Anatomy of a Puff Piece: The “enduring mystique” of kollaborator journalism.

The @nytimes Hicks diddler is a tipping-point in an existential crisis.

With truth an endangered species, normalizing enablers of an illegitimate president is dangerous and lame.

A puff piece thread:
I knew we were in derp sh*t when just minutes after the 2016 election results were in, @THR published this “exclusive” dreck.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/omarosa-reveals-what-went-down-inside-freight-elevator-brought-trump-his-victory-party-945791">https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/omar...
We expect a low, vichy bar from corporate-controlled broadcast news, but we’re constantly taken aback when print media doing some of the best work during this trying days, also puts out lame sh*t. https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1130504777643831296?s=21">https://twitter.com/washingto...
3/ Throughout the Mueller Report, the excellent work of print journos is referenced. The @nytimes is doing some incredible investigative work during this lousy dictatorship. So WTF was this? https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/28/magazine/how-far-will-sean-hannity-go.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/2...
How Far Will Sean Hannity Go? (Published 2017)

The Fox News host is willing to defend Trump at all costs — and is reaching more than 13 million people a day.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/28/magazine/how-far-will-sean-hannity-go.html
4/ People paying attention to the fact we’ve had 44 presidents and one lousy dictator are hopeful they can turn on TV news for some truth. This @CNN puff piece was low by even vichy standards. https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/20/politics/kellyanne-conway-badass-women/index.html">https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/2...
How Kellyanne Conway became the ultimate White House survivor

Kellyanne Conway is a consistent figure in the otherwise revolving-door world of the Trump White House.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/20/politics/kellyanne-conway-badass-women/index.html
5/ Such a nice puff piece on a troll-hack. I guess Trump’s other campaign manager was already in prison by then. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-brad-parscale-once-a-nobody-in-san-antonio-shaped-trumps-combative-politics-and-rose-to-his-inner-circle/2018/11/09/b4257d58-dbb7-11e8-b3f0-62607289efee_story.html">https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/...
How Brad Parscale, once a ‘nobody in San Antonio,’ shaped Trump’s combative politics and rose to...

The president’s 2020 campaign manager has amplified his attacks on migrants with gusto and gone after social media companies.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-brad-parscale-once-a-nobody-in-san-antonio-shaped-trumps-combative-politics-and-rose-to-his-inner-circle/2018/11/09/b4257d58-dbb7-11e8-b3f0-62607289efee_story.html
6/ That time it took seven Washington Post reporters to write a Steve Bannon puff piece that didn’t mention Cambridge Analytica and his role in damning democracy. https://twitter.com/heidi_cuda/status/1056892561736880128?s=21">https://twitter.com/heidi_cud...
7/ My personal favorite. Billionaire fanzine Forbes rah rah victory “exclusive”.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2016/11/22/exclusive-interview-how-jared-kushner-won-trump-the-white-house/">https://www.forbes.com/sites/ste... @Forbes
Exclusive Interview: How Jared Kushner Won Trump The White House

The secret weapon of the Trump campaign: his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who created a stealth data machine that leveraged social media and ran like a Silicon Valley startup. The inside story of the...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2016/11/22/exclusive-interview-how-jared-kushner-won-trump-the-white-house/
8/ https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤮" title="Spuckendes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Spuckendes Gesicht">
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/politics/all-the-best-people-donald-trump-jr/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/... @washingtonpost
From rebellious to reliable: Donald Trump Jr.’s journey back to family royalty

President Trump’s son serves as a model for anti-Trumpers who came back into the fold.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/politics/all-the-best-people-donald-trump-jr/
9/ And another puff piece on the troll hack. I guess Trump’s other campaign manager was ensconced in the pokey. https://twitter.com/wendysiegelman/status/1056873605731176448?s=21">https://twitter.com/wendysieg...
10/ The glory days of Scamalot.
https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2017-04-18/timeline-ivanka-trump-goes-to-washington-and-sales-surge">https://www.usnews.com/news/busi... @usnews
Timeline: Ivanka Trump Goes to Washington, and Sales Surge

A play-by-play account of how Ivanka Trump's political and commercial interests grew as her father rose to the presidency.

https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2017-04-18/timeline-ivanka-trump-goes-to-washington-and-sales-surge
11/ That time Facebook was a seething cesspool of disinformation and democracy was burning and rather than confronting it, we got this sh*te. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/technology/zuckerberg-harvard-commencement-road-trip.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/2...
Mark Zuckerberg’s Great American Road Trip (Published 2017)

The Facebook chief plans to visit every state in the union and learn more about a sliver of the nearly two billion people who use the social network regularly.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/technology/zuckerberg-harvard-commencement-road-trip.html
12/ We had to spelunk 50 paragraphs down in this Erik Prince puff piece to learn he’s under investigation by the SCO. (Lotta zebra lines in the Mueller Report.) https://twitter.com/heidi_cuda/status/1016779606706171904?s=21">https://twitter.com/heidi_cud...
13/ Democracy was burning, as Russia attacked our election, and just hours after the heist, @cnn found time to ponder how Camalot would feel about Scamalot.https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤦🏼‍♀️" title="Frau schlägt sich die Hand vors Gesicht (mittelheller Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Frau schlägt sich die Hand vors Gesicht (mittelheller Hautton)"> https://www.cnn.com/2016/11/10/opinions/what-would-jackie-say-brower/index.html">https://www.cnn.com/2016/11/1...
What would Jackie Kennedy say about Melania Trump?

