You get this exactly right. Virtually all of the major media outlets seem to be resorting to a false equivalency crouch, suggesting that there are two plausible sides to each story. That is just rubbish. They are failing to grasp that there is no value-less objective position. All reporting reflects inherent values and biases. Reporting that fails to call out liars and tyrants just signals a media outlet's weaknesses and fears. We are in a war to preserve our democratic values, and if we lose there will be no free press to report anything. We need media outlets that stand up for western democratic values, loudly and clearly.
Yes! Exactly. This is why I created They Stand Corrected. After 20 years inside NPR and CNN, I know how the news industry works. The *only* thing that will pressure news agencies to fix this is a constant drumbeat exposing their failures. I keep hearing from people inside news agencies that their bosses are nervous when they hear about the podcast taking off. This is the hope, and the goal! joshlevs.com/the-podcast
Thanks for writing about this. But what can we do? Shari Redstone sold out CBS for her own personal wealth. She is another Trump puppet. The billionaire class does not care. I subscribe to several Substack, including Contrarian. But I can only afford 3. What can we do?
What can we do? That's where They Stand Corrected comes in. The more people pay attention to the media disasters I highlight in the podcast and the newsletter, the more news executives will have to enact changes. And there's a *free* version of They Stand Corrected! theystandcorrected.substack.com
For the past 20+ years the MSM has reporting "both sides" and calling this journalism. The MSM cares more about clicks and profits over journalism. The corporate oligarchs owning the MSM has resulted in reporters simply reporting lies and journalism being thrown out the door. Does anyone think Walter Cronkite or David Brinkley and Chet Huntley would ever simply report lies? Does anyone think Katherine Graham would not call out every lies of the Felon and anyone in his Administration?
Absolutely! That's a big part of what is making legacy media so disastrous. Also, I specifically discussed Cronkite in Episode 44, titled Reconstruction https://joshlevs.com/subscribe-to-podcast/
"A free media and democracy go hand in hand. When people can choose their leaders, they can —and should—demand those leaders allow the media to operate freely."
And the media shouldn't be cheerleaders for any political ideology or provide cover for it, Josh, which is what most media outlets did in failing to cover Biden's cognitive decline while he was in office. The pathetic post-Biden "revelations" only underscores the very low trust most Americans have in the media.
I appreciate that! And fyi, in Episode 52, Reaching Voters, I discussed ways to cope and find happiness amid horrible news. It's a life skill that I want people to learn! https://joshlevs.com/subscribe-to-podcast/
I'm disappointed, but in hindsight not surprised, at how quickly and easily the major institutions (Columbia), and the rich and powerful billionaires (Bezos, CBS, Zuckerberg, etc, with Musk leading the Amen Chorus) have knuckled under to Trump's bluster. Now I can more easily understand how a madman fascist like Hitler could so easily seize control of the levers of politics in a society that was arguably the most civilized in all of Europe. It really nauseates me to think about it. At least Harvard managed to find its conscience and its backbone, and I wish them the best in standing up to the schoolyard bully.
Thank you for writing this article. I'm wondering what's happening with today's journalism students. What are they learning about how to report a fraught situation like we're living in today? Are professors teaching critical viewing/reading of today's journalists and how they could be doing better? Are they discussing new ways to get, research, and present news stories? So many questions about what the future of journalism will look like. Most people don't have time to read/view all the worthy, excellent stories/videos on Substack. While journalism is evolving there has to be a better way for the masses to stay informed.
Too much of the media is owned by corporations, billionaires, or both. There is a heightened level of timidity preventing them from presenting the unvarnished/massaged truth, in an attempt to appease Trump. When this isn't the case, there is a wishy-washy bothsides presentation which is unrealistic as one of the sides is based in an alternative reality. The job of the media is to inform us. Outside of a few sources (Contrarian, The Guardian, PBS/NPR , Substack and the BBC) we aren't getting what we need to make good decisions.
This has been happening at ALL levels for the past 10-15 years at least. The “both siderism” of the media ( Chuck Todd) is the most blatant and why I quit watching any interviews and certain “news” stations, because it was no longer factual. They’ve failed big time for more than a decade. After the news giants retired there was no one.
This has been going on for a such long time that I barely recall last time when there was objectivity and stand for democracy in the media. Not to the same degree maybe as now when democracy and the rule of law are under frontal attack and the fascism is on the rise and literally threatening to turn the US into an authoritarian state - but nonetheless it has been there for decades.
