Matt, thank you so much for your reporting on this subject. Although our politics differ greatly ( I am libertarian), I subscribe to your substack for just this reason. I find that the more I read, the more we have in common. Freedom of speech has always been a hallmark of this country. It alarms me to see so many businesses, groups and officials willing to do away with it in such a cavalier manner. There are many things said and published that I find deplorable and without merit, but I will forever defend the right to say them.
At what point will this be brought to the Supreme Court? I'm not sure if this is a just Democrats making the move here. I am of the opinion that the entire "insurrection" was manipulated by both right and Left politicians. My thinking is that the Republican politicians have painted their selves in corner with their own base, and the Democrats are being exposed more by voices from the left than they are by right-wing media (nobody from the left listen to them). So, you manufacture this entire "insurrection" business. Then you get a movement for censorship, and who are the two primary targets of this newly empowered cancel culture - right-wing media and left wing media exposing the outright corruption and hypocrisy of the Democrat party. Solving two problems at once. Republicans and Democrats just want to serve money interest in peace without worry about the citizenry demanding things from them - like accountability.
I guess we are going to get Orwell's Ministry of Truth if these Democrats get their way. It look like Trump's lasting positive legacy will be the three constitutionalists on the Supreme Court who will serve as the major part of the bulwark against this attack on our freedoms by the left.
Very disturbing but more so is the masses that seem to be OK with this. I subscribe to 4 journalists on substack which I enjoy and trust but at some point there is going to have to be a larger coordinated effort to stand against as the title of your book states "Hate Inc." (which I purchased). There are only so many journalists that I can subscribe to on substack. Thanks for the great work.
As a retired journalist, I'm concerned about the chilling cloud hanging over press freedom. Still, I have a question. Is there such a matter in press freedon, akin to yelling fire in a crowded movie theater. Such as falsely claiming widespread voter fraud in the presidential election. Does press freedom extend there? Keep up the great work.
I continue to hear Yoda in my head over the last year or two now. "To a dangerous place this line of thinking takes us... hmm?" We're barreling towards this world where hate is the defining emotion of our society. The elites know it, and our politicians have been dumbed down with the overall society as well. Personal Bias is the new fact, and while I will concede that Fox News and some of these more radical right sources are possibly more off-fact, it's not be a wide margin.
Our news is no longer about delivering facts, or stories, it's about omission. It's the omission that does more than anything to generate the bias. Omitting pieces of a story in the right way provide what is needed to rile up the folks you are trying to rile up. I am very sorry Left leaning friends. You fall for it every day yourselves, so you are not more intelligent than your middle of the country backward thinking fellow humans.
That is the other issue with our world today. Everybody somehow thinks that they are vastly superior and far more intelligent than others. The facts couldn't be any more the opposite. We are all a bunch of bumbling morons spreading our own beliefs as fact, and lacking in empathy in any way shape or form. We fight a problem by espousing that exact problem in exponential ways in the opposite direction. Idiocy, and it starts with our "higher Learning" institutions, where neither learning, nor intelligence, or the word higher should ever be used.
This is just the view from the cheap seats from a complete moron along for the ride hoping to get a couple more decent years of life without being put in prison for my internet search history.
Matt, thank you so much for creating Private Matt Twitter, where the dialogue is more insufferable than that to be had Trots' Headquarters. As a former journalist who expects to get likes by telling you without evidence that I am a former journalist, I can tell you without fear of contradiction that national journalism is dead and isn't coming back. To help get through that first stage of denial, here are some Twitter emojis. The "Black" ones were specially chosen to rile up the retards.
I get so discouraged when an otherwise-interesting article disqualifies itself by misquoting or taking out of context some "evidence" to support its argument.
Taibbi wrote:
Here are some things listed as “misinformation,” a word that in almost every dictionary carries a connotation of “false” or “incorrect” communication. These are verbatim entries from December, 2020:
- A Fox “straight news” program mentioned Benghazi more than the over 3,100 people who died from the pandemic the day before. [OutnumberedOvertime, 12/10/20]
... we also wanted to show the broader extent of Fox's lies, propaganda, conspiracy theories, bigotry, and misinformation. Here are over a thousand examples of Fox News and Fox Business pushing such misinformation in 2020.
