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CBS News: The Unbearable Smugness of the Press

LowDown

LowDown

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The mood in the Washington press corps is bleak, and deservedly so.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that, with a few exceptions, we were all tacitly or explicitly #WithHer, which has led to a certain anguish in the face of Donald Trump’s victory. More than that and more importantly, we also missed the story, after having spent months mocking the people who had a better sense of what was going on.

This is all symptomatic of modern journalism’s great moral and intellectual failing: its unbearable smugness. Had Hillary Clinton won, there’d be a winking “we did it” feeling in the press, a sense that we were brave and called Trump a liar and saved the republic.

So much for that. The audience for our glib analysis and contempt for much of the electorate, it turned out, was rather limited.
Click to expand...

Yes, and it still is limited, but the press persists in their smugness nonetheless.

...Trump knew what he was doing when he invited his crowds to jeer and hiss the reporters covering him. They hate us, and have for some time.

And can you blame them? Journalists love mocking Trump supporters. We insult their appearances. We dismiss them as racists and sexists. We emote on Twitter about how this or that comment or policy makes us feel one way or the other, and yet we reject their feelings as invalid.

It’s a profound failure of empathy in the service of endless posturing...
Click to expand...

And still the journalists don't get it. Their diagnosis, they think, was correct. The demons were just stronger than they realized. The presidential election wasn't a logical rejection of a deeply flawed candidate named Clinton, it was a primal scream against equality, fairness, and progress. So let the temper tantrums begin!

Journalists think that if they mock middle America enough that those people will eventually get in line, similar to what they see happening on Twitter. Journalists think that they can shout down people, and that those people will just disappear, just like they do on Twitter. This attitude just leads to more smugness, more meanness, and so journalists get things wrong with even greater frequency. They forget to ask the right questions. They can't even imagine the right questions.

They are in a death spiral. I can't imagine them ever fixing this. They are addicted to virtue signaling and self-aggrandizement.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/commen...ness-of-the-press-presidential-election-2016/
 
LowDown said:
Yes, and it still is limited, but the press persists in their smugness nonetheless.



And still the journalists don't get it. Their diagnosis, they think, was correct. The demons were just stronger than they realized. The presidential election wasn't a logical rejection of a deeply flawed candidate named Clinton, it was a primal scream against equality, fairness, and progress. So let the temper tantrums begin!

Journalists think that if they mock middle America enough that those people will eventually get in line, similar to what they see happening on Twitter. Journalists think that they can shout down people, and that those people will just disappear, just like they do on Twitter. This attitude just leads to more smugness, more meanness, and so journalists get things wrong with even greater frequency. They forget to ask the right questions. They can't even imagine the right questions.

They are in a death spiral. I can't imagine them ever fixing this. They are addicted to virtue signaling and self-aggrandizement.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/commen...ness-of-the-press-presidential-election-2016/
Click to expand...

1. Since I don't, as a rule, inhabit Mainstream Media or listen to/read stuff their talking potato heads have to say, it's not surprising that I missed this article that's over a year old. Thanks, LowDown, for posting it.

2. What that writer doesn't touch on is the DELIBERATE spinning and OUTRIGHT alteration of issues and events by the media. He makes it sound like they are simply disrespecting their viewers and readers. They do more than that. They actually lie to them by twisting and spinning, spreading innuendo and hyperbole...all with the sole purpose of manipulating the opinion of their viewers and readers toward their agenda.

3. During the primaries, their agenda was pro-Hillary and a little bit pro-Trump. During the presidential campaign, their agenda was totally pro-Hillary and anti-Trump. And after the election, through the transition and inauguration, and on to this very day, their agenda is to make Trump look bad in any way possible...deliberately. This is MUCH worse than the "oh, we've been bad to the pro-Trump people" blather from the writer.

4. This won't change. They will never fix this. And there won't be a "death spiral". The media will continue until Trump is out of office.
 
LowDown said:
Yes, and it still is limited, but the press persists in their smugness nonetheless.



And still the journalists don't get it. Their diagnosis, they think, was correct. The demons were just stronger than they realized. The presidential election wasn't a logical rejection of a deeply flawed candidate named Clinton, it was a primal scream against equality, fairness, and progress. So let the temper tantrums begin!