First ladies do a tough job under intense scrutiny. What would some of America's most celebrated think of Melania Trump? Kate Andersen Brower asks.

https://www.cnn.com/2016/11/10/opinions/what-would-jackie-say-brower/index.html
14/ “Quiet” “steadying” “cool”... the pox of the Kushner puff piece.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/us/politics/jared-kushner-donald-trump.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/2... @nytimes
The In-Law in the Trump Inner Circle: Jared Kushner’s Steadying Hand (Published 2016)

In the chaos that often seems to surround President-elect Trump, his son-in-law injects optimism and reinforces Mr. Trump’s world views and instincts.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/us/politics/jared-kushner-donald-trump.html
15/ The media’s addiction to Steve Bannon remains curious, as he parasitically traverses the world in search of fresh democracies to destroy. But this @60Minutes “exclusive” was an all-time low.
https://youtu.be/pTQezt7PUdE ">https://youtu.be/pTQezt7PU...
16/ In times of corporate infotainment, the puff piece is to be expected. In times of cyberwar—under siege by a foreign military attack—truth fights for daylight and the puff piece allies with the enemy. Each time the media parrots Trump, we lose.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/05/26/us/politics/trump-tweets-democrats.html">https://www.nytimes.com/interacti... @nytimes
The Insults Trump Has Hurled at 2020 Democrats (Published 2019)

President Trump’s habit of hurling insults at rivals is extraordinary for a sitting president. Here’s who Mr. Trump has insulted so far.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/05/26/us/politics/trump-tweets-democrats.html
17/ Can’t emphasis enough how critical investigative reporters at @nytimes and @washingtonpost have been to rooting out the f*ckery of TrumPutin Inc. But with each puff piece, critical work fades into obscurity. You’d think the fourth estate wudda learned.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/1922-new-york-times-hitler/">https://www.snopes.com/fact-chec...
18/ There is nothing cute about a lousy dictator who lies as he breathes. Trump is a veteran con artist, as 1000s of lawsuits evidence and those who enable him should be given the hairy eyeball fitting for sellout pariahs. Instead, we get puff pieces.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/sean-spicer-developing-tv-talk-show-1123249">https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed... @THR
19/ Pruitt puffery still blows hard.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/17/climate/scott-pruitt-political-ambitions.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/1... @nytimes
Scott Pruitt, Trump’s Rule-Cutting E.P.A. Chief, Plots His Political Future (Published 2018)

Mr. Pruitt may be using his position as an environmental deregulation czar to position himself to run for office in Oklahoma — or perhaps the presidency.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/17/climate/scott-pruitt-political-ambitions.html
20/ Why.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/02/us/politics/ivanka-trump.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/0... @nytimes
Ivanka Trump Has the President’s Ear. Here’s Her Agenda. (Published 2017)

The first daughter has the president’s trust and a widening portfolio. So what will she do with it?

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/02/us/politics/ivanka-trump.html
21/ Using dewy words in softball features is perfectly fine when a democracy isn’t at stake. But normalizing a multi-generational crime family linked to global mobsters aided into power by a foreign adversary’s military, just ain’t right. Behold @cnn https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💦" title="Schweißtropfen" aria-label="Emoji: Schweißtropfen"> https://twitter.com/cnn/status/1109558462197968897?s=21">https://twitter.com/cnn/statu...
22/ First time I referenced Trump in ink was in the @latimes in ‘96: I noted he was a has-been. Next time was in a TV news investigation I produced a decade later: he was the bait in a ponzi scheme. Point being, the truth was out there pre-2016. And yet... https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/08/19/donald-trumps-best-speech-of-the-2016-campaign-annotated/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-...
Donald Trump’s best speech of the 2016 campaign, annotated

The text was good, The delivery was good. There was no controversy.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/08/19/donald-trumps-best-speech-of-the-2016-campaign-annotated/
23/ Some say puff pieces on Scamalot continue cuz MSM fears losing access. Let’s ponder that: Trump’s never met a camera he doesn’t like (except Special Counsel’s) and he even pretended to be his own flack. Without 24/7 media coverage, his propaganda dies. https://twitter.com/heidi_cuda/status/1079597855633887232?s=21">https://twitter.com/heidi_cud...
24/ Each time another puff piece surfaces in a mainstream publication during a cyberwar, truth gets closer to its last gasp.

