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So I'm 10 minutes into this NYT/Serial podcast about Bladen County ballot fraud & already filled with rage.
Yet another NYT rural reporting effort where they take everything local power brokers say at face value & can't possibly be getting played bc they're too smart for that.
Yet another NYT rural reporting effort where they take everything local power brokers say at face value & can't possibly be getting played bc they're too smart for that.
Enormous "look at these poor dumb hicks dance" poverty porn energy
meanwhile the poor dumb hicks are in fact savvy operators who are taking the podcast team for a massive ride.
I worked this election & this is not what happened.
meanwhile the poor dumb hicks are in fact savvy operators who are taking the podcast team for a massive ride.
I worked this election & this is not what happened.
Should I do a podcast about ballot fraud in Bladen County that doesn't suck patronizing ass
There's literally a courtroom scene where a very incriminated white woman high up in the GOP ballot op starts crying & out of nowhere points to the only Black man in the room, a Dam organizer, as "the real guy behind ballot fraud"
and the podcast,, appears to fall for it
ayfkm
and the podcast,, appears to fall for it
ayfkm
To be continued. There's an enormous amount of context that needs to be added to the Bladen election fraud story.
-Unionization at the pork plant that dominates Bladen's economy
-A frack gas pipeline
-Intentional spills at a local chemical plant
-and more
-Unionization at the pork plant that dominates Bladen's economy
-A frack gas pipeline
-Intentional spills at a local chemical plant
-and more
There's a reason the GOP acts like it has a lot riding on Bladen & neighboring counties!
Bladen is NOT just a random lil nowhere place. This region of NC is a political & economic volcano that'll set precedent for US developments for generations. Sounds dramatic but it's true.
Bladen is NOT just a random lil nowhere place. This region of NC is a political & economic volcano that'll set precedent for US developments for generations. Sounds dramatic but it's true.
You can't tell the story of GOP ballot fraud w/o that context. But people keep trying, bc "haha rural areas and their petty drama" storytelling is just so easy.
But this place is an important sandbox for GOP socioeconomic terraforming. And Serial sold that short.
But this place is an important sandbox for GOP socioeconomic terraforming. And Serial sold that short.
They're not alone. I've been trying to get reporters onto the full Bladen story for years, & nobody wants to pick it up bc dealing with that many issues is just a lot of work.
tl;dr let me take a bit to check in with investigative reporting colleagues and see what it'll take to get this done right.
We need to get reporting on Bladen County right, because it's not an isolated rural freak show. It's the future.
