Sorry, dear readers. The trolls have found the "open to everyone" Comments section. Will need to lock it down for paying subscribers only. Please report any offensive comments and I will delete.
Seen from the outside (Sweden) I think it is a most important point to make about the double standard of media. As is the GOP weaponizing of polls. Liberal media doesn't have to be infiltrated across the whole staff. On the contrary it takes only a few people to decide on a heading, publish a single article with false balance, or turn the emphasis towards the double standard. Maybe there must be someone in a leading position to accomplish this, but the image of trustworthy journalism must be maintained when speaking to the non MAGA crowd.
It is indeed remarkable that polls tend to favour the talking points of republicans: Age of Biden, and poor economy, when facts are speaking to the opposite. Polls are possible to manipulate by the way you ask questions, and this can also be proven to be the case, but too late. Once you can get the headline in NYT to announce your talking points it doesn't matter what you say next. It is hard work to realize we don't have 'media' or 'journalism', but an 'attention industry'.
"Ohio Republicans threaten to strip courts of jurisdiction to enforce the constitutional amendment passed on Tuesday."
Just look to Florida to see how DeSantis' GOP Congress gutted Amendment 4, a voter-supported initiative restoring voters' rights to felons, shortly after passing. The Repubs don't give a frigg what voters want.
Just a note on the positive side, I tuned into Ari Melber on MSNBC part way through his program. He was talking about Biden and the economy. He pointed out the disconnect between the reality of our extremely well performing economy and the perception of a negative economy. He had Paul Krugman on with him, backing up all the positive data. It was the first news run on Biden that I have seen with no caveats, all positive, touting his accomplishments, while he noted the disinformation FOX was spouting. Let’s hope it continues.
Thank you Robert for opening up the comments to all..Regarding the media coverage of Trump..it’s the $$$..they are in business together..Simple as that..
Regarding Ohio..Two things should occur, firstly, proponents of issue 1 effort must go public big, all across the state..Making sure everyone knows what is happening..Just like they did in Wisconsin when the legislature threatened to impeach the Democratic Supreme Court Justice that won her election..any of them up for reelection should face primaries and or voted out in the general..Secondly, They need to be made an offer they can’t refuse..
I worry that the current Israeli Palestinian conflict with Israel’s disregard at best, intentional genocide at worst, treatment of the Gaza civilians and West Bank Palestinians too, will destroy our nation and our democracy. Biden is in a no win position. But his early “no conditions” and “whatever Israel needs” support for Israel has given Netanyahu a green light to what Israel is doing. The attack by Hamas did not just kill Israelis. But no one talks about them. Israel is not just killing Palestinians. There are many internationals, aid workers, journalists, doctors and even Israelis who are in Gaza and all are under indiscriminate air strikes and cannon fire. The world knows the moral breakdown of Israel’s response. Israel could have leveraged the world’s sympathy with a more calculated humane response to Gaza and dealing with Hamas’s criminal acts.
Our news media failed us here too. Focusing on Israel’s losses and letting that justify Israel’s overwhelming violence against Gaza civilians. Anyone who thinks only 10,000 have been killed with more than 10,000 air strikes is delusional. This looks like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but proportionally much worse.
Our news media at least on PBS NewsHour has been giving us more coverage of the Gaza death and destruction, as well as the continuing West Bank Israeli settler and military attacks on Palestinians living there. But you have to go to other sources like Democracy Now to hear interviews with US and UN officials who have resigned over failures of their organizations to protect Palestinian civilians. And for Palestinian and Israeli scholars to explain the harsh and dehumanizing treatment that Israel has applied to Palestinians since 1948, and especially under Netanyahu. Our US education on the Middle East and its history is negligent and seriously one sided. The Holocaust should have been a lesson in the inhumanity of state and political party power in the hands of authoritarians and ignorant nationalists. It may be too late for Israel, the Palestinians and the US to recover from this retribution violence. Our democracy is at stake. Israel’s survival might be at stake not from Hamas, but from Israel’s actions and past activities that are being brought more into the light which violates the humanity and memory of those lost in the Holocaust and from the Hamas attack.
