Thanks for publishing this, The Contrarian. The media's failure to provide truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is damaging our society and empowering anti-democratic forces. Fact checks: https://theystandcorrected.substack.com/
The Sunday "news" shows would do better with fewer commercial breaks, with the presenters (they're no longer journalists) holding their guests to the subject and hold them to answer questions posed with answers that pertain to them. The presenters shouldn't be trying for ratings and star appeal. They should be there to present information and news, or what are the programs for?
Honestly, it seems to me that they should be required to present their information to the shows\ producers BEFORE appearing. Their track record is abysmal. Fact checking real time is not realistic.
Or alternately, don't let them on the show, or end the segment at the first lie. Just cut it off and say if they are going to lie, it's worse than ending it and having no "facts" presented.
Show instead cute videos of puppies and kitties. People like that kind of thing.
Exactly! This is what I'm all about. The news must end what I call open mic nights. Don't platform liars live. Pre-record interviews and share them with your audience in a fact checked way only. https://joshlevs.com/episode-20-ending-open-mic-nights/
Never in history have societies thrived when immersed in lies and propaganda perpetuated by a powerful minority that abhors facts and reason. Keep up the fact checking!
Thank you, Josh Levs. I work in media myself -- 15 years at NBC in NY, now as the editor of a small monthly in NC to which I "retired". I no longer bother with any TV media (haven't turned on MSNBC since Nov. 6, 2024) or mainstream print (cancelled the NYT five years ago and WaPo this January). Without people like you, and other Contrarians, to report the truth and correct the lies, the "poorly educated" whom trump loves, and who elected him, will remain the most ignorant voters in the (so-called) free world.
It's all part of the GOP's 50-year campaign to eliminate all civics education in high schools, dumb down school boards with creationists and other bigots, and ensure that the ignorant stay ignorant, the poor stay poor, and the rich stay in perpetual power.
It might not be a bid thing to return to the style and formats of Edward R. Murrow, Eric Severeid, Walter Cronkite, Roger Mudd, Dan Rather,Molly Ivins, Gwen Ifill, and that bunch. No real need to reinvent the wheel when there was one that worked quite well for decades.
I agree; it would be a wonderful thing. But can that model work when the owners of the big media -- the ones those giants worked for -- are Bezian troglodytes?
This is incredibly important and hopeful!!! Fact checks give us the ammunition to combat the firehose of lies. Thank you for insisting that the media provide us with the truth. Very grateful!
Thank you! I spent years fact checking at CNN, both on air and online. I saw how incredibly many lies are platformed each day. It's only gotten worse. You can search by typing in a topic or news agency name into the search bar here: https://theystandcorrected.substack.com/
Meet the Press, Face the Nation --cowards and just looking for clicks. They could fact check immediately but I bet higher up the ladder are more cowards. I get better info from BBC & Democracy Now.
Why do the networks even put these gaslighting liars on the air? Since they don’t tell the truth why waste the time to even listen to them? Especially when the interviewers don’t follow up on the bs. E.g Caitlin Collins the other day: why didn’t she say: “So that’s your way of avoiding my question?”
The main stream media (MSM) has let us down in so many ways that accelerated around 2015 with wall-to-wall Trump, and that has not stopped to this day. Face it, his lies, outlandish statements and behavior are good for copy, clicks, and profits.The umbrella has now spread to reporting daily on what he and Musk's legion of vandals are doing to the country, economy, democracy and ultimately, the people. Like Congress, the MSM needs to grow a spine, start challenging the lies, and researching and reporting the truth without attempting to sane-wash the administration's actions. Thanks to outlets like The Contrarian, The Guardian, Politico, BBC and NPR/PBS, there is balance and in-depth reporting. Compared to what else is out there, it's pretty thin.
"So, right now, 130 countries have responded, and we're negotiating with them, and they have got their rate down to 10 percent.” -- Kevin Hassett
DOWN to 10 percent? Before Trump's idiotic trade war, tariffs from Mexico and Canada were 0% for most products, and the rest of the world had low tariffs around 1 or 2%. Of course, in Trump World, black is white, war is peace, and up is down.
It doesn't matter. Only the elderly watch these shows anyway. If one wants to critique "media that matters," focus on the MAGA propaganda outlets Fox, OAN, Newsmax, Sinclair Media, on and on. They pollute the minds of ten times the number of folk that watch mainstream media.
Our society desperately needs trustworthy sources of truth. Fox and other right-wing outlets aren't doing it, but "mainstream" ones are failing also. We need them to step up and do the job!
Focus on them all, including print media. Being fed lies and pap will turn our minds to mush and we won't be able to make good decisions about anything.
I sure hope the democracy loving scholars and leaders are hard at work writing Project 2026 just in time for the mid-term elections so we can swiftly repair as much of the damage as we can as fast as we can when we re-take Congress. A nice gift for our nation's 250th anniversary.
This is why I rarely watch the "mainstream news." Most of it can't be trusted to report, or even look at the truth - or ask pertinent questions. They just soak up whatever the short-fingered vulgarian, spews.
White House officials take their leader as their model. Every word Trump says is a lie. He can't help himself about that. But everything that anyone in this White House Klown Kar Kabinet says is untrue, even when they know better. You won't go broke placing that bet.
Thanks for publishing this, The Contrarian. The media's failure to provide truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is damaging our society and empowering anti-democratic forces. Fact checks: https://theystandcorrected.substack.com/
This is why I no longer watch the Sunday shows. Thanks for the article.
