Mastodawn

Part of the reason we see so much negative news about Biden is that it's more newsworthy. Compared with Trump, discovering something bad about Biden is a real scoop.

Trump is one negative thing after another. There's nothing new to learn about his badness, and no new development, however awful, would make him significantly worse.

Biden, on the other hand, has had a long and mostly distinguished career. Bad news about him - his debate performance, his son's troubles, etc - stands out.

Matt Blaze Jul 3, 2024

This is no excuse for the way the press treats these two manifestly different people as "equal". But it does suggest they are responding to media incentives that are basically broken in the face such a lopsided contest.

@mattblaze I still struggle with where those incentives come from. Is it from the owners/investors that want a particular framing for ideological reasons? Or from owners/investors under the belief that it will bring in more viewers and revenue? Or from the executives the owners/investors appoint? Or from advertisers? Or perhaps from individual reporters and editors that are turned on by drama?

Garrett Wollman Jul 3, 2024

@DaveMWilburn @mattblaze In every big newsroom, there are dashboards and memos going around telling people exactly what the audience wants to see, as demonstrated by time-on-site, time-to-page-close, shares, complaints, subscription conversions, etc. It's deeply integrated into how they operate and how their management is compensated.

aardvark Jul 3, 2024

@wollman @DaveMWilburn @mattblaze an actual doom loop

cwicseolfor (has moved!)Jul 3, 2024

@DaveMWilburn @mattblaze Not "or," but "and."

Rich Stein (he/him)Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze
👆Attn: @dangillmor
Smart thread.

🌻 Welcome Back 🌻Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze
I disagree. The publishers are propping up the oligarchs. They print headlines and articles to defend them and their actions. This is not new and goes back to the beginning of newspapers. See global mining/industrial union busting, global land occupation/US manifest destiny, US slavery and segregation, and global war.

There are other reasons the journalists write reports. There are other reasons their reports get slanted. They are posturing, not the primary goal.

🌻 Welcome Back 🌻Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze
I also heard a TV newscaster say that "people are talking about Biden age". Well, duh. Because it is covered every day in the news.

People are also talking about how tfg is crazy, stupid, has dementia, and in really poor health. Mostly, they talk about where they are going to move if he gets elected

reasoneddiscrse Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze Case in point, the top six articles on CNN right now for me are all about replacing Biden.

Lenora Jul 3, 2024

@reasoneddiscrse @mattblaze I gave up on @CNNNetwork years ago. They are no better than @FoxNews pure garbage

Andy Daitsman Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze
Man bites dog goes on the front page. Dog bites man doesn’t even make the paper.

aardvark Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze and bad news fascination is just voyeurism. Suppose he just gets worse (or worse), what then? Oh, there’s a competent, responsible adult ready to step in. Maybe it’s boring to have a backup plan, but it’s a large part of why I’m ok voting for the non-bonkers definitely-not-nazis party.

Violet Madder Jul 3, 2024

Locking up millions of Americans is "distinguished"??

Mike Wolfinbarger Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze It is not newsworthy just because it generates interest and clicks. It also needs to have some basis in fact rather than speculation. They blew past the known and relevant facts on this topic days ago.

Evan Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze I agree and would add only that people who support Biden would actually care if he’d done something bad. It seems that those supporting Trump don’t care about his bad deeds, so I’d wager news about those bad deeds just doesn’t generate as much revenue for news orgs.

turdfurgeson1 Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze the Democratic Party ought to be ashamed of themselves for putting Mr.biden through the bull shit they are knowing he’s used up.

John L. Alford Jul 3, 2024

@turdfurgeson1
I think I'll mute you too.

turdfurgeson1 Jul 4, 2024

@JohnLAlford that would be the thing for you to do, sir

mcfedr Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze I did think after the debate, why are all the headlines not about all the lies told.by Trump, but of course, no one is surprised

JL Roberson Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze Yes, and the corollary to that is: the media has decided Trump always lies, always cheats, always does what he can to break democracy.
And he's accepted by them as the guy who does that, who still gets to run. He is accepted as DEFAULT.
He is not ostracized.

JL Roberson Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze This effectively makes following the rules, which Democrats are so fond of, a lethal handicap.

jz.tusk Jul 3, 2024

No, Trump keeps saying more and more outrageous things. They could easily be big news stories if the media wanted them to be. Clearly they don't.

The editor of the NYT (Sulzberger) basically said his goal is to trigger the libs. (I'll find the story about the interview if people want.) Time to stop doing apologetics for the media.

Chris Dudley Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze He did vote against confirming Thomas which should be more widely reported.

Jon Quass Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze
There's something so vacant about this explanation.

The news hasn't been spending time talking about Bidens successes.

Trump's badness is getting worse. He's going to be effective because he's learned how to dismantle the systems that have kept him in check.

Ariaflame Jul 3, 2024

@jonquass @mattblaze @absinthe And because either he doesn't have another term, or because he plans for there to not be any terms for anyone else, there would be nothing to stop him doing whatever he wanted.

michellelaverickmusic Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze - I've yet to see any conventional political party from either side of the spectrum handle the onslaught of popularism. Its worth saying that popularist narratives are catnip, and seem designed for maximum virality on social media. I think conventional media has struggled. No amount of fact-checking or debunking seems to hit home as the lie. It strikes me that the reason we have popularism is the failure of the conventional parties over the last 40-50 years...

Ned Hamson Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze not “newsworthy” just aimed to attract attention and ad $$ like printing photos of pinup women or animals rescued from drainpipes…

ofa_jeremy Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze @GottaLaff the unfortunate truth about news media, post 9/11 especially.

🌻 Welcome Back 🌻Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze
It is not true that there wasn't anything new from tfg. He actually mocked "Russia, Russia, Russia" and disclosed that he talked to Putin recently about those held in their prisons and had discussed his dream of invading Ukraine. His comments raise many follow-up questions.

He also proved he is in Fantasyland when he gave us his view on January 6th.

He also shockingly blamed the victim (s) and continued to smear the President's son

Matt Blaze Jul 3, 2024

@Scotter none of that is new behavior. It’s exactly what everyone already expected of him.

onecaliberal Jul 3, 2024

@mattblaze wrong! Americans need to know Trump is a child rapist along with everything else. Report the fucking Epstein papers.