Journalists think that if they mock middle America enough that those people will eventually get in line, similar to what they see happening on Twitter. Journalists think that they can shout down people, and that those people will just disappear, just like they do on Twitter. This attitude just leads to more smugness, more meanness, and so journalists get things wrong with even greater frequency. They forget to ask the right questions. They can't even imagine the right questions.

They are in a death spiral. I can't imagine them ever fixing this. They are addicted to virtue signaling and self-aggrandizement.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/commen...ness-of-the-press-presidential-election-2016/
Click to expand...

Dopamine is a helluva drug.

Trump's been a pusher his whole life.

He has incredible natural charisma and no discernable morals.

It has taken him far.

And he's taking us all for a ride on his ego train.
 
The MSM seems to think if they ignore Trump's accomplishments, Obama will get credit for them and be hailed as a hero for everything Trump has done.

The press has lost it's mandate to report the news, so why bother reading most of it? Yet, the most jaded of people are the most factually misinformed, because they watch the anti-Trump MSM and actually swallow it, hook, line, and sinker. And don't have the sentience to question it.
 
chuckiechan said:
The MSM seems to think if they ignore Trump's accomplishments, Obama will get credit for them and be hailed as a hero for everything Trump has done.

The press has lost it's mandate to report the news, so why bother reading most of it? Yet, the most jaded of people are the most factually misinformed, because they watch the anti-Trump MSM and actually swallow it, hook, line, and sinker. And don't have the sentience to question it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, right.

There's a huge difference starting Jan 20th.

Not.

And I have to put "accomplishments" in quotes as it remains to be seen if any those "accomplishments actually trickle down.
 
Mycroft said:
1. Since I don't, as a rule, inhabit Mainstream Media or listen to/read stuff their talking potato heads have to say, it's not surprising that I missed this article that's over a year old. Thanks, LowDown, for posting it.

2. What that writer doesn't touch on is the DELIBERATE spinning and OUTRIGHT alteration of issues and events by the media. He makes it sound like they are simply disrespecting their viewers and readers. They do more than that. They actually lie to them by twisting and spinning, spreading innuendo and hyperbole...all with the sole purpose of manipulating the opinion of their viewers and readers toward their agenda.

3. During the primaries, their agenda was pro-Hillary and a little bit pro-Trump. During the presidential campaign, their agenda was totally pro-Hillary and anti-Trump. And after the election, through the transition and inauguration, and on to this very day, their agenda is to make Trump look bad in any way possible...deliberately. This is MUCH worse than the "oh, we've been bad to the pro-Trump people" blather from the writer.

4. This won't change. They will never fix this. And there won't be a "death spiral". The media will continue until Trump is out of office.
Click to expand...

1. (Not Relevant)
2. You just described exactly what Trump is doing to his base, not the mainstream media to the rest of society.
3. Can you provide clear evidence of systematic anti-Trump bias that isn't just nitpicking through already recanted articles?
4. (also Not Relevant)
 
Roycarn said:
1. (Not Relevant)
2. You just described exactly what Trump is doing to his base, not the mainstream media to the rest of society.
3. Can you provide clear evidence of systematic anti-Trump bias that isn't just nitpicking through already recanted articles?
4. (also Not Relevant)
Click to expand...

This is all my opinion. If you dispute it, make your case.

Then we'll talk.
 
Mycroft said:
1. Since I don't, as a rule, inhabit Mainstream Media or listen to/read stuff their talking potato heads have to say, it's not surprising that I missed this article that's over a year old. Thanks, LowDown, for posting it.

2. What that writer doesn't touch on is the DELIBERATE spinning and OUTRIGHT alteration of issues and events by the media. He makes it sound like they are simply disrespecting their viewers and readers. They do more than that. They actually lie to them by twisting and spinning, spreading innuendo and hyperbole...all with the sole purpose of manipulating the opinion of their viewers and readers toward their agenda.

3. During the primaries, their agenda was pro-Hillary and a little bit pro-Trump. During the presidential campaign, their agenda was totally pro-Hillary and anti-Trump. And after the election, through the transition and inauguration, and on to this very day, their agenda is to make Trump look bad in any way possible...deliberately. This is MUCH worse than the "oh, we've been bad to the pro-Trump people" blather from the writer.