Although the last sentence only uses the word "misinformation", which Taibbi hangs his argument on about how this examples don't pass the dictionary definition are misrepresented, it is preceded by "such", in reference to the previous description of the examples as "lies, propaganda, conspiracy theories, bigotry, and misinformation".
Does the rest of this article require similar fact checking and scrutiny before any premise to his argument can be accepted?
---
As to his larger point, that these are political complaints? I disagree. Examples 1 and 4 are propaganda (Benghazi and "grace"), while 2 and 3 (gathering at Christmas) are misinformation, if not propaganda, in the context of the pandemic and public health.
Matt, thank you so much for your reporting on this subject. Although our politics differ greatly ( I am libertarian), I subscribe to your substack for just this reason. I find that the more I read, the more we have in common. Freedom of speech has always been a hallmark of this country. It alarms me to see so many businesses, groups and officials willing to do away with it in such a cavalier manner. There are many things said and published that I find deplorable and without merit, but I will forever defend the right to say them.
At what point will this be brought to the Supreme Court? I'm not sure if this is a just Democrats making the move here. I am of the opinion that the entire "insurrection" was manipulated by both right and Left politicians. My thinking is that the Republican politicians have painted their selves in corner with their own base, and the Democrats are being exposed more by voices from the left than they are by right-wing media (nobody from the left listen to them). So, you manufacture this entire "insurrection" business. Then you get a movement for censorship, and who are the two primary targets of this newly empowered cancel culture - right-wing media and left wing media exposing the outright corruption and hypocrisy of the Democrat party. Solving two problems at once. Republicans and Democrats just want to serve money interest in peace without worry about the citizenry demanding things from them - like accountability.
I guess we are going to get Orwell's Ministry of Truth if these Democrats get their way. It look like Trump's lasting positive legacy will be the three constitutionalists on the Supreme Court who will serve as the major part of the bulwark against this attack on our freedoms by the left.
Very disturbing but more so is the masses that seem to be OK with this. I subscribe to 4 journalists on substack which I enjoy and trust but at some point there is going to have to be a larger coordinated effort to stand against as the title of your book states "Hate Inc." (which I purchased). There are only so many journalists that I can subscribe to on substack. Thanks for the great work.
As a retired journalist, I'm concerned about the chilling cloud hanging over press freedom. Still, I have a question. Is there such a matter in press freedon, akin to yelling fire in a crowded movie theater. Such as falsely claiming widespread voter fraud in the presidential election. Does press freedom extend there? Keep up the great work.
I continue to hear Yoda in my head over the last year or two now. "To a dangerous place this line of thinking takes us... hmm?" We're barreling towards this world where hate is the defining emotion of our society. The elites know it, and our politicians have been dumbed down with the overall society as well. Personal Bias is the new fact, and while I will concede that Fox News and some of these more radical right sources are possibly more off-fact, it's not be a wide margin.
Our news is no longer about delivering facts, or stories, it's about omission. It's the omission that does more than anything to generate the bias. Omitting pieces of a story in the right way provide what is needed to rile up the folks you are trying to rile up. I am very sorry Left leaning friends. You fall for it every day yourselves, so you are not more intelligent than your middle of the country backward thinking fellow humans.
That is the other issue with our world today. Everybody somehow thinks that they are vastly superior and far more intelligent than others. The facts couldn't be any more the opposite. We are all a bunch of bumbling morons spreading our own beliefs as fact, and lacking in empathy in any way shape or form. We fight a problem by espousing that exact problem in exponential ways in the opposite direction. Idiocy, and it starts with our "higher Learning" institutions, where neither learning, nor intelligence, or the word higher should ever be used.
This is just the view from the cheap seats from a complete moron along for the ride hoping to get a couple more decent years of life without being put in prison for my internet search history.
Brian Seltzer’s not exactly a top journalist. He wrote media gossip for Mediabistro.
