News organizations are using cowardly words to describe killing abroad, fascism at home — downplaying the danger to democracy.

There was a shocking and incredibly important story on the front page of the New York Times last week. As reported by an A-team of journalists including two Pulitzer Prize winners, the Times warned its readers that Donald Trump — if returned to the White House in 2025 — is grooming a new team of extremist government lawyers who would be more loyal to their Dear Leader than to the rule of law, and could help Trump install a brand of American fascism.

You say you didn’t hear anything about this? That’s not surprising. The editors at the Times made sure to present this major report in the blandest, most inoffensive way possible — staying true to the mantra in the nation’s most influential newsroom that the 2024 election shouldn’t be covered any differently, even when U.S. democracy is on the line.

  • downpunxx@kbin.social
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    9 months ago

    9 years after 2016, and Trump coming down that fake golden escalator: ya think?

    During 2016 election The New York Times published thousands of stories about Clinton email/Benghazi, not one on Trumps lifelong ties to NY/Russian mob. As if The New York Times wasn’t in a particularly knowledgeable position to report on 70 years of NYC construction & mob history

  • ArugulaZ@kbin.social
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    9 months ago

    Anyone else ever think of pulling the plug on election day? It’s just too much, man. I suffered through one term of Trump; I can’t do it again.

  • andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works
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    9 months ago

    In russian infosphere it’s a meme already, has been for a long time. Kremlinslurping media don’t even downplay the brutality of things, they invent newspeak to avoid upsetting words.

    If some psycho got gas flowing in a communal house and then ignited it to blow the whole building, it’s not a blow, it’s a clap. A clap, a flap, or whatever.

  • stella@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    News has been neutered.

    They’re too concerned with stepping on people’s toes to show people what matters.

    I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen articles reporting on footage without showing the actual footage.

    Most annoying thing: talking heads talking about a video instead of actually showing it.

    They waste so much money on these roles that do nothing to help the audience.

    • KnowledgeableNip@leminal.space
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      9 months ago

      I like when they talk about what people tweet, rather than doing any actual investigative journalism. “Well Cumnugget78 said XYZ, so we’ll discuss like that’s true.”

    • Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works
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      9 months ago

      Most of them are owned by the very same companies they would speak out against. It’s a propaganda machine at best Ryight now.

  • disheveledWallaby@lemmy.ml
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    9 months ago

    We have to stop thinking about news media as being the fourth estate and realize that it is a business. Their business is reliant on the status quo, in not rocking the boat. With advertisers like weapon manufacturers: Raytheon, Northrop Grumman: oil companies Exxon, etc and big pharma. They have a clear profit motive to not do journalism and to run whitewashing propaganda campaigns as their business model.

    Some news orgs lie outright and others through omission. Either way they have a clear bias and an interest in guiding a narrative.

    Its not about being cowardly or timid. Its about profit.