This kind of relates to some of the stuff said in the Samantha Bee Thread.

Quote:While not every reporter out there is liberally biased, a hell of a lot of them are and it shines through daily in their reporting, whether it be on a cable news network, a print newspaper, or an online outlet or social media platform.

Not surprisingly, a growing number of understandably fed-up Republicans have moved more and more towards accommodating alternative and independent news media sources, something we saw happen with increasing frequency during the Trump administration and most recently with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who triggered some traditional media outlets Friday when it was discovered which reporters were granted press passes to cover the state Republican convention, as we previously reported.

Exhibit A:

In response, panicked journalist David Freedlander from New York Mag’s Intelligencer responded by writing a lengthy piece in which he chided Republicans for shunning the press, and seemingly wondering what has changed from “six years ago” when Republicans like Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz were, in Freedlander’s view, given gracious coverage by the media:

This view — that approval from the mainstream press isn’t just unnecessary but actually suspect — is one that has come to dominate GOP politics in the Trump era. And while railing against the so-called liberal media has long been a part of the Republican playbook, more than a dozen GOP campaign operatives, senior Hill aides, and political reporters from major news outlets say the past few years have brought something new: actively courting the media’s scorn while avoiding anything that may be viewed as consorting with the enemy.

[…]

It wasn’t just Paul, Cruz, and Rubio [in 2016]. Take a look at any of the prestige- and Establishment-media outlets from around this time (including this one), and all of their pages were graced with the Jeb Bushes, Chris Christies, John Kasichs, and other contenders who were making up an already overstuffed presidential-primary field.

We are at the same point now in the 2024 election cycle, and again two fistfuls of Republicans are making noises about running for president. But that kind of long look at the life and career of the contenders has been all but absent so far this election cycle.

Though Freedlander spent much of his piece (which was also picked up by Vanity Fair) pondering what’s changed and why for Republicans and why they are more likely to sit down with a non-traditional media outfit than they are a “major” media outlet, he answered his own question midway through, as noted below in a tweet that succinctly paraphrased what he wrote:

I’d say that, in a nutshell, pretty much says it all.

At this stage in the game, Republicans know they are unlikely to get a fair shake from the mainstream press (and, for that matter, the Presidential Debates Commission), which is why many of them have changed the way they’re operating going forward.

Good for them. This is not about getting fawning coverage from the MSM; it’s about getting fair and balanced treatment. Period.

Link

Trump labeled the liberal so called mainstream press as "the enemy". Four years later---virtually all Republicans, their advisors, and the general public at large now know that to be true. The "mainstram press" cannot be trusted when the subject is politics. They are not an unbiased arbiter of truth---far from it---they are actually a propagandist for one side.

Press Spends a Week Accusing GOP Summit of First Amendment Violations, Then Falls Silent When Dems Shut Them Out

Quote:After teeth gnashing over Republicans closing doors on the press, there’s now no outrage when sitting Democrats do the same thing.

To anyone who suggests that Democrats and the press have no standards, allow me to contradict that claim. In truth, they both actually have twice as many standards as most others. This reality has been on stark display within the span of just a matter of days, and the paradox it presents is equal parts aggravating and amusing.

Over the past weekend, the Florida Republican Party staged an election-focused conference in South Florida, dubbed the Sunshine Summit. There has been no shortage of emotional reactions, as it was revealed that the Florida GOP limited who from the media complex would be credentialed and permitted to attend. The outrage began last week ahead of the event, and complaints in the state-run press grew in nature over the weekend.

Following the conference, the national outlets joined in a chorus of carping and complaining over what took place. Sister Toldjah covered how The Intelligencer wrote a lengthy screed about what a troublesome development this had been, with all the melodramatic intonations attached. Vanity Fair took a similar approach, springboarding off of the Intelligencer piece. In the latter effort, we get served this type of hand-wringing, calling it, an aversion to media scrutiny that could upend how the next presidential election cycle is covered.

Funny, I can recall all the way back in 2020 when a Joe Biden campaign seemed to not only specialize in avoiding the media, they reveled in it. Joe was controlled from granting too many interviews, with the usual press access seen in past elections severely truncated, and the announcement of “calling a lid” on the day’s activities became commonplace. For their part, the press actually applauded these decisions as much as they criticized them. Now, this week, press avoidance is considered a threat to our democracy.

The pearl-clutching has been consistent the past few days. Jonathan Chait looked at the limiting of press credentials to an event as the next step to the GOP eventually operating a dictatorial government. At MSNBC, the always calm and never irrational Mehdi Hasan saw this weekend’s snub as a threat to freedom, the First Amendment, and a free press. Keep some of these hyperbolic assessments in mind. They will deserve a callback.

Consider remarks, such as Chait’s claim that, “The GOP will function in power like the ruling party in a one-party state,” are all about a seminar held for party planning and election goals. The press is bent out of shape over being locked out of what was essentially a strategy session, and they extrapolate their exclusion as a sign of future authoritarianism — if their histrionics are to be listened to.

What then, they all need to be asked, would they have to say about being likewise shunned by a party that is actually in power? If the GOP is considered to be threatening our foundations by denying press credentials to select news outlets at a party gathering, should it not be seen as a larger threat to our democracy when a ruling party slams the door on the same press regarding active governance?

That question lingers with this dose of today’s news.

Interesting. Sherman, from Punchbowl News, is not sounding the clarion here about our government being rendered by this exclusionary action. We see no hair being set on fire in the media landscape over this affront to the fabric of our nation. This, despite the fact that it can be said that a group of standing senators barring the press from engagement of government activities is far more significant than a party’s electioneering planning summit being made exclusive.

This underscores so much of the double standards and deference paid to one party over the other in the media today. If the GOP wants to play coy with election plans, that is seen as a threat to our democracy. Democrats shielding their very activity within the democracy is shrugged off as an inconvenience.

It is almost as if the Republicans recognize this differing set of standards and decided they did not need the rigged players to arrive and corrupt their planning. This week’s shrieking over what the press did not see is all the proof needed they made the correct call on the matter.

There is a much larger and actually very basic reason for just about everything - and I mean EVERYTHING: M-O-N-E-Y

There is an old saying - "Money makes the world go 'round".

From Covid, to journalism, to sports, to BLM (or the cause du'jour) to everything else.


Factual non-biased news simply cannot compete with salacious opinion/gossip "news". It is all about eyeballs so you can generate ads and generate - MONEY. You will say and report anything you have to in order to make money - or you go out of business.

- BLM has turned into little more than grift
- Covid quickly and clearly became about Big Pharma raking in the money (efffectiveness of the vax be damned)
- The merry-go-round of athletes salaries is beyond absurd (Demand more, charge more, pay more- wash rinse repeat)



It is an unfortunate truth.... Reporters need people to read their stuff or they won't get paid. Reporters are only true to the dollar (and maybe the hubris of fame/attention). There are very few truth tellers left - Glenn Greenwald may be the last of the mainstream left.