Eric Boehlert: Worse than Trump -- press gets called out for rigged Biden coverage

[babylonsister]

https://pressrun.media/p/worse-than-trump-press-gets-called

Worse than Trump — press gets called out for rigged Biden coverage
One's an authoritarian
Eric Boehlert
1 hr ago

snip//

Too many news organizations view themselves primarily as witnesses in the unfolding drama today, paid to document the beating that democracy is taking at the hands of extremist Republicans. Journalists don’t see themselves as having a vested interest in America maintaining a functioning democracy.

It all goes back the cherished, safe model the D.C. press has used for at least 50 years in terms of covering politics in this country: Left-leaning Democrats square off against right-leaning Republicans, and all the key players fall within the broad definition of mainstream politics, and they’re all generally honest, decent people.

That blueprint no longer works because the Republican Party, including key leaders, have sprinted away from any traditional sense of fact or honor-based politics and now lie about everything. They lie about the economy, about Covid, about Trump, about the insurrection, about elections, about education, about 9/11. One side has become deeply radicalized while the other side is trying to save America from losing touch with the democratic foundations that have guided this country for more than 250 years.

Noted Dan Kennedy at Media Nation, “The media cling to both-sides-ism despite four years of a raging sociopath in the White House, an attempted insurrection by his supporters, and dangerous denialism about COVID-19.”

Yet Biden gets worse coverage than Trump.

[Bettie]

1. I wonder if being called out like this

will cause them to change their behavior or double down on it.

Could go either way.

[uponit7771]

3. Working the refs work, dems will have to consummately call their attention to bias because FAUX

... news sets the "opposition" agenda.

[babylonsister]

7. They're not taking it well, but at least they're

being called out! I do appreciate Boehlert covering this relentlessly; glad others are catching up.

Milbank’s damning column didn’t go over well among defensive Beltway journalists, especially those at Politico, which Milbank singled out as being a relentlessly negative Biden outpost.

“No respectable model of salvaging democratic norms would include badgering journalists to write only positive stories about the most powerful person in the world,” tweeted Ryan Lizza in response to Milbank. Of course, nobody’s suggesting Biden only receive positive coverage. They are suggesting a traditional, center-left president should get better coverage than the madman who preceded him.

When other journalists responded to Milbank’s piece by saying, ‘Yeah, but Dems were in disarray over the infrastructure bill, we covered it, and that’s why Biden got bad press,’ it completely misses the larger, more pressing point — Democrats struggling to pass a spending bill is not the same as Republicans trying to destroy free and fair elections in this country.

[uponit7771]

2. Most journalist are not threatened by MAGAs, think they'll still exist in kind once MAGA takes over

[dem4decades]

4. They'll still exist, but they'll be doing pro Trump stories or be fired or sued.

[uponit7771]

5. +1

[gab13by13]

9. fired or sued or worse.

If Trump were to win, gawd forbid, I can envision a Pinocet style takeover.

[spanone]

6. ...K&R...

[gab13by13]

8. The MSM is owned and managed by the right.

The beloved MSNBC is owned by COMCAST which is owned by Vanguard and BlackRock. Wall Street and Big Pharma. Never got an explanation why Keith Olbermann, Martin Brashear, Melissa Harris Perry, Ed Schultz, Dylan Ratigan all got fired and it wasn't because of poor ratings.

I also have a sense, and I admit it may be misguided, that someone had a talk with Rachel. I hope I'm wrong. I am going to be down to only watching Nicolle who speaks fearlessly and has on great guests, and Chris Hayes. Will MSNBC even cover the National Guard whistleblower story today? More and more experts who I watch on Nicolle are taking shots at our DOJ, that is worrisome. Even moderate Clare McCaskill is on the band wagon.

If the GQP takes over government there will be no anti-fascist media, they will come after sites like DU, better have contingency plans guys.