"Not the odds but the stakes."

That's my shorthand for what we most need from election coverage in 2024. Not who has what chances of winning, but the consequences for our democracy. Not the odds, but the stakes.

Dan Rather on the horse race:

"A horse race confers an equivalence upon all candidates. The only detail that matters is who is going to win — not all that might be lost. To view America through that lens today is an exercise in the absurd."

https://steady.substack.com/p/the-danger-of-horse-race-politics

#uspol #journalism

In Texas, the Republicans won't rest until enough Democratic voters are disqualified from voting, or their votes nullified, to ensure absolute control for Republicans for decades to come.

This is happening nationwide where Republicans control things. It's a national issue.

Yet Big Journalism, apart from sporadic coverage that consistently misses the forest for the trees, continues to miss the emergency represented by that this accelerating attack on democracy.

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/texas-senate-passes-bill-to-seize-control-of-elections-from-local-authorities/

👋 Hello #fediverse! I'm going into a meeting at 4ET to talk about our newsroom's social media options.

If you think our station and other #NPR stations should have a Mastodon server or a broader presence in the #fediverse, pls boost this post. If you have thoughts, please reply, I want to hear them!

Substack is not a suitable alternative to Twitter.

If Elon Musk can buy Twitter, he can buy Substack.

However, Elon Musk cannot buy the Fediverse. No one company owns it. It is not for sale.

Sure, TikTok is terrible in many ways. But the hypocrisy of its critics, especially members of Congress, is almost beyond belief.

The problem with TikTok is the same one we have with countless other Internet products: They are relentless violators of our privacy and security.

Fix that, and you've fixed TikTok.

Democrats are just as bad as Republicans on this. And so is Big Journalism, which mostly just amplifies the lies.

This is a moral panic with a mercantile edge.