NYT publisher concern-mongers about Trump, priming pump on renewed press victimhood narrative

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A.G. Sulzberger, the chairman and publisher of the New York Times, concern-mongered Wednesday in the pages of the Washington Post about the fate of press freedoms under a second Trump term.

The multimillionaire newspaperman suggested that unlike his first go-around, this time Trump might actually come to resemble his caricatures in the Times and other establishmentarian outfits similarly compromised in bygone years by certain three-letter agencies.

As part of his mental gymnastics routine, Sulzberger attempted to draw parallels to real and perceived attacks on press freedom abroad — in countries such as India, Hungary, and Brazil — never once mentioning the successful efforts in recent years by the Biden-Harris administration to coerce companies to suppress and censor Americans' speech, including that of journalists such as Jim Hoft of the Gateway Pundit.

After insinuating that his paper is neutral and stating he isn't interested in "wading into politics," Sulzberger claimed that "would-be authoritarians" abroad found encouragement for their respective media crackdowns, not in President Barack Obama's war on whistleblowers or his Department of Justice's targeting of Julian Assange, but in Trump's characterization of the mainstream corporate media as "fake news."

'Trust in the news media sits at historic lows in much of the world.'

Sulzberger claimed that Trump used the term "as a cudgel to dismiss and attack journalism that challenged him," glossing over various other reasons informing the Republican's use of the term and why the term ultimately found such resonance with the American public.

The context that appears to be missing is that among the apparent targets of Trump's branding were those who dutifully suggested British spy Christopher Steele's Democratic-funded dossier was legitimate; falsely suggested that Trump and his team conspired with the Russians to secure victory in the 2016 presidential election; joined spies and the Biden campaign in falsely suggesting the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian misinformation; and falsely claimed Trump said all Mexicans were rapists.

Sulzberger's own publication is not blameless, having been an exponent of the Russian collusion hoax; falsely claimed Trump supporters killed U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick with a fire extinguisher; falsely reported on the basis of terrorist propaganda that Israel blew up a Gazan hospital; and suggested that the Babylon Bee, a satire website, was a "far-right misinformation site."

Despite Sulzberger's portrayal of the corporate media as victims of Trump's hostility, he also neglected to mention that this hostility was for them both profitable and reciprocal.

According to Pew Research, 20% of stories in the press about Obama in his first 60 days in office were negative and 42% were positive. In Biden's first 60 days, 19% of the stories were negative; 27% were positive.

In Trump's first 60 days, 62% of the stories about his presidency were negative and only 5% were positive.

A Harvard University study found that 80% of the press coverage of Trump during his first 100 days — including in the Times — was negative. Thomas E. Patterson, professor of government and the press at the Kennedy School, wrote, "Trump's coverage was unsparing. In no week did the coverage drop below 70 percent negative and it reached 90 percent negative at its peak."

The only major dip in negativity came when Trump ordered missile attacks on Syria following allegations that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gassed his own people.

The corporate media's attacks on Trump have continued into this election cycle.

The Media Research Center revealed last month that on CBS, NBC, and ABC, Kamala Harris was painted in a favorable light in 84% of their coverage, whereas Trump was depicted negatively in 89% of their coverage, reported the New York Sun.

Although Sulzberger was willing to acknowledge that "trust in the news media sits at historic lows in much of the world," he did not credit partisan hackery, "fiery but mostly peaceful" reports, or successive media hoaxes along the lines of the costly coverage of former Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann's innocent smiling near the Lincoln Memorial in 2019.

Instead, Sulzberger suggested the decline was "helped along by the flood of misinformation, conspiracy theories, propaganda and clickbait unleashed on social media."

Sulzberger's ostensible expression of contempt for the free flow of information online was published the same day that users on social media forced the Associated Press to correct its latest misleading post.

According to the Times' publisher, Trump's supposed anti-press action "would likely be informed by his open admiration for the ruthlessly effective playbook of authoritarians such as [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orban."

The playbook, according to Sulzberger, usually involves the following five steps:

  • "Create a climate hospitable to crackdowns on the media by sowing public distrust in independent journalism and normalizing the harassment of the people who produce it."
  • "Manipulate legal and regulatory authority — such as taxation, immigration enforcement and privacy protections — to punish offending journalists and news organizations."
  • "Exploit the courts, most often through civil litigation, to effectively impose additional logistical and financial penalties on disfavored journalism, even in cases without legal merit."
  • "Increase the scale of attacks on journalists and their employers by encouraging powerful supporters in other parts of the public and private sector to adopt versions of these tactics."
  • "Use the levers of power not just to punish independent journalists but also to reward those who demonstrate fealty to their leadership. This includes helping supporters of the ruling party gain control of news organizations financially weakened by all the aforementioned efforts."

