Stop the Presses: Media Misses

10 ways for political media to fix their failures

Mark Jacob — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 18:50:58 GMT

In a special pre-Election Day edition of Media Misses, Steven Beschloss and I suggest 10 ways for journalists to repair their failures in political coverage:

1. Stop platforming proven liars.

2. Don’t be a stenographer.

3. Stop obsessing about polls.

4. Describe the stakes of things.

5. Stop being distracted by trivia.

6. Speak truth to power.

7. Do instant fact-checks using video.

8. Don’t assume impartiality is the highest value.

9. Write clear, direct headlines — stop vague-posting

10. In a democracy, the press has a responsibility to sustain it.

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No, Trump is not normal. Stop pretending he is.

Mark Jacob — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 15:03:57 GMT

A Politico headline reads: “Trump strikes somber tone while touring storm-ravaged North Carolina.” Somber? He lied about FEMA at the Carolina event, and it came just days after he performed a stunt pretending to work at McDonald’s and gave a speech talking about Arnold Palmer’s genitalia.

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Are mainstream media afraid of a vindictive Trump?

Mark Jacob — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 22:02:11 GMT

The New York Times finally wrote a hard-nosed story about the aged Trump’s incoherent rhetoric. But few outlets are joining in. Also, NBC Universal is holding a potentially damaging documentary on Trump’s family separation policy until after the election. What’s going on here? Are the media “complying in advance” in case Trump wins?

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Elon Musk is an information polluter

Mark Jacob — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 17:50:53 GMT

Elon Musk says ABC “lost a lot of credibility” in the Trump-Harris debate, but Musk loses credibility whenever he posts on his site. He’s a danger to our society.

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The media’s fetishizing of the ‘undecided’

Mark Jacob — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 16:17:11 GMT

The New York Times says undecided voters want more “fine print” details. Really? They’re so lightly engaged that they haven’t made up their minds yet, but they want to dive into the intricacies of tax policy? Unlikely.

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Trump tramples on soldiers’ graves – and the truth

Mark Jacob — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 20:16:09 GMT

A Washington Post headline – “With boost from grieving families, Trump sharpens attacks on Harris” – was a bad sign that the media was willing to let Donald Trump cover up for his illegal photo op at Arlington National Cemetery. The media need to keep investigating what happened there.

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Earth to media: Trump’s a pathological liar

Mark Jacob — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 16:34:01 GMT

Why would the New York Times ignore the past and take Trump seriously about keeping Obamacare? Why write a headline like “Harris Says Trump Will Repeal Obamacare. Trump Now Claims He’ll Make It ‘Better’”?

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Don't believe the hype that Harris-Walz is "far left"

Mark Jacob — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 17:43:38 GMT

Today’s Media Misses video looks at how Fox News and Donald Trump dishonestly accuse Kamala Harris and Tim Walz of a “far-left agenda.” In fact, their positions on issues like abortion rights and gun background checks are extremely popular with the public.

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Remember "Hang Mike Pence"? Coverage of Trump VP pick barely does

Mark Jacob — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 19:45:22 GMT

In today’s short Media Misses video, we discuss a Washington Post story about Trump’s vice-presidential shortlist. Like a lot of other political stories these days, it focuses on the horse race while brushing past the frightening crisis we face.

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The New York Times should take aim at the real problem: Trump

Mark Jacob — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 16:24:29 GMT

In today’s short Media Misses video, we discuss the New York Times calling on Joe Biden to drop out after his awful debate performance but failing to demand the same for Donald Trump.

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Why are so many Americans misinformed about the economy?

Mark Jacob — Thu, 30 May 2024 16:30:34 GMT

Today’s Media Misses looks at a Harris-Guardian poll showing that Americans are dramatically misinformed about the economy. They think it’s ailing when it’s actually healthy. Is it the media’s fault? The Washington Post’s Catherine Rampell (gift link) concedes that news outlets go negative because the public clicks on negative stories. In an election year, this is a problem. Is it death for democracy by 1,000 clicks?

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Normalizing a Trump rally is media malpractice

Mark Jacob — Wed, 15 May 2024 15:58:21 GMT

Today’s installment of our short video series Media Misses looks at how the Associated Press failed to mention the most offensive aspects of Donald Trump’s rally last weekend in Wildwood, N.J. AP also bought into a clearly bogus crowd estimate.

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Democracy isn't the top priority at the New York Times

Mark Jacob — Wed, 08 May 2024 19:14:10 GMT

Today’s installment of our 5-minute video series “Media Misses” looks at New York Times Executive Editor Joe Kahn’s interview in which he says the preservation of democracy is not the biggest issue to the Times. He makes the questionable statement that immigration is more important, apparently based on polls.

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Media Misses: It’s a travesty how criminal defendant Trump pushes “law and order”

Mark Jacob — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 16:58:30 GMT

Today’s Media Misses video looks at a New York Times story about how Donald Trump – facing 88 felony counts – pushes a law-and-order message. But it’s not ironic. It’s just dishonest.

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Media Misses: The Washington Post’s guessing game on voter suppression

Mark Jacob — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 14:27:18 GMT

Today’s installment of our 5-minute video series “Media Misses” looks at a Washington Post story that says some states have made voting harder while others made it easier. The headline fails to note that it’s Republicans who made it harder.

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Media Misses: Stop the Fuzzy Framing. State the Facts!

Mark Jacob — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 14:51:23 GMT

Today’s installment of our short video series “Media Misses” looks at major media getting squishy on the facts. North Carolina Republican candidate Mark Robinson has unquestionably made antisemitic comments, but the New York Times says they were “widely seen” as antisemitic. So it’s just an opinion? Also, the Washington Post’s headline on Paul Manafort said he was “criticized for Russian ties” when it should have directly said he had Russian ties. It’s not partisan sniping – it’s a fact.

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Media Misses: Why is 68% better than 81%?

Mark Jacob — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 19:01:25 GMT

Today’s installment of our short video series “Media Misses” looks at how the New York Times and other news outlets thought Joe Biden getting 81% in the Michigan primary was bad for him but Trump getting 68% was better.

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Media Misses: The Hill’s softball story on Jared Kushner

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 21:45:55 GMT

Today’s installment of the short video series “Media Misses” by Steven Beschloss and me looks at a story by The Hill about Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner saying he won’t rejoin the administration if Trump wins. In a mind-blowing omission, the story doesn’t mention that Kushner got a $2 billion investment from the Saudis after his friendly treatment of the Saudi dictators when he was in the White House.

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Media Misses: Politico minimizes the danger of dictatorship

Mark Jacob — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 17:36:44 GMT

Today’s installment of our short video series “Media Misses” looks at a Politico opinion piece in which Turkish journalist Asli Aydintasbas assures us that Trump couldn’t become a dictator in just four years. Excuse us for not being assured, and for thinking it’s a mistake to downplay the threat.

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Media Misses: CNN’s “Nobody wants Biden” nonsense

Mark Jacob — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 16:49:03 GMT

Here’s a new installment of the short video series “Media Misses” that I’m doing with Steven Beschloss. Today we’re talking about CNN’s oversimplification that the race is about two unpopular old guys. Look deeper, CNN.

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Beschloss is the author of the outstanding “America, America” newsletter. Consider subscribing. Also, subscribe to my free “Stop the Presses” newsletter if you haven’t already.