Will Bunch (@willbunch, but he's unfortunately not active here) is probably the best currently working Big Journalism commentator on where we are headed as a nation.

In this must-read piece, he expresses the contempt for his contemporaries -- who are utterly refusing to do their jobs in the face of incipient American fascism -- that they so richly deserve.

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/media-2020-election-trump-authoritarianism-20230827.html

Journalism fails miserably at explaining what is really happening to America

Momentous week of GOP debate, Trump's arrest gets "horse race" coverage when the story's not about an election, but authoritarianism.

https://www.inquirer.com

@dangillmor

"yet not one pundit was able to explain why tens of millions of everyday voters are so eager to return to the White House this man who attempted a #coup on #Jan6, 2021, or why his poll numbers rise with each #indictment. I guess the 20th-century author and socialist Upton Sinclair really nailed it when he wrote, ‘It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
~@willbunch
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/media-2020-election-trump-authoritarianism-20230827.html

#Trump #Journalism #News

Journalism fails miserably at explaining what is really happening to America

Momentous week of GOP debate, Trump's arrest gets "horse race" coverage when the story's not about an election, but authoritarianism.

https://www.inquirer.com

@dangillmor

"If you watch enough not-Fox cable TV news, you’ll occasionally see an expert on fascism like NYU’s Ruth Ben-Ghiat or Yale’s Timothy Snyder explaining the roots of this American #authoritarianism...

But then it’s back to your regular programming, including a desperate desire to frame today’s clash in the context of long-lost 20th-century democratic norms, & to blame any transgressions on a mysterious “tribalism” that plagues “both sides.”
~@willbunch

#Journalism #Fail #News #USA

@dangillmor

"These are the stakes: dueling visions for America — not #Democratic or #Republican... but brutal #fascism or flawed #democracy. The #news media needs to stop with the horse-race coverage...

We need to hear from more experts on authoritarian movements, and fewer pollsters...

We need the media to see 2024 not as a traditional election but as an effort to mobilize a mass movement that would undo democracy"
~@willbunch
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/media-2020-election-trump-authoritarianism-20230827.html

#Journalism #USPol #USA #News

Journalism fails miserably at explaining what is really happening to America

Momentous week of GOP debate, Trump's arrest gets "horse race" coverage when the story's not about an election, but authoritarianism.

https://www.inquirer.com
@dangillmor @willbunch Great article by Will, we need to tell them we read Will's article and want the truth to be told.
@dangillmor @willbunch they are doing their jobs: writing the narratives the oligarchs want written.

@dangillmor @willbunch

The greatest problem I see in modern journalism is the fallacy of "equal time for both sides".

Why is radical opinion reported as fact just because we need to hear all sides?

This used to be a courtesy given to people debating valid policy choices - it has devolved into a click-driven maelstrom of false narrative to support the maniacal exploitation of idiots as social soldiers

@rouxdoo @dangillmor @willbunch

Aaron Sorkin once wrote a great line about this in "The Newsroom":

"'Bias Toward Fairness' means that if the entire House Republican caucus were to walk onto the floor one day and say ‘The Earth is flat,’ the headline in the New York Times the next day would read ‘Democrats and Republicans Can’t Agree on Shape of Earth.’”

@dangillmor @willbunch Agreed. Will Bunch has keen insight on this.
Will Bunch

Go inside Will’s world with insights into what he's reading, watching, listening to, and thinking about.

Inquirer.com
@JaneinNJ Thanks, I'm a subscriber.
@dangillmor @willbunch It seems appropriate that it is in a newspaper in the city that bills itself as the birthplace of liberty in the USA.

@dangillmor @willbunch It's not that simple.

Remember, it's not just one country, one election. Western civ has not done well by large numbers of citizens, and institutions seem incapable of adapting. Because things are falling apart, we are weak to unscrupulous attack.

Historians might be in a better position to offer insight than journalists. I'd suggest Jacques Barzun.

His From Dawn to Decadence or maybe https://www.c-span.org/video/?156386-1/from-dawn-decadence (marginal quality audio)

<em>From Dawn to Decadence</em>

Mr. Barzun talked with Mr. Schlesinger about his new book [From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life], published Harper Collins. The two addressed a number of issues from the book, from the rise of the nation-state, the resurgence of fundamentalism, and the status of cities as centers of culture and creativity. They also responded to questions from members of the audience.

C-SPAN.org
@dangillmor @willbunch Sadly, we have a similar experience in Canada, where the majority of Cdn media is owned or controlled by CONservatives. Most openly shill for the CONs, blame Liberals and progressives for any problems, and deliberately ignore the growing extremism and pro-fascist movement within the party.
@CdnCurmudgeon @dangillmor @willbunch Absolutely correct. The cons here are heavily influenced and supported by the GOP and don't even get me started on PP. Post media owns almost every news outlet in Canada. The poison is spreading north and I'm disgusted.
@Vegematic @CdnCurmudgeon @dangillmor @willbunch Apparently P thinks he’s going to be the next PM. He is promising economic stability. 😂 False promises. Political leaders can’t make the economy more stable.

@Scienceisnotopinions @Vegematic @dangillmor @willbunch
PoiLIEvre lies, gaslights, accuses, insults, and spreads disinformation. But he never comes up with detailled policies, platforms or solutions. He uses the Trump playbook: always on the attack, never offer information or facts.

They both do Putin's work to destabilize our democracies.

#NeverVoteConservative

@dangillmor @willbunch Investigative journalism is a dying art these days. TMZ style reporting, anything that doesn't require more than pushing a button and never leaving the office seems to be the way things are done now.
I look at publications like D.W. from germany and some private citizens for coverage of things i'm interested in.
@dangillmor @willbunch. Excellent and necessary column with shades of @jayrosen_nyu and his argument about covering the stakes NOT the horse race.
@dangillmor @willbunch Excellent editorial. We are on a steep, slippery decline towards brutal American fascism. I wish more journalists and pundits were sounding the alarm.