Omer Bartov is an Israeli-born historian. He is the Samuel Pisar Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University, where he has taught since 2000. Bartov is a noted historian of the Holocaust and is considered one of the world's leading authorities on the subject of genocide. Wikipe
I'm new to Robert Hubbell, and appreciate his tone - which is realistic, galvanizing, and positive. I'm an elected official for Maine's Democratic party, and also for my county Dems committee. But my passion is with canvassing - which I think is the only way to move the needle. Media is indeed problematic, especially for the many who get their news via FB or TV. I think the only way to break through is with conversations. But that requires an army of volunteers, and heaps of energy and time. As much as I'm gearing up for doing this yet again this coming election season, I know I need to do it in a sustainable way. I'm hoping to learn more from Robert, and all of you, how to do it.
Okay, time for a math lesson. As a math teacher for 36 years who taught Probability and Statistics for many of those years, one of the most common facts that I had to repeat often was what polls COULD and COULD NOT tell us. ALL of the current 'presidential polls' that claim an absolutely incredible amount of media attention cannot tell us a DAMN THING! They even admit such if one pays attention to the 'fine print'. The premise of every such poll starts with "if the election were held today". This statement for an election that is a year away. The truth is that the poll-takers are no more prescient than you or I, and this poll has NO connection to reality. In math, the reality lies in the validity of an 'if-then' statement. The statement is totally dependent on the truth of the 'if' portion. As I often told my students, an undeniably mathematically true statement: "IF it is raining, then it is raining, therefore it is raining!" They would say: "But Mr. Cheney, there isn't a cloud in the sky!" I would say: "Exactly! but the statement starts with an 'if' statement that everything else relies on, and therefore when the 'if' statement is false, there CAN BE NO VALID CONCLUSION!" Not only that, but there is the FACT that Statistics is such an easily manipulated area that in today's academic world, Statistics has become separate from Math: The result of so many who ARE manipulating 'polls' to suit their own purposes, which almost never have any connection to truth. Thus, "if the election were held tomorrow", the poll results may - or may not depending on how it was conducted - have any relation to reality, but the only valid conclusion is the poll is COMPLETELY meaningless!
I did see a glimmer of hope in the WaPo this week. Phillp Bump wrote two pieces with the word "authoritarianism" in the headline. That is a first, at least that I'm aware of. The second of his editorials discussed a survey asking voters their preferences on electing, in essence, a strongman authoritarian to lead our nation. About 18 percent strongly supported the idea, with a good additional percentage supporting it a bit less strongly. That's a scary number, folks. He made the point, as well, that while the press is culpable for not doing a very good job reporting what a second Trump win would do to our country and democracy, there is a sizable group of Americans who would actually prefer that (and that number included some Dems!).
In other words, the media can step up their game, but there is still a sizable chunk of Americans who would prefer Trump for exactly the reasons we fear a Trump administration in 2024.
I’m wondering what a full page ad in the NYT (and other media) would cost, and whether, if thousands of us paid a few dollars each we could afford a page with some of your wonderful thoughts on the responsibilities of our media in these times and signed it with thousands of names if it would do anything. There was also like a one day “we won’t use the NYT “strike” “ awhile back (that’s right - no Wordle for a day!); not sure if it was at all effective. I’d really like to find a way to get through to media that they’re not reporting the way readers desire and deserve. Maybe I’m just banging my head against a wall that’s just too solid. Maybe the answer is just consumers migrating from those news sources to others that are more responsible??
I had a boss once when we went into his office with what we considered a problem or issue would always ask” what do you want me to do about it” if we did not have a proposed solution he would not listen to us because it’s easy to bitch and complain but more difficult to seek workable solutions. We alone cannot change media bias because they are driven by the revenue generated by various demographics groups and they don’t want to offend these groups and lose revenue. What we need to do is hand to hand grassroots involvement and one on one contacts to get our messages heard and understood. There is no silver bullet. I’m glad many grassroots organizations are recognizing burnout and are doing something about it and refreshing our team. Something to think about is if we have burnout imagine how burnout and frustrated Republicans must feel because they have a very heavy life because of their MAGA poison infiltrated party. We are taking a timeout and coming back for the second half refreshed and ready to go. We have some momentum and we must keep the faith.
Seems like a great idea in your last paragraph -- to share plans for the weekend that have nothing to do with politics! I'll be working at our church's first Pre-Holliday Bazaar. Hoping for a huge success! ☃️🎄
Sorry, dear readers. The trolls have found the "open to everyone" Comments section. Will need to lock it down for paying subscribers only. Please report any offensive comments and I will delete.
