it more likely than not has multiple agendas behind it.

  8. 8.

    Anoniminous

    November 2, 2022 at 10:06 pm

    Newspaper business is in terminal decline:
    Paid circulation
    Frequency of using newspapers as a source of news​
     
    So grabbing the last bucks from their 65+ year old market before they all croak

  9. 9.

    HinTN

    November 2, 2022 at 10:08 pm

    @Anoniminous: Who reads the paper once per month and admits to it?

  10. 10.

    TaMara

    November 2, 2022 at 10:08 pm

    For those still stressing about the polls, here’s an interesting segment on Joy Reid (it may have already been posted, but I’ve been busy and may have missed it.)

    Joy Reid gets it right here, and the rest of the Beltway media should pay heed: Republican polling propaganda is skewing reporting on the midterms… pic.twitter.com/kg3cASNuwK

    — Mike Lux (@ProgressiveLux) November 1, 2022

  11. 11.

    cain

    November 2, 2022 at 10:08 pm

    @Suzanne: I just wish I could turn him into a sunflower. He’d finally be pleasant then.

  12. 12.

    Danielx

    November 2, 2022 at 10:09 pm

    @Dangerman:

    I have repeatedly inquired of The Management as to why “Fuck Those Guys” is not a rotating tag line.

  13. 13.

    dexwood

    November 2, 2022 at 10:10 pm

    Biden will always be damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. Our media is fucked. He is doing a great job. Biden will be in my town tomorrow. I received a generic invitation to attend. Wish i could, but the care of 94 year old parents comes first.

  14. 14.

    cain

    November 2, 2022 at 10:10 pm

    @TaMara: The beltway has always been suckers for GOP propaganda – their higher ups all are ready to listen to these clowns.

    They should realize that if we sink into political violence, it won’t be the left wingers you’re going to have to worry about.

  15. 15.

    cain

    November 2, 2022 at 10:11 pm

    @dexwood:

    replace Biden with any Democratic president.

  16. 16.

    Anoniminous

    November 2, 2022 at 10:11 pm

    @HinTN:

    Using my keen analytical skills:

    6% of 18 – 34 year olds

    5% of 35 – 44

    5% of 45 – 64

    3% of 65+

    :-)

  17. 17.

    WereBear

    November 2, 2022 at 10:14 pm

    @Suzanne: Agreed. I can’t believe he sees women as people for one thing.

  18. 18.

    Suzanne

    November 2, 2022 at 10:15 pm

    @cain: Every time I read one of his pieces (I know I should stop), I just want to spit at his smug, ugly, self-righteous, self-important mug. He sucks.

  19. 19.

    dexwood

    November 2, 2022 at 10:16 pm

    @cain: True, but he’s the one catching shit now from assholes, fascists, and so-called journalists.

  20. 20.

    Elizabelle

    November 2, 2022 at 10:16 pm

    Guys:  click on Peter Baker’s story about Biden’s speech tonight.  You might, might get a survey from the NY Times on their political reporting.  I kid you not.  A lot of questions about trust and bias.  I let them have it.

    https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/11/02/us/elections-midterms

    Interesting to me they are surveying that.  They have also cut off reader comments on the political stories; they monitored comments before, so it’s not just that they were trying to skip obvious trolls and sewage.

  21. 21.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    November 2, 2022 at 10:21 pm

    @TaMara:

    Thank you

  22. 22.

    Jackie

    November 2, 2022 at 10:21 pm

    All polls are worthless. Ignore them and GOTV. Next Tues and beyond are the polls that matter. I’m sensing loud panicked screeching from the GQP as Nov 8 gets closer – which gives me hope.

  23. 23.

    Tony G

    November 2, 2022 at 10:22 pm

    @Suzanne: Ross Douthat is one of the worst human beings on the planet.  The fact that the New York Times has been paying him to write his theocratic drivel for more than 13 years is a good indication of how worthless that newspaper has become.

  24. 24.

    Anoniminous

    November 2, 2022 at 10:22 pm

    @WereBear: ​

    Some people see women as human beings.