I could start much earlier, but let's just go back some 2 decades. Think of the invasion of Iraq, a crime against humanity, with countless victims that left Iraq in shambles and cost the US economy incalculable damage - the media did not move a finger to defend democracy. Think of the US unconditional support for Israel, no matter what war it starts and what crimes it commits, that culminated in more than 18 months of genocide unfolding in front of our eyes. This is literally destroying the US democracy and it did not start under the present government that could easily be labeled fascist - Biden himself has been a firm supporter of Netanyahu, a Trump like criminal with nazi tendencies that has been pushing Israel and the US (it was he who played a decisive role in March of 2003 in the US invading Iraq based on deliberate lies of weapons of mass destruction) into one war after another. Even before Trump, a minimal attempt to defend the right of Palestine to exist would cost you easily a job, whether in media or even being a brilliant black woman president of Harvard - and media has never moved a finger to defend democracy. Slowly but surely, this has taken us to the situation where defending Palestine gets you illegally detained by hooded men masquerading as police, and still the media are doing very little, if anything to defend democracy.
It is actually much worse in reality - even most platforms such as this one do nothing to stop genocide in Gaza or are being falsely objective. Even the author of this article pretends this crime against humanity of biblical proportions, that has left Gaza in rubbles which are being now turned into dust, with thousand of children and babies killed and mutilated, has not been taking place by only citing the invasion of Ukraine. This is how fascisms arise, through collective madness where arguably central themes in the fight for democracy become a taboo or get twisted. For someone with a sense of solidarity with Palestine and a minimum of empathy for its endless suffering that has been going on for now 77 years, even since the Nakba, this article is as frightening as the threat of fascism itself and the lack of media effort to defend us against it.
Thanks for publishing this, The Contrarian. The media should be *leading* the fight for democracy. It's a fundamental responsibility. I've discussed this in several episodes of They Stand Corrected, including this one: https://theystandcorrected.substack.com/p/media-and-the-fight-for-democracy
You get this exactly right. Virtually all of the major media outlets seem to be resorting to a false equivalency crouch, suggesting that there are two plausible sides to each story. That is just rubbish. They are failing to grasp that there is no value-less objective position. All reporting reflects inherent values and biases. Reporting that fails to call out liars and tyrants just signals a media outlet's weaknesses and fears. We are in a war to preserve our democratic values, and if we lose there will be no free press to report anything. We need media outlets that stand up for western democratic values, loudly and clearly.
Yes! Exactly. This is why I created They Stand Corrected. After 20 years inside NPR and CNN, I know how the news industry works. The *only* thing that will pressure news agencies to fix this is a constant drumbeat exposing their failures. I keep hearing from people inside news agencies that their bosses are nervous when they hear about the podcast taking off. This is the hope, and the goal! joshlevs.com/the-podcast
Thanks for writing about this. But what can we do? Shari Redstone sold out CBS for her own personal wealth. She is another Trump puppet. The billionaire class does not care. I subscribe to several Substack, including Contrarian. But I can only afford 3. What can we do?
What can we do? That's where They Stand Corrected comes in. The more people pay attention to the media disasters I highlight in the podcast and the newsletter, the more news executives will have to enact changes. And there's a *free* version of They Stand Corrected! theystandcorrected.substack.com
For the past 20+ years the MSM has reporting "both sides" and calling this journalism. The MSM cares more about clicks and profits over journalism. The corporate oligarchs owning the MSM has resulted in reporters simply reporting lies and journalism being thrown out the door. Does anyone think Walter Cronkite or David Brinkley and Chet Huntley would ever simply report lies? Does anyone think Katherine Graham would not call out every lies of the Felon and anyone in his Administration?
Absolutely! That's a big part of what is making legacy media so disastrous. Also, I specifically discussed Cronkite in Episode 44, titled Reconstruction https://joshlevs.com/subscribe-to-podcast/
and a guest discussed Cronkite and Murrow in Episode 26, Storm Stunts & Voters' Minds: https://open.substack.com/pub/theystandcorrected/p/vp-debate-voters-minds-and-shanah
I do not watch the news on TV any more. I do not want to get my news from billionaires with skin in the
game.
"A free media and democracy go hand in hand. When people can choose their leaders, they can —and should—demand those leaders allow the media to operate freely."
And the media shouldn't be cheerleaders for any political ideology or provide cover for it, Josh, which is what most media outlets did in failing to cover Biden's cognitive decline while he was in office. The pathetic post-Biden "revelations" only underscores the very low trust most Americans have in the media.
