1/ Why the mainstream media is absolute shit, A thread:
2/ The MSM, while constantly criticized by trump for being biased against him, has been doing the most to legitimize this president, put their thumb on the scales of our elections, failed to call out fascism, & ignored scandals that would have sunk any other president.
3/ Why do you think this is? As always, follow the money.
NBC Universal is owned by Comcast. Comcast is a MAJOR lobbyist in Washington.
NBC Universal is owned by Comcast. Comcast is a MAJOR lobbyist in Washington.
4/ This year alone, Comcast has spent $7.46 mil, but has spent close to $15mil per year, around all sorts of issues including anti net-neutrality and anti municipal broadband. They are a monopoly and they want to keep it that way.
5/ In fact, they said disclosure of all the money they spend on lobbying would be âtoo hardâ because they do so much of it. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/05/comcast-does-so-much-lobbying-that-it-says-disclosing-it-all-is-too-hard/
They">https://arstechnica.com/tech-poli... have contributed $42,662,843 according to the FEC over the last 27 years to various filers.
They">https://arstechnica.com/tech-poli... have contributed $42,662,843 according to the FEC over the last 27 years to various filers.
6/ Their largest contribution to any committee is 1.4 million to the Florida Republican Party https://www.followthemoney.org/entity-details?eid=644
They">https://www.followthemoney.org/entity-de... also contribute most often to incumbents. Wonder why nothing ever changes?
They">https://www.followthemoney.org/entity-de... also contribute most often to incumbents. Wonder why nothing ever changes?
7/ So letâs get on to how they have put their thumb on the scales in our election. Comcast has a big old conflict of interest. Well, several.
8/ But according to FEC filings âComcastâs top lobbyist, David Cohen, co-hosted Bidenâs kick-off fundraiser in April and he is listed as a bundler for the campaign, meaning that he has collected at least $25,000 in contributions from others for Biden.â
9/ In fact, the entire exec board maxed out their donations to him.
10/ Wonder why the narrative all but erased Warren after Iowa? Wonder why South Carolina, a state that we never win in the general, determined the entire election to the media? https://readsludge.com/2020/01/29/msnbcs-owners-shower-biden-with-campaign-cash/">https://readsludge.com/2020/01/2...
11/ It is literally in their best interests to influence elections so that candidates who want to end money in politics, or propose a wealth tax, do not win. The media has treated elections like coronations for a good long time.
12/ Trump got a ridiculous amount of earned media in 2016 while Sandersâ 30k person rallies were barely covered. https://nyti.ms/3dCNwtx ">https://nyti.ms/3dCNwtx&q...
13/ The same thing happened in 2020 with the total erasure of Warren while she was competitive, and the elevation of Klobuchar. https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/klobuchar_warren_new_hampshire.php">https://www.cjr.org/the_media...
14/ Hereâs another article about her erasure in the primary:
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/elizabeth-warren-iowa-caucus/
Interestingly,">https://www.thenation.com/article/p... the same thing happened with the VP selection process.
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/elizabeth-warren-iowa-caucus/
Interestingly,">https://www.thenation.com/article/p... the same thing happened with the VP selection process.
15/ While hit jobs were put out on every single potential VP choice aside from Warren and Harris, the CEO of NBC Universal just happened to have been a Harris surrogate https://variety.com/2019/politics/news/jeff-shell-kamala-harris-2020-campaign-fundraiser-1203124080/">https://variety.com/2019/poli...
16/ MSNBC had every anchor stating that it must be a woman of color (which is absolutely fine), however, the only WOC seriously floated was Harris. The rest had oppo dumps put out on them. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/28/biden-vice-president-2020-elections-212555">https://www.politico.com/news/2020...
17/ Warren was the preference by double digits in every poll for VP for months, yet she was not even mentioned as being in contention on the channel. https://morningconsult.com/2020/05/27/biden-warren-vice-president-poll/
In">https://morningconsult.com/2020/05/2... fact, no progressives aside from Warren were in the running.
In">https://morningconsult.com/2020/05/2... fact, no progressives aside from Warren were in the running.
18/ So while MSNBC was saying it must be a woman of color, they were still regularly talking about Whitmer and Klobuchar as legitimate contenders.