And yet, the truth is out there. https://maewestside.tumblr.com/post/167438680076/the-shelf-life-of-anchorhack-a-deeper-look-at">https://maewestside.tumblr.com/post/1674...
THE SHELF-LIFE OF ANCHORHACK$: A Deeper Look at the Resumes of Scamalot... by heidi siegmund cuda,...

In trying to ascertain why gungy grifter$ cling so close to the Real Fake President that it’s unseamly and unmanly, I finally zeroed in on the malignant trumpery afoot: many of the Diarrhea Tweeta’...

https://maewestside.tumblr.com/post/167438680076/the-shelf-life-of-anchorhack-a-deeper-look-at
25/ Giving ink to a chronic liar reviving old lies long since debunked in the Mueller Report actually contributes to the problem. Regurgitating lies spreads the mind virus. This piece is not puffery, but “Trump Desperately Clutches Straws” a better hedder.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-uses-discredited-conflict-of-interest-charges-to-attack-mueller/2019/05/30/2f7c7908-82f6-11e9-95a9-e2c830afe24f_story.html">https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/...
26/ @thehill headlines and clips regularly fan the mind virus. Here’s an example of the sound bite as puff piece: https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1134162558611410944?s=21">https://twitter.com/thehill/s...
27/ “Finding euphemisms”https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤦🏼‍♀️" title="Frau schlägt sich die Hand vors Gesicht (mittelheller Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Frau schlägt sich die Hand vors Gesicht (mittelheller Hautton)">... covering the propaganda orgies of a veteran con man who is clearly an illegitimate president* continues to be a conundrum for MSM. Well, consider this: propaganda dies in darkness.
https://www.vox.com/2019/4/29/18522340/trump-green-bay-rally-media-coverage-revived-an-inaccurate-refrain">https://www.vox.com/2019/4/29... @voxdotcom
Coverage of Trump’s latest rally shows how major media outlets normalize his worst excesses

Lying is still being recast as "reviv[ing] an inaccurate refrain."

https://www.votwitter.com/2019/4/29/18522340/trump-green-bay-rally-media-coverage-revived-an-inaccurate-refrain
28/ The normalizing puff piece has been standard vichy fair for MSM. Post-Mueller Report, when it’s clear we are in a constitutional crisis and under foreign attack, while also dealing with a compromised party, @CNN baking a Melania puff piece is madness. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/06/02/politics/melania-trump-queen-elizabeth-uk-visit/index.html">https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/...
For Melania Trump, protocol is paramount for visit with Queen Elizabeth II

Whether you're a common citizen or the President or first lady of the United States, an audience with the Queen of England is a big deal. But when you're as glamorous and mysterious as the current US...

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/06/02/politics/melania-trump-queen-elizabeth-uk-visit/index.html
29/ An indelicate, nostalgic look back to a time when the media had balls. https://maewestside.tumblr.com/post/150888812156/hooker-dumped-at-seashore-and-other-lessons">https://maewestside.tumblr.com/post/1508...
“HOOKER DUMPED AT SEASHORE,” and Other Lessons from the Fourth Estate, by heidi siegmund cuda, aka...

My first week as a cub reporter for the Pulitzer Prize-winning weekly, the Point Reyes Light, and a corpse shows up. Having devoured the Nancy Drew catalog as a young Catholic-school bookworm, I...

https://maewestside.tumblr.com/post/150888812156/hooker-dumped-at-seashore-and-other-lessons
30/ Lest we forget: the media’s normalization of a veteran con man in the run up to the 2016 election could not have happened without misogyny. We’ve come along way baby, but we barely have our sea legs. https://maewestside.tumblr.com/post/150744290461/the-marie-dressler-suffragette-society-or-how">https://maewestside.tumblr.com/post/1507...
THE MARIE DRESSLER SUFFRAGETTE SOCIETY: Or How It’s Okay to Love Women... by heidi siegmund cuda,...

I’m surrounded by cosmic angels. I don’t know if they’re real, but they’re everywhere. I tell myself it’s because I read the bios of the artists who inspire me, so their words dance about in my...

https://maewestside.tumblr.com/post/150744290461/the-marie-dressler-suffragette-society-or-how
31/ WHAT AILES AMERICA—“Fair and balanced” became code for putting liars on TV and calling it “news.” I was schooled by newsmen who taught me reporters must be biased and that bias is TRUTH—it’s our job to inform the facts. As @alaindebotton taught me... https://twitter.com/heidi_cuda/status/870747393611882496?s=21">https://twitter.com/heidi_cud...
32/ @CNN is going all in on its schizo vichy kollaborator normalization which negatively impacts real work by staffers. https://twitter.com/katebennett_dc/status/1138104055203581952?s=21">https://twitter.com/katebenne...
33/ CODA: And the kollaborator journos play on, the headlines more weaponized and sinister by the day, as the mind virus spreads.
https://twitter.com/newsweek/status/1146103758750912512?s=21">https://twitter.com/newsweek/... @Newsweek
34/ Moscow the Hudson. https://twitter.com/heidi_cuda/status/1202274720600608768">https://twitter.com/heidi_cud...
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