Jay RosenApr 22, 2023

Not the odds, but the stakes.

That's my shorthand for the organizing principle we most need in journalists covering the 2024 campaign. Not who has what chances of winning, but the consequences for American democracy. Not the odds, but the stakes.

This report from the Washington Post is getting there. Have a read of it and tell me if you see what I mean. https://wapo.st/41yXOmI [Gift link, no paywall]

#journalism #USpol #journalists

Trump touts authoritarian vision for second term: ‘I am your justice’

The former president is proposing deploying the military domestically, purging the federal workforce and building futuristic cities from scratch.

The Washington Post
Show threadKing Kaufman

@jayrosen_nyu

The headline gets an A in "not the odds, but the stakes."

The story a C-minus.

Trump's ideas are described as conservative, but different from Reagan's small-government vision.

The word "authoritarian" appears twice, once describing people Trump admires, once in a quote where someone mentions "Trump and authoritarian populists like him." It's never used to describe his authoritarian ideas. Neither are any synonyms, unless you consider "conservative" a synonym for authoritarian, which I pretty much do, but I don't think the writers do.

Apr 22, 2023 at 3:44pmWeb
Show threadJay RosenApr 22, 2023
@kingkaufman Yeah, the use of the term "conservative" in mainstream newswriting has lost all logic. No one knows what they're saying when they use it.
Show threadKing KaufmanApr 22, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu

I feel like I know what they mean.

They mean "The red horse."

Show threadDannyboyguymanApr 22, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu @kingkaufman reactionary has been a better fit for republicans for a long time
Show threadKevin RussellApr 22, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu @kingkaufman

We could take conservatives at their word that conservatism is useless and outdated.

Show threadFemzForeverApr 22, 2023

@kingkaufman @jayrosen_nyu the article almost makes his (well, not really his - rather his advisors) vision sound appealing. Who doesn’t want “something” done about homelessness and gangs?

But focusing strictly on policy differences and not on how the policies are administered is a mistake. It’s not always the what; it’s the how and by whom.