19/ It gets worse, Jeff Shell has recently floated putting right-wing programming on MSNBC during prime time. Have you noticed how the Lincoln Project is on all the time, but you barely ever see progressives on the channel https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/352020/nbcu-said-to-be-mulling-right-wing-programming-for.html">https://www.mediapost.com/publicati...
20/ This is why you never hear anything but Republican framing around extremely popular ideas, like medicare for all, a wealth tax, $15/hr minimum wage, and the like.
21/ These issues all poll well with voters, but they get framed with scare quotes because they threaten the supremacy of rich, white, male executives at NBC Universal. https://fortune.com/2019/08/01/democratic-debate-republican-talking-points/">https://fortune.com/2019/08/0...
22/ Iâm sure you now understand why NBC chose to air trumpâs town hall at the same time as Bidenâs. They donate to both Ds and Rs, but they really are just looking out for their own corporate interests ahead of it all.
23/ In fact, there was a whole book written about it: https://www.amazon.com/Medium-Blue-Politics-Michael-Arria/dp/0989763730">https://www.amazon.com/Medium-Bl...
24/ CNN, well, theyâre just as bad. Jeff Zucker, the President of CNN worldwide is also the person who made trump âhappenâ with The Apprentice. Does he regret it? Does a rich white man ever regret literally anything? https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/jeff-zuckers-singular-role-in-promoting-donald-trumps-rise/2016/10/02/7c3d4366-865b-11e6-a3ef-f35afb41797f_story.html">https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle...
25/ I donât think I have to even go further down that rabbithole with CNN, because you get the idea. Now what about our legacy media? Washington Post & NYT?
26/ Iâm willing to bet you bashed your head against a keyboard as they both sidesed this fascist sham presidency or when NYT greenlighted Tom Cottonâs âSend in the Troopsâ op-ed...
27/ or wondered why for the love of God Breunig and Rubin continue to be employed by them, and why they keep publishing garbage from Bari Weiss and Bret Stephens, two rich WSJ assholes. https://www.thenation.com/article/society/tom-cotton-new-york-times/
Well">https://www.thenation.com/article/s... this isnât new. At all.
Well">https://www.thenation.com/article/s... this isnât new. At all.
28/ TIME magazine named Adolf Hitler âMan of the Yearâ in 1938 http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760539,00.html">https://content.time.com/time/maga... and Stalin a year after. Yes, really.
29/ The New York Times, in fact, buried the lede on what was happening to Jews during the Holocaust in the back pages of the magazine, mainly due to a prevailing anti-jewish sentiment by the publisher of the Times, Arthur Sulzberger https://www.amazon.com/Buried-Times-Holocaust-Important-Newspaper/dp/0521607825">https://www.amazon.com/Buried-Ti...
30/ The Washington Post, currently owned by Jeff Bezos, isnât any better. Since Bezos bought the paper in 2013 it has refused to cover certain subjects, and in the 2019 / 2020 primary season, it showed its bias towards progressive candidates: https://fair.org/topic/jeff-bezos/">https://fair.org/topic/jef...
31/ They& #39;ve also been downplayed what is happening to our country: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/09/01/no-america-is-not-succumbing-fascism/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2...
32/ Donât forget the media back in the thirties fawning over Nazi sympathizer Charles Lindberg: https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/03/early-warnings-how-american-journalists-reported-the-rise-of-hitler/254146/">https://www.theatlantic.com/national/...
33/ The media, it seems, has not learned its lesson. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/11/charles-lindbergh-is-a-cautionary-tale-for-republicans.html">https://nymag.com/intellige...
34/ As Aaron Miguel CantĂș puts it âWe need a far more profound conception of white supremacy and how the mainstream press has always been complicit in its maintenance.â https://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-whitest-news-you-know-cantu">https://thebaffler.com/salvos/th...
35/ Understand that they will never change. We need a new media. One that isnât run by rich white executives that will do anything for their bottom line, including swinging elections and normalizing fascism. Nothing changes, nothing changes.
36/ Cut the cord. Subscribe to independent journalism. Support podcasts and media that tells the truth. And for the love of god cancel that New York Times subscription. /end