The National Enquirer made sure that cheato won the

[senseandsensibility]

the Republican primaries. They cleared the way by lying about Cruz and Ben Carson. Just flat out lies based on checkbook journalism (bribes) and buying people off. The stories were so ridiculous that even at the time this whole scam should have been exposed clearly for what it was by mainstream news outlets. I'm not saying it was ignored, but it should have been the lead story for many weeks.

Because this conspiracy was successful and cheato won the primary, he felt free to use it against Hillary in the general election with ridiculous untrue stories about her "dying" and being a "traitor", etc. Again the corporate media paid scant attention.

I am glad that this trial is exposing all of this in more detail and more prominently. It really is a major scandal and a major dereliction of duty by the corporate media.

[hlthe2b]

1. Imagine how HRC feels about this...

As difficult as it might be (and unlikely she'd have a desire to do so), I have to wonder about pursuing civil liability against them.

[senseandsensibility]

3. I agree that she has grounds to sue

and sometimes I really question the way our side always has to take the high road even in the face of blatant lies.

[Johnny2X2X]

2. It was a rigged election alright

Rigged for Trump by he and the media. And the National Enquirer is still the media, at the time they were more influential than most big newspapers.

[senseandsensibility]

5. Those covers of the NE were available in every grocery store

and were very effective propaganda for uninformed gullible voters in red states especially. They didn't even have to buy the magazine to be influenced.

[Johnny2X2X]

9. And they've nailed enough of their stories that they built up some credibility

It's not like they're the Weekly World News with another story about a Bat Boy.

[senseandsensibility]

12. Yes, I vaguely remember some quoting some "scoops" they had

that turned out to be true. I forget the details.

[Johnny2X2X]

17. It was more than a few

They broke Steve Jobs being sick with Cancer. They were the first to report on several scandals stories with the Brittish Royal family. They were the first with the John Edwards love child story that turned out to be true. They broke the Gary Hart story. They were the first to report Rush Limbaugh was addicted to pain pills.

People listen to them and they actually drive the narrative occasionally. With Hillary being "close to death", that's a story that got picked up in one form or another nationwide. Her health concerns were everywhere for months.

[senseandsensibility]

19. Yes, except that one wasn't true

Ridiculous stories about her being close to death.

[DemocraticPatriot]

27. Actually it was the Miami Herald who broke the Gary Hart-Donna Rice affair story...

Just over two weeks later, the National Enquirer published a photo of Rice sitting on Hart’s lap.


https://time.com/5444465/gary-hart-donna-rice/

[LiberalFighter]

21. According to a former National Enquirer employee

NE had control of how their magazines were displayed in the racks.

[AllaN01Bear]

25. when i am in grocery check out , i turn them inward. been doing this for a long time

[COL Mustard]

26. I don't touch them.

Too hard to get that stink off my hands and people think I pooped myself.

[blm]

15. More so, as they were in every grocery checkout line.

[intrepidity]

4. It really raises questions, doesn't it?

What's the difference between foreign actors spreading mis- and disinformation, and American actors doing the same? Is this truly what the 1st amendment was meant to protect? What is the remedy? Because it is just getting worse. Used to be, people could discern truth from bull, mostly, usually (or have I got my rose colored glasses on?). Sigh. Maybe it has always been this way, but there was more decency in society. I just don't know anymore.

[leftieNanner]

8. There has always been BS out there

But, back in the day, we all got the News from Walter Cronkite and Huntley Brinkley.

Fox and Limbaugh changed all that.

[senseandsensibility]

10. I've thought for a long time that the death of common sense,

especially among low information voters, is a serious problem. When you have neither "book learning" nor common sense, you are ripe for exploitation. A few years ago, many low info voters had what I would call a BS meter. Seems to be completely missing now.

[stopdiggin]

6. and the headline would have read, "Tabloids print gossip and lies !!"

"Enquirer story not true !"
Yeah .. I can see that ..

[senseandsensibility]

30. I really think that if the NE was publishing such ridiculous

and patently untrue stories about trump, the media would have defended him, done some digging, and found out who was behind it. That should have happened in this case. They have always bent over backward to be fair to him, and been more than willing to trash Hillary.

[leftieNanner]

7. I think most people consider the National Enquirer

To be stupid garbage. Including the MSM. That's excepting Men In Black, of course. So they chose to ignore it.

Unfortunately, the awful headlines and photos on the front must have reached some weaker minds in the checkout line.

[Sky Jewels]

13. The Maga types are the National Enquirer's target demo.

Low information, low education, religious, Fox News believers, hate radio listeners, susceptible to propaganda, white, racist, anti-intellectual.

[mopinko]

11. and the mainstream media sucked up the lies.

fox, et al, reported the stories. better outlets reported them w a lame debunking.

[Irish_Dem]

14. how many media outlets did Trump and the GOP pay off?

Certainly not just the National Enquirer.

[senseandsensibility]

16. Valid question

I don't know, but I do think that one way or another cheato and his team have sway over the corporate media's owners in the form of tax cuts if nothing else.

[Irish_Dem]

18. Yes is likely there is some sort of quid pro quo.

We know the news outlets are biased in favor of Trump and the GOP.

[Warpy]

20. I think that's an overstatement. Having hawned at the Access Hollywood tape,

the holier than thou crowd wouldn't have turned a hair at learning he was fucking a porn star while his wife was recovering from childbirth. In fact, it might have increased his status in the eyes of the pious, who have always viewed morality situationally.

It would not have cost him anything but a nanosecond's worth of dip in a few fringe polls.

He should have either let the gutter press do its thing or paid the hush money out of petty cash.

Remember, the defining characteristic of the MAGA fundagelical crowd is rabid patriarchy. Democrats get upset over the mistreatment of women. His fan club glories in the mistreatment of women.

[orwell]

22. The MSM doesn't care...

...about reporting.

It is all branding, clicks throughs, and ad revenue. They don't care about accurate reporting because they get more engagement from breathless outrage and "breaking news."

And it works. And we are all paying for it with a world in perpetual turmoil and a collapsing biosphere.

With the greatest instant access to the planet's accumulated knowledge we have somehow turned out to be woefully misinformed.

And that is not an accident...

[dalton99a]

23. And for the general election - what shoppers saw week after week:

[senseandsensibility]

24. Those are just so over the top and insane

Yet I'll bet a good portion of the magats believed them completely.

[Takket]

28. an american tragedy that there are people dumb enough to be influenced by that rag

[DemocraticPatriot]

29. Wow... didn't realize there was so much of that crap going out....

I've been using the self-checkout at the grocery for 15 years, and the tabloids are only at the register lines.... so I missed seeing most of it.