Democrats do need to worry about media narratives

You're not a farm animal: A plea to journalists to release themselves from Trump's press pens: This campaign has abused the media on a scale previously unseen in American politics. It's time to take a stand, Eric Boehlert, Salon, April 1, 2016

Eric Boehlert ("America isn't guaranteed a happy ending: A failure of imagination", Oct 06, 2021):

"This country has been facing a looming and open threat for a year now, ever since Trump signaled in September 2020, that he would not abide by the election results and assure a peaceful transfer of power – then everything unraveled from there. But news organizations still see themselves primarily as witnesses in the drama, paid to document the beating that democracy is taking at the hands of radical Republicans who try to dismantle the concept of free and fair elections in America.

It's almost 2022 and outlets like Washington Post are still pointlessly, and sheepishly, referring to incessant Trump lies about the election as “baseless claims” and “false allegations.”

Too many journalists don’t see themselves as having a vested interest in America maintaining a functioning democracy. They’re afraid that’s seen as picking sides so they remain reluctant to call out the party that’s purposely threatening it."

A new idea is gaining traction: Because most newspaper readers and network news viewers are already Biden voters, Dem efforts to influence media narratives and improve journalism are largely wasted. The idea is based on a false conceit, and (thus) wrong.

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— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler.bsky.social) Jun 7, 2024 at 11:41 AM

The false conceit is that what appears, e.g., on the front page of the New York Times has no effect on the factoids and memes and propaganda people marinate in on social media, YouTube, and elsewhere. They cross-pollinate. www.offmessage.net/p/democrats-...

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— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler.bsky.social) Jun 7, 2024 at 11:49 AM

Here's that link: Yes, Democrats Should Still Care How Real Journalists Cover The News (www.offmessage.net)

"...we are now three decades into a right-wing takeover of our information ecosystem that is fundamentally changing people's frameworks. We're talking about the loss of local news. More than half of American counties have no access or very limited access to local news. We're talking about Sinclair, a right-wing operation taking over local broadcasts that reaches over 70% of the American population, with a deliberate agenda and a focus on crime, homelessness, and drugs. Add in social media — where so many people get their news — and how easily manipulable that is at its best. And at its worst, it's Elon Musk.

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[Post 2024 election,] Democrats are in the wilderness. So we're not going to be able to govern and deliver in most places. Certainly not at the federal level. But we can really recognize the monumental task of the information ecosystem problem for what it is and start rebuilding there."

— How to compete with the right-wing meaning-making media machine: Writer and policy wonk Heather McGhee on how Democrats failed to reach voters on policy, why having Beyoncé on your side isn't enough, and what it will take to build a left media in the Trump years. The Ink, Nov 11, 2024