Great piece, great column writing.
Matt, thank you so much for creating Private Matt Twitter, where the dialogue is more insufferable than that to be had Trots' Headquarters. As a former journalist who expects to get likes by telling you without evidence that I am a former journalist, I can tell you without fear of contradiction that national journalism is dead and isn't coming back. To help get through that first stage of denial, here are some Twitter emojis. The "Black" ones were specially chosen to rile up the retards.
👋🏿 🤚🏿 🖐🏿 ✋🏿 🖖🏿 👌🏿 🤌🏿 🤏🏿 ✌🏿 🤞🏿 🤟🏿 🤘🏿 🤙🏿 👈🏿 👉🏿 👆🏿 🖕🏿 👇🏿 ☝🏿 👍🏿 👎🏿 ✊🏿 👊🏿 🤛🏿 🤜🏿 👏🏿 🙌🏿 👐🏿 🤲🏿 🙏🏿 ✍🏿 💅🏿 🤳🏿 💪🏿 🦵🏿 🦶🏿 👂🏿 🦻🏿 👃🏿 👶🏿 👧🏿 🧒🏿 👦🏿 👩🏿 🧑🏿 👨🏿 👩🏿🦱 🧑🏿🦱 👨🏿🦱 👩🏿🦰 🧑🏿🦰 👨🏿🦰 👱🏿♀️ 👱🏿 👱🏿♂️ 👩🏿🦳 🧑🏿🦳 👨🏿🦳 👩🏿🦲 🧑🏿🦲 👨🏿🦲 🧔🏿 👵🏿 🧓🏿 👴🏿 👲🏿 👳🏿♀️ 👳🏿 👳🏿♂️ 🧕🏿 👮🏿♀️ 👮🏿 👮🏿♂️ 👷🏿♀️ 👷🏿 👷🏿♂️ 💂🏿♀️ 💂🏿 💂🏿♂️ 🕵🏿♀️ 🕵🏿 🕵🏿♂️ 👩🏿⚕️ 🧑🏿⚕️ 👨🏿⚕️ 👩🏿🌾 🧑🏿🌾 👨🏿🌾 👩🏿🍳 🧑🏿🍳 👨🏿🍳 👩🏿🎓 🧑🏿🎓 👨🏿🎓 👩🏿🎤 🧑🏿🎤 👨🏿🎤 👩🏿🏫 🧑🏿🏫 👨🏿🏫 👩🏿🏭 🧑🏿🏭 👨🏿🏭 👩🏿💻 🧑🏿💻 👨🏿💻 👩🏿💼 🧑🏿💼 👨🏿💼 👩🏿🔧 🧑🏿🔧 👨🏿🔧 👩🏿🔬 🧑🏿🔬 👨🏿🔬 👩🏿🎨 🧑🏿🎨 👨🏿🎨 👩🏿🚒 🧑🏿🚒 👨🏿🚒 👩🏿✈️ 🧑🏿✈️ 👨🏿✈️ 👩🏿🚀 🧑🏿🚀 👨🏿🚀 👩🏿⚖️ 🧑🏿⚖️ 👨🏿⚖️ 👰🏿♀️ 👰🏿 👰🏿♂️ 🤵🏿♀️ 🤵🏿 🤵🏿♂️ 👸🏿 🤴🏿 🥷🏿 🦸🏿♀️ 🦸🏿 🦸🏿♂️ 🦹🏿♀️ 🦹🏿 🦹🏿♂️ 🤶🏿 🧑🏿🎄 🎅🏿 🧙🏿♀️ 🧙🏿 🧙🏿♂️ 🧝🏿♀️ 🧝🏿 🧝🏿♂️ 🧛🏿♀️ 🧛🏿 🧛🏿♂️ 🧜🏿♀️ 🧜🏿 🧜🏿♂️ 🧚🏿♀️ 🧚🏿 🧚🏿♂️ 👼🏿 🤰🏿 🤱🏿 👩🏿🍼 🧑🏿🍼 👨🏿🍼 🙇🏿♀️ 🙇🏿 🙇🏿♂️ 💁🏿♀️ 💁🏿 💁🏿♂️ 🙅🏿♀️ 🙅🏿 🙅🏿♂️ 🙆🏿♀️ 🙆🏿 🙆🏿♂️ 🙋🏿♀️ 🙋🏿 🙋🏿♂️ 🧏🏿♀️ 🧏🏿 🧏🏿♂️ 🤦🏿♀️ 🤦🏿 🤦🏿♂️ 🤷🏿♀️ 🤷🏿 🤷🏿♂️ 🙎🏿♀️ 🙎🏿 🙎🏿♂️ 🙍🏿♀️ 🙍🏿 🙍🏿♂️ 💇🏿♀️ 💇🏿 💇🏿♂️ 💆🏿♀️ 💆🏿 💆🏿♂️ 🧖🏿♀️ 🧖🏿 🧖🏿♂️ 💃🏿 🕺🏿 🕴🏿 👩🏿🦽 🧑🏿🦽 👨🏿🦽 👩🏿🦼 🧑🏿🦼 👨🏿🦼 🚶🏿♀️ 🚶🏿 🚶🏿♂️ 👩🏿🦯 🧑🏿🦯 👨🏿🦯 🧎🏿♀️ 🧎🏿 🧎🏿♂️ 🏃🏿♀️ 🏃🏿 🏃🏿♂️ 🧍🏿♀️ 🧍🏿 🧍🏿♂️ 👭🏿 🧑🏿🤝🧑🏿 👬🏿 👫🏿 🧗🏿♀️ 🧗🏿 🧗🏿♂️ 🏇🏿 🏂🏿 🏌🏿♀️ 🏌🏿 🏌🏿♂️ 🏄🏿♀️ 🏄🏿 🏄🏿♂️ 🚣🏿♀️ 🚣🏿 🚣🏿♂️ 🏊🏿♀️ 🏊🏿 🏊🏿♂️ ⛹🏿♀️ ⛹🏿 ⛹🏿♂️ 🏋🏿♀️ 🏋🏿 🏋🏿♂️ 🚴🏿♀️ 🚴🏿 🚴🏿♂️ 🚵🏿♀️ 🚵🏿 🚵🏿♂️ 🤸🏿♀️ 🤸🏿 🤸🏿♂️ 🤽🏿♀️ 🤽🏿 🤽🏿♂️ 🤾🏿♀️ 🤾🏿 🤾🏿♂️ 🤹🏿♀️ 🤹🏿 🤹🏿♂️ 🧘🏿♀️ 🧘🏿 🧘🏿♂️ 🛀🏿 🛌🏿
