Daniel Schuman

The North Shore Leader broke the Santos story and now media critics are saying that the failure of it to impact the election is somehow the fault of the public, which is letting little papers die. This doesn’t seem right.

Why aren’t the bigger papers reading the smaller papers in their regions and amplifying and crediting their reporting when they break news?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/12/29/north-shore-leader-santos-scoop/

A tiny paper broke the George Santos scandal but no one paid attention

The North Shore Leader was onto his lies months before he was elected in New York.

The Washington Post
Dec 31, 2022 at 3:14pmToot!
Show threademptywheelDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman In my experience big papers often read smaller sources but won't pick it up unless they can steal it cleanly. Consider how few give credit to Peter Shorcher for breaking the MAL stolen doc search -- they instead claim Trump revealed the search.
Show threadDaniel SchumanDec 31, 2022

@emptywheel You make a good point. For my little newsletter, I try to find the source of the original reporting and link to them… and/or to the original document.

I would consider it malpractice to not be reading the other folks who cover the same issues I do.

Show threademptywheelDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman Right. It's not just NYT's famous unwillingness to credit original reporting, though it is that. It's also that if they feel like they can't invent a virgin birth for their reporting they would often rather let the news die than admit they're not the end all and be all.
Show threadToni AittoniemiDec 31, 2022
@emptywheel @danielschuman Commercialism clearly isn’t providing ”an equal voice” to all. You can’t have a public square within something that stands on the shoulders of huge stacks of money. The lesson that perhaps should be learned.
Show threadDaniel SchumanDec 31, 2022

@emptywheel I suspect the "not invented here" problem may also be a consequence of the types of stories that editors favor and disfavor.

"Ya don't have anything new to add, Kent? Well, it's not news until you do."

Show threadKeikioainaDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman When my small town paper was owned by the New York Times it earned Pulitzers. NYT sold it and now it tells me which chain stores are opening at the mall.
Show threadWill PollockDec 31, 2022

@keikioaina @danielschuman when papers change hands often very bad things happen

see also: WSJ, now Murdoch sh*tposter

Show threadWndlBDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman It has 'sounded' like, without Newsday to be a filter, and then amplifier, no one else could be bothered to pick it up, even though the story has everything, even sex.
Show threadDaniel SchumanDec 31, 2022
@wndlb Yes. I wondered about both Newsday and the paper that publishes all the news fit to be print and employs 1,700 journalists and had $200m in revenue in 2021.
Show threadWndlBDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman Can you see this, or is it completely paywalled: https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NYT
The New York Times Company (NYT) Stock Price Today, Quote & News

A high-level overview of The New York Times Company (NYT) stock. Stay up to date on the latest stock price, chart, news, analysis, fundamentals, trading and investment tools.

SeekingAlpha
Show threadDaniel SchumanDec 31, 2022
@wndlb I can see it.
Show threadRadical NanaDec 31, 2022
@wndlb @danielschuman not paywalled. But shows the disturbing reality that MSM is bound by Wall Street results and not by real news. They will publish whatever gets them more subscribers to bump up their stock. It’s a sad statement on the state of every country. The few corporations buy up competition and spew whatever propaganda the oligarchs want distributed (i.e.; Murdock, Koch’s, Musk, Disney ((owns Comcast’s, Peacock, ABC,)) AT&T ((Time Warner aka Warner Media))etc.)
Show threadBogie B. 🇨🇦 🇺🇸Dec 31, 2022
@danielschuman Why didn't the original story explode on Twitter or Mastodon? "News" is no longer centralized.
Show threadMichael LeDuDec 31, 2022
@bogie @danielschuman It’s often hard for small legacy media companies to resonate on social media. Just looking at their site it doesn’t even seem like they have a twitter account.
Show threadOhioCherylDec 31, 2022
@bogie @danielschuman Or for that matter on Media Matters, or Daily Kos or any liberal-ish site?
Show threadGESampsonDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman And without registering for WAPO, I cannot read the story. It’s a huge disconnect.
Show threadSandy MilneDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman Exactly.
Show threadJohn MeadowsDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman The media is like a lot of the politicians. They run away from accountability, and can always find someone else to blame.
Show threadted byfieldDec 31, 2022

@danielschuman I won't be able to find it now, but when people were taking some relevant NYT journo to task on Twitter over the paper's failure on Santos, his openly sneering response was that the NYT isn't a "local" city paper and they should go complain to Newsday. Which, as you may know, used to be a top-notch paper before it was gutted by some new owner.

Unfortunately, the problem isn't limited to writers whose names we see in bylines: behind-the-scenes editors have immense power over what does/n't become a story. My sense was the journo's condescension was the kind of aggro-defensive rubbish so many people fall back on when their role in an indefensible power structure is exposed.

Show threadJ. Randall ToddJan 1, 2023
@tb @danielschuman well said
Show thread@[email protected]Dec 31, 2022
@danielschuman ask @amywestervelt how many times climate reporters work is stolen by bigger outlets with no credit… it’s absurd
Show threadCallistoDec 31, 2022

@danielschuman ...

the bigger papers are BUYING the smaller papers in their regions and laying off their newsrooms.

Show threadDaniel SchumanDec 31, 2022

@callisto I thought that was being done by hedge funds? I guess it's kinda the same.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-this-vulture-hedge-funds-gutting-of-local-newsrooms-could-hurt-americans

How this 'vulture' hedge fund's gutting of local newsrooms could hurt Americans

The hedge fund Alden Global Capital has been acquiring scores of U.S. newspapers across the country — then gutting newsrooms and selling off assets. It’s part of a larger trend in the erosion of local news and related jobs in the last decade. A look at Alden Global Capital is the cover story of the latest issue of The Atlantic. Staff writer McKay Coppins joins John Yang with more.