    Other people say they are chattel that need to be kept barefoot and pregnant.

    So opinions differ and it’s impossible to say, really.

  25. 25.

    Al Rennick

    November 2, 2022 at 10:23 pm

    @Martin:

    @HinTN:

    The N.Y. Times is performing an important public service by documenting Biden’s ongoing mental decline and you’re both in deep denial.

    The BJ community needs to stop the nonsense of pretending that there’s nothing to see here.  Biden’s mental acuity is eroding right in front of you.  Wake up and accept this inconvenient truth.

    After Election Day, Barack and Michelle Obama, Pelosi, and Schumer need to hold an intervention and convince Joe not to seek re-election.

    # Where’s Jackie Walorski?

  26. 26.

    Elizabelle

    November 2, 2022 at 10:24 pm

    @Al Rennick:   Hello Mr. Rennick.   Have you met our pie filter?

    (Or:  is that you, doug j??  If so, not funny.)

  27. 27.

    Elizabelle

    November 2, 2022 at 10:25 pm

    @Jackie:  I think so too.

    It’s been sad to see our papers of record get taken in.  As hard as they apparently want to be.

  28. 28.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    November 2, 2022 at 10:26 pm

    @Suzanne:  [Ross Douthat] I don’t read him.  The white hot fury of a thousand suns isn’t good for me.

  29. 29.

    eachother

    November 2, 2022 at 10:27 pm

    Because elections are so awful, rigged, fraudulent and messed up, republicans should not vote.  Stand down and stay home.

  30. 30.

    Ken

    November 2, 2022 at 10:28 pm

    @cain:  I just wish I could turn him into a sunflower.

    I’m trying to decide — is this a euphemism for burying his corpse in a field? I seem to recall something similar from the Ukrainians, earlier this year.

  31. 31.

    dexwood

    November 2, 2022 at 10:28 pm

    @Al Rennick: ​
      Put the Wild Turkey bottle down, Ace. Troll elsewhere with your tired, threadbare bullshit.

  32. 32.

    NotMax

    November 2, 2022 at 10:32 pm

    They traffic in fear; we traffic in opportunity.

  33. 33.

    Princess

    November 2, 2022 at 10:33 pm

    @Al Rennick: George Will — is that you?!

  34. 34.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    November 2, 2022 at 10:34 pm

    @Princess:  thanks for the laugh.

    P.S., the speech was great.  Joe Biden is exactly the right President for this moment.

  35. 35.

    Elizabelle

    November 2, 2022 at 10:37 pm

    @Princess:  I have never seen anybody get as much pushback as Will in the WaPost reader comments today.  LOL.  They are clear eyed about who should actually retire.

  36. 36.

    Jackie

    November 2, 2022 at 10:38 pm

    Don’t feed the troll. Eat pie instead. Yum pie!

  37. 37.

    kalakal

    November 2, 2022 at 10:40 pm

    @Al Rennick: I see someone just put 50 cents in the dickhead

  38. 38.

    cain

    November 2, 2022 at 10:42 pm

    @Ken:

    I’m trying to decide — is this a euphemism for burying his corpse in a field? I seem to recall something similar from the Ukrainians, earlier this year.

    Nope, I just want to turn him into a plant – generally a bright sunny happy plant. I’d like to do that with D’Souza as well.

  39. 39.

    cain

    November 2, 2022 at 10:44 pm

    @Tony G: Does the guy actually generate any kind of sum for them? Who the fuck reads that guy – it’s not MAGA that’s for sure. They are too busy having starbursts looking at DeSantis while drawing “election was stolen” in green crayon.

  40. 40.

    Ken

    November 2, 2022 at 10:45 pm

    @Princess: As I recall, George Will was the one who counted the use of “I” in various speeches, and concluded that Obama was a narcissist.

    That was one of my data points for my pet theory: It’s not that every accusation is a confession. It’s that the Republican party is cursed, and every accusation immediately becomes true, except of a Republican and amplified a thousand-fold.

  41. 41.