I get so discouraged when an otherwise-interesting article disqualifies itself by misquoting or taking out of context some "evidence" to support its argument.
Taibbi wrote:
Here are some things listed as “misinformation,” a word that in almost every dictionary carries a connotation of “false” or “incorrect” communication. These are verbatim entries from December, 2020:
- A Fox “straight news” program mentioned Benghazi more than the over 3,100 people who died from the pandemic the day before. [OutnumberedOvertime, 12/10/20]
<etc etc>
But at the top of the quoted article [https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/timeline-fox-news-misinformation-2020] we find this explanation for the over-1000 examples listed in the article:
... we also wanted to show the broader extent of Fox's lies, propaganda, conspiracy theories, bigotry, and misinformation. Here are over a thousand examples of Fox News and Fox Business pushing such misinformation in 2020.
Although the last sentence only uses the word "misinformation", which Taibbi hangs his argument on about how this examples don't pass the dictionary definition are misrepresented, it is preceded by "such", in reference to the previous description of the examples as "lies, propaganda, conspiracy theories, bigotry, and misinformation".
Does the rest of this article require similar fact checking and scrutiny before any premise to his argument can be accepted?
---
As to his larger point, that these are political complaints? I disagree. Examples 1 and 4 are propaganda (Benghazi and "grace"), while 2 and 3 (gathering at Christmas) are misinformation, if not propaganda, in the context of the pandemic and public health.