Heidi Li FeldmanFriends, it is important to know that millions of rank and file Democrats are concerned about Biden’s health and/or his ability to beat Trump. Accusing them of wanting a Trump victory is neither accurate nor honest. We have to be the party where people can freely express concerns about Biden — otherwise, we risk degenerating into the current Republican situation, where all dissent has been quashed. 1/
Louis Ingenthron@heidilifeldman Yep, and blaming the media for reporting on what many Democrats are genuinely concerned about is also a very Trumpian tactic that we need to avoid adopting.
icastico@LouisIngenthron @heidilifeldman
I actually do blame the media for a scandal-focused bias that amplifies controversy over substance. Coverage of politics is just a proxy for coverage of governance- but our media environment has forgotten that. Democratic concern over Biden is exactly that the impression that he is too old will hurt his ability to defeat Trump. That impression is amplified when there are 100 stories about the issue for every 2 stories about Trump’s embrace of far-right and fascist policies - which he does not seem to understand. If every story about Trump emphasized his own limited cognitive ability. His lack of knowledge of details. His inability to express coherent positions, then I could take the media coverage of Democratic Party deliberations about Biden’s age as “reporting” - but what I am seeing are deliberate editorial decisions to create a scandal. For that, the media deserves blame.
> a scandal-focused bias that amplifies controversy over substance
True, but that goes both ways.
> but our media environment has forgotten that. Democratic concern over Biden is exactly that the impression that he is too old will hurt his ability to defeat Trump
It's not their job to get Biden elected. It's their job to report on what others are doing and saying.
We know Trump is incompetent. Why discuss it? But whether or not Biden is competent to make it through the election is a matter for discussion, so it's being covered. That's just how news works. It worked against Trump the last two cycles, but this time we have such a weak candidate that it's working against us this time around.
@LouisIngenthron @heidilifeldman
"t's not their job to get Biden elected. It's their job to report on what others are doing and saying."
No. It is their job to make money for their company. It SHOULD be their job to report on what is happening. The scandal-focus is about the money, not the journalism.
"True, but that goes both ways."
But it doesn't. Count the number of stories about Biden's age versus Trump's cognitive ramblings. Count the number of stories about Democrats expressing doubts about Biden versus the Republicans working against Trump.
"We know Trump is incompetent. Why discuss it? "
Because it is news that an incompetent radical is trying to be president. The radicals that are supporting him are continuing to talk and act That is news. And the story ISN'T just lots of people support him. The story is that he has plans that will have consequences, that he doesn't have the skills to control the radicals that surround him. Reporting on what people are saying and doing during a political campaign should be about the consequences of making one choice over the other - NOT about the popularity contest, primarily.
Silkester@icastico @LouisIngenthron @heidilifeldman
Trump is all in, when it comes to white property supremacy.
Trump is not a people's president.
Trump is a sociopathinc malignant narcissistic billionaires president.
The corporate media ia outrage farming. Currently, exploiting Dems anxiety and thereby amplifying said anxiety is more profitable. This is not journalism, that's staged "reality" entertainment.