4. This won't change. They will never fix this. And there won't be a "death spiral". The media will continue until Trump is out of office.
Click to expand...
I don't think they were ever pro trump but I do think they were more than happy to not get in the way of him winning in the primary. They viewed trump as clintons easiest path to victory. I'm sure they were giddy with excitement when Trump started forcing the candidates they were afraid of to drop out. I think they most afraid of Rubio and least afraid of Trump. They got the race they wanted and now they are living with the embarrassment of being wrong. I would love to be a fly on the wall at those insider cocktail party's listening to them trying to make excuses to their benefactors about why they failed. Judging by how hard they are working to undo what's already done. I'm guessing the powers that be did not give them a pass on losing to Trump. See these people have the audacity to believe we are all gullible sheep and it is them who anoint our leaders. Trump wounded them in the worst place possible. He damaged their over inflated bloated larger than life Egos.

Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk
 
Mycroft said:
This is all my opinion. If you dispute it, make your case.

Then we'll talk.
Click to expand...

Go over your post again. If you write it off as simply being "opinion," then there's not much to talk about.

But of course, my opinion is that the media have been appropriately critical, specifically with regards to the severity of the charges laid against him as a part of Russia-gate. There is additionally the unusually chaotic nature of the Trump administration as is evidenced by the scandal involving Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort's indictment, and now Steve Bannon's falling out of favor with the Trump teaam.
 
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Roycarn said:
Go over your post again. If you write it off as simply being "opinion," then there's not much to talk about.

But of course, my opinion is that the media have been appropriately critical, specifically with regards to the severity of the charges laid against him as a part of Russia-gate. There is additionally the unusually chaotic nature of the Trump administration as is evidenced by the scandal involving Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort's indictment, and now Steve Bannon's falling out of favor with the Trump teaam.
Click to expand...

??? What charges? Has someone laid charges against Trump? Now THAT'S news to me.

You aren't off to a very good start if you want to talk to me. I mean, you got to be factual, you know.

Do you want to start over? Or just give it up.
 
Mycroft said:
??? What charges? Has someone laid charges against Trump? Now THAT'S news to me.

You aren't off to a very good start if you want to talk to me. I mean, you got to be factual, you know.

Do you want to start over? Or just give it up.
Click to expand...

I suspect he's just referring to the usual wishful thinking, B.S., and speculation that liberals have been living on since Trump was elected.

Obama's entire opus of federal regulations is gone, or nearly so. The economy is up, unemployment continues to fall. God be praised.
 
LowDown said:
Yes, and it still is limited, but the press persists in their smugness nonetheless.



And still the journalists don't get it. Their diagnosis, they think, was correct. The demons were just stronger than they realized. The presidential election wasn't a logical rejection of a deeply flawed candidate named Clinton, it was a primal scream against equality, fairness, and progress. So let the temper tantrums begin!

Journalists think that if they mock middle America enough that those people will eventually get in line, similar to what they see happening on Twitter. Journalists think that they can shout down people, and that those people will just disappear, just like they do on Twitter. This attitude just leads to more smugness, more meanness, and so journalists get things wrong with even greater frequency. They forget to ask the right questions. They can't even imagine the right questions.

They are in a death spiral. I can't imagine them ever fixing this. They are addicted to virtue signaling and self-aggrandizement.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/commen...ness-of-the-press-presidential-election-2016/
Click to expand...

"They are in a death spiral. I can't imagine them ever fixing this. They are addicted to virtue signaling and self-aggrandizement."

Yep. Pretty much. Irony of ironies, its self inflicted, this death spiral of credibility of theirs.
 
Mycroft said:
1. Since I don't, as a rule, inhabit Mainstream Media or listen to/read stuff their talking potato heads have to say, it's not surprising that I missed this article that's over a year old. Thanks, LowDown, for posting it.

2. What that writer doesn't touch on is the DELIBERATE spinning and OUTRIGHT alteration of issues and events by the media. He makes it sound like they are simply disrespecting their viewers and readers. They do more than that. They actually lie to them by twisting and spinning, spreading innuendo and hyperbole...all with the sole purpose of manipulating the opinion of their viewers and readers toward their agenda.