Seen from the outside (Sweden) I think it is a most important point to make about the double standard of media. As is the GOP weaponizing of polls. Liberal media doesn't have to be infiltrated across the whole staff. On the contrary it takes only a few people to decide on a heading, publish a single article with false balance, or turn the emphasis towards the double standard. Maybe there must be someone in a leading position to accomplish this, but the image of trustworthy journalism must be maintained when speaking to the non MAGA crowd.
It is indeed remarkable that polls tend to favour the talking points of republicans: Age of Biden, and poor economy, when facts are speaking to the opposite. Polls are possible to manipulate by the way you ask questions, and this can also be proven to be the case, but too late. Once you can get the headline in NYT to announce your talking points it doesn't matter what you say next. It is hard work to realize we don't have 'media' or 'journalism', but an 'attention industry'.
"Ohio Republicans threaten to strip courts of jurisdiction to enforce the constitutional amendment passed on Tuesday."
Just look to Florida to see how DeSantis' GOP Congress gutted Amendment 4, a voter-supported initiative restoring voters' rights to felons, shortly after passing. The Repubs don't give a frigg what voters want.
Just a note on the positive side, I tuned into Ari Melber on MSNBC part way through his program. He was talking about Biden and the economy. He pointed out the disconnect between the reality of our extremely well performing economy and the perception of a negative economy. He had Paul Krugman on with him, backing up all the positive data. It was the first news run on Biden that I have seen with no caveats, all positive, touting his accomplishments, while he noted the disinformation FOX was spouting. Let’s hope it continues.
Thank you Robert for opening up the comments to all..Regarding the media coverage of Trump..it’s the $$$..they are in business together..Simple as that..
Regarding Ohio..Two things should occur, firstly, proponents of issue 1 effort must go public big, all across the state..Making sure everyone knows what is happening..Just like they did in Wisconsin when the legislature threatened to impeach the Democratic Supreme Court Justice that won her election..any of them up for reelection should face primaries and or voted out in the general..Secondly, They need to be made an offer they can’t refuse..
I worry that the current Israeli Palestinian conflict with Israel’s disregard at best, intentional genocide at worst, treatment of the Gaza civilians and West Bank Palestinians too, will destroy our nation and our democracy. Biden is in a no win position. But his early “no conditions” and “whatever Israel needs” support for Israel has given Netanyahu a green light to what Israel is doing. The attack by Hamas did not just kill Israelis. But no one talks about them. Israel is not just killing Palestinians. There are many internationals, aid workers, journalists, doctors and even Israelis who are in Gaza and all are under indiscriminate air strikes and cannon fire. The world knows the moral breakdown of Israel’s response. Israel could have leveraged the world’s sympathy with a more calculated humane response to Gaza and dealing with Hamas’s criminal acts.
Our news media failed us here too. Focusing on Israel’s losses and letting that justify Israel’s overwhelming violence against Gaza civilians. Anyone who thinks only 10,000 have been killed with more than 10,000 air strikes is delusional. This looks like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but proportionally much worse.
Our news media at least on PBS NewsHour has been giving us more coverage of the Gaza death and destruction, as well as the continuing West Bank Israeli settler and military attacks on Palestinians living there. But you have to go to other sources like Democracy Now to hear interviews with US and UN officials who have resigned over failures of their organizations to protect Palestinian civilians. And for Palestinian and Israeli scholars to explain the harsh and dehumanizing treatment that Israel has applied to Palestinians since 1948, and especially under Netanyahu. Our US education on the Middle East and its history is negligent and seriously one sided. The Holocaust should have been a lesson in the inhumanity of state and political party power in the hands of authoritarians and ignorant nationalists. It may be too late for Israel, the Palestinians and the US to recover from this retribution violence. Our democracy is at stake. Israel’s survival might be at stake not from Hamas, but from Israel’s actions and past activities that are being brought more into the light which violates the humanity and memory of those lost in the Holocaust and from the Hamas attack.
https://www.democracynow.org/2023/11/10/bartov_genocide_apartheid
Omer Bartov is an Israeli-born historian. He is the Samuel Pisar Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University, where he has taught since 2000. Bartov is a noted historian of the Holocaust and is considered one of the world's leading authorities on the subject of genocide. Wikipe
“But why?” is an excellent and essential question! Now how to hold the media’s feet to the fire for an answer or better behavior.
I'm new to Robert Hubbell, and appreciate his tone - which is realistic, galvanizing, and positive. I'm an elected official for Maine's Democratic party, and also for my county Dems committee. But my passion is with canvassing - which I think is the only way to move the needle. Media is indeed problematic, especially for the many who get their news via FB or TV. I think the only way to break through is with conversations. But that requires an army of volunteers, and heaps of energy and time. As much as I'm gearing up for doing this yet again this coming election season, I know I need to do it in a sustainable way. I'm hoping to learn more from Robert, and all of you, how to do it.