    RaflW

    November 2, 2022 at 10:46 pm

    Woman who sat on important facts about fpotus for an extended period to be able to juice her book sales has feels about how the current president does his press avails. Huh.

  42. 42.

    TaMara

    November 2, 2022 at 10:49 pm

    DON’T FEED THE TROLL

    @Al Rennick: Pie is good

  43. 43.

    Narya

    November 2, 2022 at 10:52 pm

    I refuse to read anything that Mags writes. Meanwhile my Phillies are dealing w a pitcher taking a no hitter into the 8th.

  44. 44.

    gwangung

    November 2, 2022 at 10:53 pm

    @TaMara: Since at least 2016, polls have gotten AT LEAST one major thing wrong about their elections.

    They’re going to be majorly wrong on one thing this election. We’ll find out what it is on Tuesday.

  45. 45.

    gwangung

    November 2, 2022 at 10:56 pm

    @Al Rennick: Seriously, you gave me a great laugh. Don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in a while.

  46. 46.

    cain

    November 2, 2022 at 10:59 pm

    @gwangung: Can’t wait for their fucking post analysis – which will just move on to “they may have won this, but there are still so many challenges that Dems are failing at.”

  47. 47.

    piratedan

    November 2, 2022 at 11:03 pm

    @RaflW: you know, after TFG brought in all those “reputable” press folks (Jim Hoft, the dumbest man on the internet) and the proclivity of all of these reputable journos to sit on the crap that they observed in order to write and sell a book in lieu of actual reporting, I have no problem with Handsome Joe sending the message that if you’re just gonna report whatever you”re gonna report with whatever frame they’ve already chosen, why bother.

    TFG never felt compelled to make his case on MSNBC and since the NYT has already made their position known with how they’ve skewed their reporting (I don’t have a problem with fair, I do have an issue selective narratives), why should Joe cater to them?

    If the NYT wants to figure out why their influence is declining, they need to examine how their reporters have been inserting their biases into their reporting and their editors in what they consider not only to be news, but in how the job is done, if not what the job is in itself.

  48. 48.

    Captain C

    November 2, 2022 at 11:09 pm

    @kalakal:

    I see someone just put 50 cents in the dickhead

    That seems like it would hurt.

  49. 49.

    SuzieC

    November 2, 2022 at 11:11 pm

    @Al Rennick: In case no one else has said so already, fuck off.

  50. 50.

    Qrop Non Sequitur

    November 2, 2022 at 11:30 pm

    @Al Rennick: The N.Y. Times is performing an important public service by documenting Biden’s ongoing mental decline and you’re both in deep denial.

    So you’ve never really watched Joe Biden give a policy speech have you. Gripping stuff. The man is truly a creature of the Senate. His deliberate style frustrated me at first but I think I’ve seen a lot of it pay off over time.

    But when he’s up there gabbing he’s all in his details. The speeches are stilted. Check out a press conference or be patient for a less scripted moment in a debate.

  51. 51.

    Kropacetic

    November 2, 2022 at 11:35 pm

    Hello to all blog lords. I’m trying on a new nym and have some comments in moderation. I’d be much obliged for some assistance

    The moderation notice disappeared. They may have been deep sixed.

  52. 52.

    Shalimar

    November 2, 2022 at 11:39 pm

    @Al Rennick: Joe Biden was making public gaffes 50 years ago.  It is part of who he is.  There isn’t an ongoing decline.  He actually doesn’t seem as bad as he was in the early ’90s, but that is probably just having a huge comms team to help him.

  53. 53.

    Shalimar

    November 2, 2022 at 11:42 pm

    @Captain C:

    I see someone just put 50 cents in the dickhead

    That seems like it would hurt.

     

    Not as much as silver dollars would.

  54. 54.

    Ken

    November 2, 2022 at 11:56 pm

    Molly White’s blog reports that an Australian bitcoin mining firm is close to bankruptcy. They borrowed over a hundred million dollars to buy mining computers, but those bring in only about two million dollars a month, less than their loan payments of seven million a month.