Sulzberger figures that Trump has proven himself open to the strategies in this playbook, having previously sued companies for defamation; expressed an interest in de-funding NPR; impeded Amazon's defense contracting over his "serial displeasure" with Jeff Bezos' Washington Post; and challenged corporate media companies' licenses.

The Times' publisher concluded his essay by recycling platitudes he's leaned on in recent years and with multiple paragraphs characterizing his publication as a bulwark against the imagined threats of a future administration or even state advertising revenue.

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JD Vance marches up to reporters avoided by Harris outside Air Force 2 and drops a great line

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The last time Vice President Kamala Harris had a thorough interaction with the press was on June 24, when she sat down for a controlled interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" to stoke fears about possible legal protections for the unborn.

Harris has avoided interviews of substance in the weeks since, despite many historic events taking place about which prospective voters may want her input.

For starters: The Democratic establishment acknowledged President Joe Biden's decrepitude, then killed his re-election campaign; Harris leapfrogged the remains of Biden's political career and chose a running mate now facing allegations of "stolen valor"; President Donald Trump was shot in a failed assassination attempt; and Iran and Israel are drifting toward war.

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Trump's running mate, seized upon the opportunity this week to again strike a sharp contrast with the current vice president, demonstrating that he is not similarly averse to engaging with the fourth estate.

Harris and her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, were in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, for a campaign event Wednesday. Vance, similarly in Eau Claire for a rally nearby, noticed Air Force Two sitting on the tarmac at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport, not far from where he touched down.

'Hopefully it’s gonna be my plane in a few months.'

Vance, flanked by U.S. Secret Service agents, marched over to a group of reporters gathered nearby who were otherwise ignored by Harris.

"I figured I'd come by and, one, just get a good look at the plane because hopefully it's going to be my plane in a few months," said Vance. "But I also thought you guys might get lonely because the vice president doesn't answer questions from reporters and hasn't for 17 days."

Vance pressed the issue of Harris' relative silence, asking, "Have they given you guys an explanation for why she won't take questions from reporters?"

"I'd love her to just answer what she wants to do and also explain why every single position she has has changed," continued Vance. "She pretends to be a tough-on-crime prosecutor, and yet here she is wanting to defund the police. She's the border czar, yet she's opened up the American southern border."

Prior to moseying back across the tarmac, Vance added, "This is a person who has to answer questions from the media, and it's disgraceful that she runs from you guys, and it's also insulting to the American people."

The Ohio senator later provided additional context on X, noting, "I thought the reporters traveling with Kamala might be a little lonely given that she never answers questions from them, so I figured I'd come say hello and check out my new plane while I was at it."

At his campaign event in Eau Claire, Vance underscored that unlike Harris, he and Trump "will go anywhere. We will answer any question because we respect the American people enough to actually ask them for their vote rather than sit in front of a teleprompter, read scripted lines, and run away from every reporter and every actual citizen who's going to decide this election."

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Media Hate Ballerina Farm’s Hannah Neeleman Because She’s A Happily Married Mother

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'False charge': WH press association president denies the group submits questions to Biden in advance

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NBC News White House reporter Kelly O'Donnell, who is the president of the White House Correspondents' Association, denied reporters submit questions to the Biden White House before participating in a press conference.

The accusation reached a fever pitch during President Biden's high-stakes solo press conference at the conclusion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization conference in Washington, D.C., due to Biden clearly consulting a list of reporters to call on during his conference.

"For the first time this year, our [White House] press corps was able to question the president in a solo news conference. Our colleagues asked a range of questions on the president’s candidacy, his party and opponent, his ability to lead for another term in a complex and dangerous world. Pres. Biden presented his message and addressed critics. These exchanges serve the American people well with much at stake," O'Donnell posted on X.

'No one in the White House press corps seemed interested in telling the public what the card was.'

She then followed it up with the denial of submitting questions ahead of time, saying it was a "false charge," and reporters did "not know who would be selected in advance."

— (@)

The accusation arose after a Getty photographer snapped a photo of Biden holding a card detailing the name, picture, and outlet he was supposed to call on during a press conference in April of last year. The card also had what appeared to be a question about Biden's policy regarding semiconductor manufacturing.

The card is titled as "Question #1."

The Los Angeles Times' Courtney Subramanian was called on first by Biden. Her question was very similar to what was written on the card.

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Despite the clearly questionable note card and its ramifications, no one in the White House press corps seemed interested in telling the public what the card was or how the process truly works. This comes as White House staff members have leaked to reporters in recent days about how highly controlled Biden's meetings with donors and Cabinet members are, which include submitting questions and topics they will be discussing in advance.

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