3. During the primaries, their agenda was pro-Hillary and a little bit pro-Trump. During the presidential campaign, their agenda was totally pro-Hillary and anti-Trump. And after the election, through the transition and inauguration, and on to this very day, their agenda is to make Trump look bad in any way possible...deliberately. This is MUCH worse than the "oh, we've been bad to the pro-Trump people" blather from the writer.

4. This won't change. They will never fix this. And there won't be a "death spiral". The media will continue until Trump is out of office.
Click to expand...

Readership and viewer-ship of ABCCBSCNNNBCMSMBC is way down across the board. People are being laid off from the mainstream media right and left. Multiple factors contribute to this trend, of course, including the rise of INTERNET news sources, but the loss of credibility of the press is also frequently cited as a cause.

I wonder what the job prospects of a journalism school graduate are these days. If that career path dies then they are done.
 
Mycroft said:
1. Since I don't, as a rule, inhabit Mainstream Media or listen to/read stuff their talking potato heads have to say, it's not surprising that I missed this article that's over a year old. Thanks, LowDown, for posting it.

2. What that writer doesn't touch on is the DELIBERATE spinning and OUTRIGHT alteration of issues and events by the media. He makes it sound like they are simply disrespecting their viewers and readers. They do more than that. They actually lie to them by twisting and spinning, spreading innuendo and hyperbole...all with the sole purpose of manipulating the opinion of their viewers and readers toward their agenda.

3. During the primaries, their agenda was pro-Hillary and a little bit pro-Trump. During the presidential campaign, their agenda was totally pro-Hillary and anti-Trump. And after the election, through the transition and inauguration, and on to this very day, their agenda is to make Trump look bad in any way possible...deliberately. This is MUCH worse than the "oh, we've been bad to the pro-Trump people" blather from the writer.

4. This won't change. They will never fix this. And there won't be a "death spiral". The media will continue until Trump is out of office.
Click to expand...

That is correct.

I watched a report of the size of the button thingy between Rocket Man and Trump.

The report was by Lester Holt, formerly a fair a anchor and now the on-air propagandist mouth piece for NBC Nightly News.

As I listened to the "report", the sequence of events was so badly and intentionally mangled that it was not possible to figure out who said what first.

Trump, as presented in the report, seemed to have initiated the talk of the button's size out of the blue and Rocket Man just happened to have been in the line of fire.

The presentation of propaganda by our news outlets is criminally and intentionally misleading.
 
What if...? said:
Dopamine is a helluva drug.

Trump's been a pusher his whole life.

He has incredible natural charisma and no discernable morals.

It has taken him far.

And he's taking us all for a ride on his ego train.
Click to expand...

Your post is related to bias in the media in what way?
 
Roycarn said:
Go over your post again. If you write it off as simply being "opinion," then there's not much to talk about.

But of course, my opinion is that the media have been appropriately critical, specifically with regards to the severity of the charges laid against him as a part of Russia-gate. There is additionally the unusually chaotic nature of the Trump administration as is evidenced by the scandal involving Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort's indictment, and now Steve Bannon's falling out of favor with the Trump teaam.
Click to expand...

Tuning the "important issues" into personality faults rather than public policy (and its results) is simply an attempt to prevent public policy changes. The MSM simply wishes to prevent any deviation from the fundamental transformation of America into a social democracy run by SJWs.
 
What if...? said:
Yeah, right.

There's a huge difference starting Jan 20th.

Not.

And I have to put "accomplishments" in quotes as it remains to be seen if any those "accomplishments actually trickle down.
Click to expand...

The personal wealth of the American people has increased by about 6 trillion dollars since the election.

If none of this has Trickled Down to you, you may want to ask what YOU are doing/have done wrong.

Blaming others may comfort you, but working to improve your situation is what might provide actual help.

Here's a handy tip you may be able to use: Nobody cares about you except you and your mom.
 
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LowDown said:
Readership and viewer-ship of ABCCBSCNNNBCMSMBC is way down across the board. People are being laid off from the mainstream media right and left. Multiple factors contribute to this trend, of course, including the rise of INTERNET news sources, but the loss of credibility of the press is also frequently cited as a cause.

I wonder what the job prospects of a journalism school graduate are these days. If that career path dies then they are done.
Click to expand...

