When gas prices shot up, the narrative shifted dramatically. Inflation became the central trope of midterm coverage. This is so much more important than gas prices.
RECENTLY
At the New York Times, the ‘Democracy Team’ is outnumbered and outgunned
Activating a “Democracy Team” -- like the Times did -- doesn’t do much good if the rest of the newsroom is on Team Impunity.
Donald Trump wasn’t detached from reality. He was opposed to reality.
At this point, it’s doing Trump a huge favor to suggest that he didn’t know what was real. But that’s exactly what the New York Times and others are telling us.
The January 6 committee is wrong about one thing
The committee is hoarding information that it should be making public, starting now.
At January 6 hearings, revelation plus context equals bombshell
Reporters and editors covering the Jan. 6 committee hearings should think through, ahead of time, what revelations would qualify as bombshells -- so they can put them in context on deadline.
The January 6 committee is doing what the political media failed to do
I fear that our top newsroom leaders and political reporters will respond defensively and contemptuously, using partisan framing, both-sidesism, bad sports analogies, and theater-criticism analysis to marginalize and mock a sincere and desperately needed exercise in truth-telling.
Why isn’t the media taking the threat of nuclear war more seriously?
It seems to me that we ought to be talking about the threat of nuclear escalation in Ukraine -- and making absolutely sure that U.S. policy won't make things worse.
MISSION STATEMENT
Press Watch mission statement: Political journalism needs a reset
No one can possibly argue that modern political journalism has fulfilled its essential mission of creating an informed electorate. Here's how it needs to change.
FOX IS NOT NEWS
Opening the next front in the battle against Fox News
If you get cable, you're paying $2 a month for Fox News whether you like it or not. Which cable company will be the first to change that?
Fox News is all Fox and no news
Fox viewers aren’t just manipulated and misinformed — they are literally being made ignorant by their consumption habits. Watching Fox, they don’t learn about what’s really happening. It’s instead of news.
THE BIDEN PRESIDENCY
EXPLAINERS
False equivalence fuels political journalism’s race to the bottom
The political press corps in Washington cannot abide asymmetry. But when one party starts to espouse extremist views that are based neither in reality nor in the core values of an increasingly diverse United States, staying impartial – typically a journalistic virtue – results in a journalistic failure:
Too many political journalists are too damned timid
Great political journalism requires the courage to state the obvious. Sadly, our access-dependent, approval-seeking, risk-averse, group-thinking elite Washington press corps often doesn’t have the guts. You don't get to the top of the political-journalism universe by offending important sources and making your bosses nervous.
REWRITE DESK
A “challenge” to Biden’s battle against racism? Let me rewrite that for you.
I would have written that the Buffalo massacre was a gruesome reminder of the importance of Biden’s desire to “restore the soul of America”.
‘Conservatives’ say teachers are ‘grooming’ kids? Let me rewrite that for you.
Instead of clearly debunking and critiquing this insane, divisive filth, the Washington Post does stenography and withholds judgment.
Still just repeating whatever Trump says? Let me rewrite that for you.
The Washington Post’s coverage of Trump's latest ludicrous statement was utterly deadpan and stenographic. But something good happened at the New York Times!