Progressives (Liberals)

The analysis in Network Propaganda does not, however, exonerate mainstream journalism from all that has gone wrong in the media. In 2016, Benkler and his colleagues argue, the right was able to “harness” the press to its cause because of journalists’ preoccupation with “balance” and eagerness for scoops. They note that the press had an institutional problem: How would it maintain balance if reporters did hard-hitting stories about Trump?
Borrowing from a study by Thomas E. Patterson, they conclude that the solution was to run equally hard-hitting stories about Hillary Clinton. Journalists “performed” neutrality with harshly negative coverage of both candidates. In fact, according to Patterson’s analysis, negative coverage of Clinton outpaced positive coverage 62 percent to 38 percent, while coverage of Trump was 56 percent negative to 44 percent positive.

The interest of mainstream journalists in balance created a market for scoops about Clinton that the right was able to help satisfy. A clear instance of this pattern is the coverage of the Clinton Foundation. The Times entered into an arrangement that gave it advance access to Clinton Cash, a book by a Breitbart editor, Peter Schweizer, sponsored by a project founded by Schweizer and Steve Bannon and funded by Robert Mercer. The resulting Times article insinuated that in exchange for money for the Clinton Foundation, Hillary Clinton had enabled a Russian firm to acquire control of American uranium assets, even though the Times had no evidence that she had intervened in the decision to approve the deal, which a committee representing nine government agencies had made. The Times article and other overwrought and often misleading pieces in the mainstream press about the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton and DNC e-mails became some of the most widely shared news items in 2016, thus helping the Republican effort to depict Clinton and the Democrats as corrupt.

After at least 49 people were killed in a targeted attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Friday, a far-right Australian senator blamed the violent act on Muslim immigration.

Sen. Fraser Anning from Queensland put out a statement ostensibly condemning the attacks — but then seized the opportunity to spew incendiary and Islamophobic remarks that echoed the rhetoric of the suspected gunman’s manifesto.

“I am utterly opposed to any form of violence within our community, and I totally condemn the actions of the gunman,” Anning said. “However, whilst this kind of violent vigilantism can never be justified, what it highlights is the growing fear within our community, both in Australia and New Zealand of the increasing Muslim presence.”

The senator claimed “left-wing politicians and media” would blame gun laws and nationalist views, but “the real cause of bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration program which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place.”

Fraser Anning, that's the senator who wants the final solution ...

“I feel like the media is always captivated by the person they seem to think is a phenom: Bernie. Trump. Beto. But they always seem to be white men who are phenoms. In a year where we have more choices than ever, more women and more persons of color than ever, none of them seem to be deemed a phenom,” said Mary Anne Marsh, a Democratic political consultant.

In a year where we have more choices than ever, more women and more persons of color than ever, none of them seem to be deemed a phenom...

Trump changes direction, says there ‘should be no Mueller Report’
Donald Trump has thrown plenty of tantrums, online and off. The president has lashed out at Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation; he’s condemned the probe as “illegal”; and he’s accused Democrats of being guilty of the transgressions he’s been accused of. So the fact that Trump did all of these same things in a series of tweets this morning wouldn’t ordinarily be of any real interest.

Except, this time, the Republican, perhaps feeling some anxiety about what’s to come, went just a little further than he has before.

Quote:

“So, if there was knowingly & acknowledged to be ‘zero’ crime when the Special Counsel was appointed, and if the appointment was made based on the Fake Dossier (paid for by Crooked Hillary) and now disgraced Andrew McCabe (he & all stated no crime), then the Special Counsel should never have been appointed and there should be no Mueller Report.

“This was an illegal & conflicted investigation in search of a crime. Russian Collusion was nothing more than an excuse by the Democrats for losing an Election that they thought they were going to win. THIS SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN TO A PRESIDENT AGAIN!”

The levels of corruption

“I am utterly opposed to any form of violence within our community, and I totally condemn the actions of the gunman,” Anning said. “However, whilst this kind of violent vigilantism can never be justified, what it highlights is the growing fear within our community, both in Australia and New Zealand of the increasing Muslim presence.