All that is true, but those networks have deep pockets and they have enough useful idiots who believe their every word. They'll continue to lose credibility, but they won't fold...and they won't change.
 
Roycarn said:
1. (Not Relevant)
2. You just described exactly what Trump is doing to his base, not the mainstream media to the rest of society.
3. Can you provide clear evidence of systematic anti-Trump bias that isn't just nitpicking through already recanted articles?
4. (also Not Relevant)
Click to expand...

You have rightly noted that both Trump and our media propagandists are actively promoting message.

However, Trump is expected to do so. That is literally his job.

The press, on the other hand, is charged with the responsibility to REPORT what has happened. IF they comment, that commentary is supposed to be clearly labeled and segregated from the reporting.

When Trump presents his vision of of goals to achieve and frames information to benefit achievement of his goals, he is doing his job. Same with Obama. Same with W, Clinton, HW, Reagan and all the rest.

The media more often than not pretends to be reporting and claims to be reporting but are actually distorting and maliciously editing for effect.

That you can't discern a difference in the presentation of events between an advocate like Trump and a "reporter" like any on CNN, NBC, CBS or ABC is revealing.

Are you aware that reporting and advocacy are two very different things?
 
Roycarn said:
Go over your post again. If you write it off as simply being "opinion," then there's not much to talk about.

But of course, my opinion is that the media have been appropriately critical, specifically with regards to the severity of the charges laid against him as a part of Russia-gate. There is additionally the unusually chaotic nature of the Trump administration as is evidenced by the scandal involving Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort's indictment, and now Steve Bannon's falling out of favor with the Trump teaam.
Click to expand...

All of your examples are the result of the maliciously misleading "reports" from the main stream media.

First, there have been no charges against Trump. In truth, there has not even been a violation of the criminal code cited by anyone at any time for any reason.

Flynn's wrong doing was more of a stupidity nature than of a criminal nature. His problematic actions occurred AFTER the election. Therefore it has absolutely NOTHING to do with what Muldoon and the Gang That Won't Shoot Straight is charged to investigate.

Manafort's problems did not occur during the election. Therefore has absolutely NOTHING to do with what Muldoon and the Gang That Won't Shoot Straight is charged to investigate.

Bannon seems to be an idiot, but being stupid isn't a crime. If it was, most of the population of the world would be in jail.
 
code1211 said:
All of your examples are the result of the maliciously misleading "reports" from the main stream media.

First, there have been no charges against Trump. In truth, there has not even been a violation of the criminal code cited by anyone at any time for any reason.

Flynn's wrong doing was more of a stupidity nature than of a criminal nature. His problematic actions occurred AFTER the election. Therefore it has absolutely NOTHING to do with what Muldoon and the Gang That Won't Shoot Straight is charged to investigate.

Manafort's problems did not occur during the election. Therefore has absolutely NOTHING to do with what Muldoon and the Gang That Won't Shoot Straight is charged to investigate.

Bannon seems to be an idiot, but being stupid isn't a crime. If it was, most of the population of the world would be in jail.
Click to expand...

If being stupid was a crime "most of the population ... would be in jail" - no they would not, given the ineptitude of law enforcement. Judges and juries are stupid too. Theft is a crime. Are most thieves in jail? Sadly no.
 
Sweden said:
If being stupid was a crime "most of the population ... would be in jail" - no they would not, given the ineptitude of law enforcement. Judges and juries are stupid too. Theft is a crime. Are most thieves in jail? Sadly no.
Click to expand...

Point taken.
 
Mycroft said:
??? What charges? Has someone laid charges against Trump? Now THAT'S news to me.

You aren't off to a very good start if you want to talk to me. I mean, you got to be factual, you know.

Do you want to start over? Or just give it up.
Click to expand...


Charges do not have to be laid solely by a prosecutor. I truly am sorry if you took it that way.
 
Roycarn said:
Charges do not have to be laid solely by a prosecutor. I truly am sorry if you took it that way.
Click to expand...

I said nothing about "a prosecutor". I asked "??? What charges?"

I'm really thinking you should not bother starting over...that you should just give it up. Not only do you refuse to be factual, you are now imagining me taking a position that I haven't.
 
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