Jay RosenAug 28, 2023

CNN headline today:

"McCarthy starts to plot Biden impeachment strategy while GOP skeptics remain."

What the GROUNDS for impeachment might be is addressed in paragraph nine. CNN thus buries the lede of a more striking story: a vibes-based approach, where you establish first the feeling, "we wanna impeach," relegating the small matter of "impeachment for what?" to later stages.

That's news! Instead CNN frames for us another strategy story.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/28/politics/mccarthy-biden-impeachment-strategy/index.html

#journalism #uspol #science

Show threadJay RosenAug 28, 2023

Note to repliers. I"m not trying to suss out what McCarthy is up to. It's pretty obvious.

My concern is with the journalists at CNN, and what they do in response to this kind of maneuver.

Do they make a strategy story from it? Is that the right frame?

Or is the news the outlandish idea of impeachment in the abstract, with evidence to come later in the process?

First the action, then the cause of action, is pretty Alice in Wonderland of them. To me that's the news.

Show threadBill LambAug 29, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu

I’ve been curious all day about any copy desk input on this story. Then it dawned on me: Does CNN even still have a copy desk? They’ve been among the first to go come cost-cutting time. Witness Texas Tribune recently.

Show threadJay RosenAug 29, 2023

@zachvat

I don't know.

Show threadFrida Kahless, bat'leth master
@jayrosen_nyu @zachvat a little birdie named @brooklynmarie told me that they started laying off fact checkers in the friggin *90s* so I wouldnt be surprised if they dont even have a copy desk anymore because "cost cutting"
Aug 30, 2023 at 6:56pmMegalodon