    My first though was “what sort of financial idiot borrows huge amounts of money to buy something, not realizing that it won’t even have enough income to cover the loan payments?” Then I remembered a similar recent deal.

  55. 55.

    Brachiator

    November 3, 2022 at 12:04 am

    Where is this being broadcast? Certainly not on any non-cable standard network. I’m looking for it on @NBCNews @ABC @CBSNews and @NewsHour and see nothing. It’s an absolute abdication of the media’s civic purpose.

    The media has rarely recognized any civic purpose and has become totally overcome by their cynicism. I think sometimes that the media is split between those who refuse to believe that our democracy could ever fall, and those who welcome autocracy.

    Maggie Haberman@maggieNYT

    The sitting president hasn’t given an interview to any of the three major news outlets, but his office did submit answers to questions from the Skimm

    This just makes me love Biden more and more. I continue to be disgusted by Haberman’s recent Stenographer’s Tale book tour. No one I saw ever asked her about the conflict of interest in “reporting” on Trump while hoarding nuggets for her book.

    Anyway, traditional media is running on fumes. It is sad to see Haberman acknowledge reality, that there are only three newspapers in the US that matter anymore, presumably the NY Times, WaPo and the WSJ. But fewer and fewer people turn to them for news. OTOH, I have never heard of Skimm before.

  56. 56.

    CaseyL

    November 3, 2022 at 1:08 am

    My opinion of the MSM has trended downward since Bill Clinton’s Presidency, when they ran with every boneheaded RW story they could; plummeted during W’s stretch (starting before it began, in fact, when Jeff Greenfield, who I had once respected, celebrated SCOTUS stealing the election for W by saying At least there aren’t any tanks in the streets); and went subterranean during Clickbait’s reign of terror.  I still subscribe to WaPo online, but otherwise get my news from a vast selection of outlets.  (Except local news, which we still have in Seattle, after a fashion.)

    If young people are way ahead in finding better, more intelligent and credible news sources, good for them.

  57. 57.

    Splitting Image

    November 3, 2022 at 1:14 am

    @Ken:

    My first though was “what sort of financial idiot borrows huge amounts of money to buy something, not realizing that it won’t even have enough income to cover the loan payments?” Then I remembered a similar recent deal.

    The same sort of idiot who would lend someone like that the money, knowing that the borrower is going in over his head.

  58. 58.

    JaySinWA

    November 3, 2022 at 1:32 am

    I was in a hospital waiting room during my wife’s hip replacement. They had KOMO Seattle on IIRC and they carried at least some of this live. I wasn’t focused on it but it was a local station with the president on live.

    My wife’s hip replacement went well BTW

    ETA KOMO hyped the “Is Seattle dying” narrative

    ETA 2 they also had a bunch of law and disorder fear mongering on the news.

  59. 59.

    Kathleen

    November 3, 2022 at 3:40 am

    I heard Joe Biden on the Ricky Smiley Morning Show yesterday. I’ve also heard Kamala Harris and other government officials on that program. The interviewers are well prepared and ask thoughtful, substantive questions unlike most of the Mainslime Media. Good for Biden and Harris for taking their case straight to the people on outlets that promote enlightenment  and not “gotcha”.

  60. 60.

    J R in WV

    November 3, 2022 at 4:37 am

    I agree with Cole, I know women are pissed, their partners are pissed, and more of them will be voting for what matters to them.  I will be shocked if this election is not a blue wave, with the Democrats taking the Senate and increasing their margins in the House.

    Then we get to see the MSM attempt to explain their distorted pro-Republican slant over the past 2 years!! That show will be hilarious for weeks!

  61. 61.

    SeattleDem

    November 3, 2022 at 7:50 am

    @JaySinWA: KOMO is owned by Sinclair Media, so the fear segments are probably national distribution add-ons that are required by the owners. Those propaganda segments are a big reason I stopped watching KOMO.

  62. 62.

    evodevo

    November 3, 2022 at 8:31 am

    @WereBear: Not at all surprising…he is a right wing conservative Mel Gibson catholic…who went through talibangelicalism to get there….

    https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a13811/the-douthat-creed/

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