In solidarity and peace.
Okay, time for a math lesson. As a math teacher for 36 years who taught Probability and Statistics for many of those years, one of the most common facts that I had to repeat often was what polls COULD and COULD NOT tell us. ALL of the current 'presidential polls' that claim an absolutely incredible amount of media attention cannot tell us a DAMN THING! They even admit such if one pays attention to the 'fine print'. The premise of every such poll starts with "if the election were held today". This statement for an election that is a year away. The truth is that the poll-takers are no more prescient than you or I, and this poll has NO connection to reality. In math, the reality lies in the validity of an 'if-then' statement. The statement is totally dependent on the truth of the 'if' portion. As I often told my students, an undeniably mathematically true statement: "IF it is raining, then it is raining, therefore it is raining!" They would say: "But Mr. Cheney, there isn't a cloud in the sky!" I would say: "Exactly! but the statement starts with an 'if' statement that everything else relies on, and therefore when the 'if' statement is false, there CAN BE NO VALID CONCLUSION!" Not only that, but there is the FACT that Statistics is such an easily manipulated area that in today's academic world, Statistics has become separate from Math: The result of so many who ARE manipulating 'polls' to suit their own purposes, which almost never have any connection to truth. Thus, "if the election were held tomorrow", the poll results may - or may not depending on how it was conducted - have any relation to reality, but the only valid conclusion is the poll is COMPLETELY meaningless!
Steve Cheney
This is an encouraging piece by David Brooks in the NYTimes about how "Americans use polls to vent, not to vote." This makes so much sense!
Democrats: You Can Chill Out Now!
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/09/opinion/democrats-biden-poll-numbers.html?
I did see a glimmer of hope in the WaPo this week. Phillp Bump wrote two pieces with the word "authoritarianism" in the headline. That is a first, at least that I'm aware of. The second of his editorials discussed a survey asking voters their preferences on electing, in essence, a strongman authoritarian to lead our nation. About 18 percent strongly supported the idea, with a good additional percentage supporting it a bit less strongly. That's a scary number, folks. He made the point, as well, that while the press is culpable for not doing a very good job reporting what a second Trump win would do to our country and democracy, there is a sizable group of Americans who would actually prefer that (and that number included some Dems!).
In other words, the media can step up their game, but there is still a sizable chunk of Americans who would prefer Trump for exactly the reasons we fear a Trump administration in 2024.
I’m wondering what a full page ad in the NYT (and other media) would cost, and whether, if thousands of us paid a few dollars each we could afford a page with some of your wonderful thoughts on the responsibilities of our media in these times and signed it with thousands of names if it would do anything. There was also like a one day “we won’t use the NYT “strike” “ awhile back (that’s right - no Wordle for a day!); not sure if it was at all effective. I’d really like to find a way to get through to media that they’re not reporting the way readers desire and deserve. Maybe I’m just banging my head against a wall that’s just too solid. Maybe the answer is just consumers migrating from those news sources to others that are more responsible??
Thank you for being a port in the (unstable) storm… ( Jill too!)… nothing lasts forever, including tRump…
I had a boss once when we went into his office with what we considered a problem or issue would always ask” what do you want me to do about it” if we did not have a proposed solution he would not listen to us because it’s easy to bitch and complain but more difficult to seek workable solutions. We alone cannot change media bias because they are driven by the revenue generated by various demographics groups and they don’t want to offend these groups and lose revenue. What we need to do is hand to hand grassroots involvement and one on one contacts to get our messages heard and understood. There is no silver bullet. I’m glad many grassroots organizations are recognizing burnout and are doing something about it and refreshing our team. Something to think about is if we have burnout imagine how burnout and frustrated Republicans must feel because they have a very heavy life because of their MAGA poison infiltrated party. We are taking a timeout and coming back for the second half refreshed and ready to go. We have some momentum and we must keep the faith.
Seems like a great idea in your last paragraph -- to share plans for the weekend that have nothing to do with politics! I'll be working at our church's first Pre-Holliday Bazaar. Hoping for a huge success! ☃️🎄
Since when is implementing the voice of the voters considered “mischief”? In Ohio or elsewhere? We’re in a nightmare of madness.