They're a mess! I pieced through the other two in Episode 47: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0abVMvFdmtosyAUUnyMm4Z
Thanks,
JL
The Sunday "news" shows would do better with fewer commercial breaks, with the presenters (they're no longer journalists) holding their guests to the subject and hold them to answer questions posed with answers that pertain to them. The presenters shouldn't be trying for ratings and star appeal. They should be there to present information and news, or what are the programs for?
Same here. No longer watch.
Honestly, it seems to me that they should be required to present their information to the shows\ producers BEFORE appearing. Their track record is abysmal. Fact checking real time is not realistic.
Or alternately, don't let them on the show, or end the segment at the first lie. Just cut it off and say if they are going to lie, it's worse than ending it and having no "facts" presented.
Show instead cute videos of puppies and kitties. People like that kind of thing.
Exactly! This is what I'm all about. The news must end what I call open mic nights. Don't platform liars live. Pre-record interviews and share them with your audience in a fact checked way only. https://joshlevs.com/episode-20-ending-open-mic-nights/
Pre record good idea. Cutting them off at first lie and ending it might be revealing though too
Never in history have societies thrived when immersed in lies and propaganda perpetuated by a powerful minority that abhors facts and reason. Keep up the fact checking!
Thank you! And yes. Problems cannot be solved without being diagnosed. And that requires truth.
Thank you, Josh Levs. I work in media myself -- 15 years at NBC in NY, now as the editor of a small monthly in NC to which I "retired". I no longer bother with any TV media (haven't turned on MSNBC since Nov. 6, 2024) or mainstream print (cancelled the NYT five years ago and WaPo this January). Without people like you, and other Contrarians, to report the truth and correct the lies, the "poorly educated" whom trump loves, and who elected him, will remain the most ignorant voters in the (so-called) free world.
It's all part of the GOP's 50-year campaign to eliminate all civics education in high schools, dumb down school boards with creationists and other bigots, and ensure that the ignorant stay ignorant, the poor stay poor, and the rich stay in perpetual power.
You nailed it.
Now it's time to turn the page.
But not until we tear up and burn the page that they've given us. We have to write a whole new book.
It might not be a bid thing to return to the style and formats of Edward R. Murrow, Eric Severeid, Walter Cronkite, Roger Mudd, Dan Rather,Molly Ivins, Gwen Ifill, and that bunch. No real need to reinvent the wheel when there was one that worked quite well for decades.
I agree; it would be a wonderful thing. But can that model work when the owners of the big media -- the ones those giants worked for -- are Bezian troglodytes?
A right good question.
This is incredibly important and hopeful!!! Fact checks give us the ammunition to combat the firehose of lies. Thank you for insisting that the media provide us with the truth. Very grateful!
Thank you! I spent years fact checking at CNN, both on air and online. I saw how incredibly many lies are platformed each day. It's only gotten worse. You can search by typing in a topic or news agency name into the search bar here: https://theystandcorrected.substack.com/
Meet the Press, Face the Nation --cowards and just looking for clicks. They could fact check immediately but I bet higher up the ladder are more cowards. I get better info from BBC & Democracy Now.
Why do the networks even put these gaslighting liars on the air? Since they don’t tell the truth why waste the time to even listen to them? Especially when the interviewers don’t follow up on the bs. E.g Caitlin Collins the other day: why didn’t she say: “So that’s your way of avoiding my question?”
The main stream media (MSM) has let us down in so many ways that accelerated around 2015 with wall-to-wall Trump, and that has not stopped to this day. Face it, his lies, outlandish statements and behavior are good for copy, clicks, and profits.The umbrella has now spread to reporting daily on what he and Musk's legion of vandals are doing to the country, economy, democracy and ultimately, the people. Like Congress, the MSM needs to grow a spine, start challenging the lies, and researching and reporting the truth without attempting to sane-wash the administration's actions. Thanks to outlets like The Contrarian, The Guardian, Politico, BBC and NPR/PBS, there is balance and in-depth reporting. Compared to what else is out there, it's pretty thin.
But how can this be changed? I have expressed outrage to some Sunday shows on X and have garnered others’ agreement, but nothing changes
"So, right now, 130 countries have responded, and we're negotiating with them, and they have got their rate down to 10 percent.” -- Kevin Hassett
DOWN to 10 percent? Before Trump's idiotic trade war, tariffs from Mexico and Canada were 0% for most products, and the rest of the world had low tariffs around 1 or 2%. Of course, in Trump World, black is white, war is peace, and up is down.
It doesn't matter. Only the elderly watch these shows anyway. If one wants to critique "media that matters," focus on the MAGA propaganda outlets Fox, OAN, Newsmax, Sinclair Media, on and on. They pollute the minds of ten times the number of folk that watch mainstream media.
Our society desperately needs trustworthy sources of truth. Fox and other right-wing outlets aren't doing it, but "mainstream" ones are failing also. We need them to step up and do the job!
Hear hear!!
Focus on them all, including print media. Being fed lies and pap will turn our minds to mush and we won't be able to make good decisions about anything.
I sure hope the democracy loving scholars and leaders are hard at work writing Project 2026 just in time for the mid-term elections so we can swiftly repair as much of the damage as we can as fast as we can when we re-take Congress. A nice gift for our nation's 250th anniversary.
This is why I rarely watch the "mainstream news." Most of it can't be trusted to report, or even look at the truth - or ask pertinent questions. They just soak up whatever the short-fingered vulgarian, spews.
White House officials take their leader as their model. Every word Trump says is a lie. He can't help himself about that. But everything that anyone in this White House Klown Kar Kabinet says is untrue, even when they know better. You won't go broke placing that bet.
Josh, well-researched and pertinent. I was very skeptical of Lutnick’s claim when I saw the show. And hi from me and Cindy, Tami’s parents.