PBS NewsHour
Show threadCallistoDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman Some of both, I think. AFAIK "news," or at least infotainment, is still Gannett's business model and revenue stream.
Show threadJohn GordonDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman It seems the kind of thing pre-Musk Twitter would help with. Did the local journalists engage on Twitter? (Now, of course, they got nothing.)
Show threadDaniel SchumanDec 31, 2022
@jgordon I have no idea.
Show threadLarry Dec 31, 2022
@danielschuman not just newspapers. The two largest news radio stations here - WCBS88 & 1010 Wins could have provided a critical view of Santos, in the way they *constantly* had critical stories about Kathy Hochul (while playing up Lee Zeldin - and playing an awful lot of NY Conservative Party ads), in the weeks leading up to the election. Yet, they seemed unmotivated to discuss Santos.
Show threadDaniel SchumanDec 31, 2022
@Lsquare28 You make a good point. And it's not just commercial news -- did the local NPR station cover the story?
Show threadLarry Dec 31, 2022
@danielschuman excellent question. I listen to those two stations when I wake up for work, so that’s how I know what they were up to (both stations are owned by Audacy). I doubt NPR covered it, since I figure we would have heard about it, by now.
Show threadRalph058 (S/he/it) AF4EZDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman It begs the question, why isn't local TV and radio reading local papers, amplifying their important stories, and crediting them as a source?
We did it when I worked in the industry 45+ years ago.
Show threadsewstarsDec 31, 2022
@Ralph058 @danielschuman
I don’t know about radio, but had a daughter who worked in our local TV news when Sinclair bought out all the small “Mom and Pop” stations, and fired most of the reporters so they could run their own agenda news stories. They own 294 stations across the US. There were very few places that story was reported, and I was looking.
Show threadBobginpghDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman where was his opponent and the Democratic Party? Some rudimentary opposition research should have unmasked this fraud.
Show threadOhioCherylDec 31, 2022

@bobginpgh @danielschuman Another story pointed out that 1) the D opponent had some of the info and promoted it, but 2) coming out of a 5-way primary didn't prioritize doing the additional research to find the breadth of lies, because 3) he had to raise a bunch more money and organize a general election campaign.

For the next 10 years, I expect everyone will spend that extra for oppo research because you never know when you'll find another Santos.

Show threadAlgernon D'AmmassaDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman THIS! Another recent example that astonished me was was during the recent election cycle, when the New York Times parachuted in, and did a story about southern New Mexico. The analysis was off base and it was clearly evident the reporters hadn’t looked at any state, wide, political coverage, which included, certainly in my own reporting, some of the history of party, strong holds, and trends. In some, they didn’t bother to look at any of our local journalism for reference.
Show threadGuitarGirlDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman The big papers have a much different agenda.
Show threadmdr in flDec 31, 2022

@danielschuman
Let me guess! Don’t tell me!

… because those bigger papers are owned by fascists like Murdoch? 🤔

Show threadScottinSoCal 🇺🇦 🕊 🏳‍🌈Dec 31, 2022
@danielschuman
Why, when this was pointed out to the leading papers before the election (I'm looking at you, NYT), didn't they run with it? Instead they stuck with their "District 3 is going to go red, and that's that".
Show threadALDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman that is a good question. More folks should be asking that. Another question is, where was the DNC opposition research team.
Show threadTheDutchessOfMSDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman spot on!
Show threadf*cking b*tch clubDec 31, 2022

@danielschuman A local woman in my district ran for office on short notice. She was horrified to discover that national $ were being poured into our local race.

Let’s not get distracted by big media vs small media when the right-wing is spending megabucks on even low-level races.

Show threadChristopher SmithDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman Pretty sure "the public" includes other journalists.
Show threadDaniel SchumanDec 31, 2022

@cbsmith As framed it does not protect websites like the Free Law Project, which publish info about the federal courts. Ask them their views.

Then consider whether a small non profit can afford the costs to fight judicial take down orders in court.

Show threadChristopher SmithJan 5, 2023
@danielschuman Indeed, it does not. Not sure I follow how that's related to my comment.
Show threadMatthew NadlerDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman Several Newsday editors do, in fact, subscribe to the North Shore Leader, which makes it even worse that they failed to follow up. In general, a lot of newspapers have cut back, or eliminated regional bureaus where checking the local papers for stories was a regular practice.
Show threadPalinDec 31, 2022
@danielschuman
I am still trying to figure out why his opponent didn't background him...
Then I start wondering if the opponent was paid off to throw the race....
Where Russia is involved nothing surprises me.
#Russian money
#Santos corruption
Show threadHello57visJan 2, 2023

@palin @[email protected]
1
stuff did come out; none of the major media paid any attn

2
I have lost the url, but for some reason background analysis gets very little money; just the way it is

Show threadWestTexasJesusJan 1, 2023
@danielschuman if I was one of the ruling class these are exactly the type of people I want in politics they will do anything for money and therefore they will pass the legislation that benefits us.
Show threadMazal ​Jan 1, 2023

@danielschuman in television interviews w/ Dem operatives, post-fact, claimed story was a snoozer to (national) media since race considered to be an unwinnable, non-starter.

contrasting the breathless reporting every time Herschel Walker had a #1 or #2 in his shorts.

GOP knew. DEMs knew. Big Media knew. No-one cared.

Someone else wrote an opinion that once upon a time local editorials carried more weight with their electorate, so..

the ground is shifting.. and it sux.

Show threadStatmonkey 🙊Jan 1, 2023
@danielschuman because they want small papers to die. Capitalist oligarchy control of the media brought to you by American Conservatives. Keep electing them folks.