I specifically discuss this in next week's episode! Be sure to subscribe so you see when it comes out.
Great article. Thanks for reporting the news, even though depressing.
I appreciate that! And fyi, in Episode 52, Reaching Voters, I discussed ways to cope and find happiness amid horrible news. It's a life skill that I want people to learn! https://joshlevs.com/subscribe-to-podcast/
I'm disappointed, but in hindsight not surprised, at how quickly and easily the major institutions (Columbia), and the rich and powerful billionaires (Bezos, CBS, Zuckerberg, etc, with Musk leading the Amen Chorus) have knuckled under to Trump's bluster. Now I can more easily understand how a madman fascist like Hitler could so easily seize control of the levers of politics in a society that was arguably the most civilized in all of Europe. It really nauseates me to think about it. At least Harvard managed to find its conscience and its backbone, and I wish them the best in standing up to the schoolyard bully.
Thank you for writing this article. I'm wondering what's happening with today's journalism students. What are they learning about how to report a fraught situation like we're living in today? Are professors teaching critical viewing/reading of today's journalists and how they could be doing better? Are they discussing new ways to get, research, and present news stories? So many questions about what the future of journalism will look like. Most people don't have time to read/view all the worthy, excellent stories/videos on Substack. While journalism is evolving there has to be a better way for the masses to stay informed.
The media intends to fail democracy. They’re complicit.
Too much of the media is owned by corporations, billionaires, or both. There is a heightened level of timidity preventing them from presenting the unvarnished/massaged truth, in an attempt to appease Trump. When this isn't the case, there is a wishy-washy bothsides presentation which is unrealistic as one of the sides is based in an alternative reality. The job of the media is to inform us. Outside of a few sources (Contrarian, The Guardian, PBS/NPR , Substack and the BBC) we aren't getting what we need to make good decisions.
This has been happening at ALL levels for the past 10-15 years at least. The “both siderism” of the media ( Chuck Todd) is the most blatant and why I quit watching any interviews and certain “news” stations, because it was no longer factual. They’ve failed big time for more than a decade. After the news giants retired there was no one.
Media need to disappear Trump from view.
https://open.substack.com/pub/socalif/p/media-need-to-disappear-trump-from?r=59mvz3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
I no longer watch any news on TV. I do not want to get my news from billionaires with skin in the game.
This has been going on for a such long time that I barely recall last time when there was objectivity and stand for democracy in the media. Not to the same degree maybe as now when democracy and the rule of law are under frontal attack and the fascism is on the rise and literally threatening to turn the US into an authoritarian state - but nonetheless it has been there for decades.
I could start much earlier, but let's just go back some 2 decades. Think of the invasion of Iraq, a crime against humanity, with countless victims that left Iraq in shambles and cost the US economy incalculable damage - the media did not move a finger to defend democracy. Think of the US unconditional support for Israel, no matter what war it starts and what crimes it commits, that culminated in more than 18 months of genocide unfolding in front of our eyes. This is literally destroying the US democracy and it did not start under the present government that could easily be labeled fascist - Biden himself has been a firm supporter of Netanyahu, a Trump like criminal with nazi tendencies that has been pushing Israel and the US (it was he who played a decisive role in March of 2003 in the US invading Iraq based on deliberate lies of weapons of mass destruction) into one war after another. Even before Trump, a minimal attempt to defend the right of Palestine to exist would cost you easily a job, whether in media or even being a brilliant black woman president of Harvard - and media has never moved a finger to defend democracy. Slowly but surely, this has taken us to the situation where defending Palestine gets you illegally detained by hooded men masquerading as police, and still the media are doing very little, if anything to defend democracy.
It is actually much worse in reality - even most platforms such as this one do nothing to stop genocide in Gaza or are being falsely objective. Even the author of this article pretends this crime against humanity of biblical proportions, that has left Gaza in rubbles which are being now turned into dust, with thousand of children and babies killed and mutilated, has not been taking place by only citing the invasion of Ukraine. This is how fascisms arise, through collective madness where arguably central themes in the fight for democracy become a taboo or get twisted. For someone with a sense of solidarity with Palestine and a minimum of empathy for its endless suffering that has been going on for now 77 years, even since the Nakba, this article is as frightening as the threat of fascism itself and the lack of media effort to defend us against it.
And now the FEC is defunct.