I read Maggie Haberman's op-ed and I have some thoughts. For me it boils down to accountability. Journalists need to be accountable for their work. We are bombarded with stories about how the Trump voter feels. We are bombarded with stories on how neoNazis are normal people.
We are bombarded with stories about how Bernie Sanders speaks for an entire party. During 2015/2016 we were bombarded with stories about emails and how HIllary Clinton wasn't likeable. This isn't just in print, online, it is also on our tv screens. This continues today.
We are given stories as breaking news, that end up having been leaked by Trump and the people around him & we're tricked into thinking they come from someone else. Members of the media sometimes spread what is in essence propaganda & that poisons the electorate. This isn't right.
Studies have showed just how skewed the coverage has been. What is often pushed to us is conservative talking points. Someone recently posted about how little the coverage of the NYT quoted actual Democrats. But they are quick to promote how Democrats are in disarray.
The media actively withholds stories that may be consequential. For example, on Thursday it was revealed that Tad Devine was in evidence for Paul Manafort's trial. Not one media outlet has covered this as of yet. Instead Bernie Sanders will be interviewed about a rally in Kansas
Instead of the media covering how Tad Devine being named as evidence we are treated to stories about how the Democratic Party is afraid of Bernie Sanders' wing. How is this fair and balanced coverage? The truth is that it is not and it can get frustrating for us.
We turn on channels like CNN & we get panels with Right Wingers who lie about everything & get very little pushback. This poisons the electorate & is unfair. We are bombarded with segments on Trump voter panels when the Trump voters are a little over 19% of the US population.
Democrats are doing things like Nancy Pelosi who went in on Trump this week. The only reason I knew she did that was because of Twitter. None of this gets covered. What we get is stories on how she needs to retire because of age. What we get is right wing talking points.
Protests led by @AdamParkhomenko have been going on in front of the WH since Trump returned from Helsinki. Were it not for Twitter & Rachel Maddow, I wouldn't know about it. Instead we get panels on if the Trump voter agrees with what he did in Helsinki.
The press as a whole is supposed to be the fourth estate. They are supposed to keep the US population fully informed. While they do some things well, there are areas where they have failed us greatly. We should be able to hold members of the media accountable & have them hear us.
We should be able to hold them accountable without having them write op-eds saying we are nasty, which is what I think Maggie Haberman's op-ed is. I understand how she feels but she needs to understand us. We don't want the media to be partisan. We want fair & balanced coverage..
We want the media to give us the coverage that we deserve. We want the media to stop being interested in press access & to be more interested in providing the coverage that keeps us informed on where things actually stand in this country. That isn't much to ask.
It isn't much to ask for the members of the media to have a discussion with the voters, with us and to listen to us. It isn't much to ask the media to acknowledge ways in which they failed us in 2015/2016 & how they continue to fail us today and to fix us. Accountability. /end
And I am going to come back to this. I am nobody big, special, or important. I'm just a normal every day person who is grateful we have a free press & for the work they do. I just want to them do right by us, to examine & fix their failings & to give us the coverage we deserve.
You can follow @lynnv378.
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