Robert Reich: Donald Trump’s 7 techniques to control the media

http://www.salon.com/2016/12/04/robert-reich-donald-trumps-7-techniques-to-control-the-media_partner/


1. Berate the media

2. Blacklist critical media

3. Turn the public against the media

4. Condemn satirical or critical comments

5. Threaten the media directly

6. Limit media access

7. Bypass the media and communicate with the public directly

In the Media Pen at a Trump Rally - Video - NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000004726496/in-the-media-pen-at-a-trump-rally.html

The Price I’ve Paid for Opposing Donald Trump

Trump’s alt-right trolls have subjected me and my family to an unending torrent of abuse that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/441319/donald-trump-alt-right-internet-abuse-never-trump-movement

Presidential Lies

Presidents lie, and their lies all too often end in disillusion, prosecution, or blood. To skim the greatest hits of American fabrication from the Oval Office is to shudder at the shameless gall of the speakers:

“The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, in so far as possible, the killing of civilians.”

“I’m not a crook.”

“In spite of the wildly speculative and false stories of arms for hostages and alleged ransom payments, we did not—repeat, did not—trade weapons or anything else for hostages. Nor will we.”

“Read my lips. No new taxes.”

“I want you to listen to me. I’m going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.”

New Yorker

No President has not lied, even Lincoln. Honest Abe once said, “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.”

But sometimes there really is something new under the political sun. Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for President, does not so much struggle with the truth as strangle it altogether. He lies to avoid. He lies to inflame. He lies to promote and to preen. Sometimes he seems to lie just for the hell of it. He traffics in conspiracy theories that he cannot possibly believe and in grotesque promises that he cannot possibly fulfill. When found out, he changes the subject—or lies larger.

We are not alone in noticing this characteristic of Trump’s. It has been the central preoccupation of much of the decent journalism produced in the past year. Trump’s capacity for lying inspires equal parts awe and revulsion. Even journalists raised in the Nixon era cannot but be impressed. The accounting is revealing and requires updating on a daily basis. Fact-checking sites such as Politifact have focussed an intelligent lens on Trump, and so have many excellent reporters from the Washington 

Post and the New York Times.

Trump himself is perfectly aware of his habits of mind. In “The Art of the Deal,” a book he claims to have written but did not, he cops to being a master of “truthful hyperbole”:

You have to understand where I was coming from. While there are certainly honorable people in the real-estate business, I was more accustomed to the sort of people with whom you don’t want to waste the effort of a handshake because you know it’s meaningless.

Those sentences, like all the other sentences in “The Art of the Deal,” were ghostwritten by Tony Schwartz, who recently, in these pages, denounced Trump as pathologically unfamiliar with the notion of truth. “Lying is second nature to him,” Schwartz told Jane Mayer. “More than anyone else I have ever met, Trump has the ability to convince himself that whatever he is saying at any given moment is true, or sort of true, or at least ought to be true.”

In recent weeks, reporters and the fact-checking department at The New Yorker have put their efforts into a series of reported essays about Trump and lying. No one here is suggesting that Trump is the only politician ever to unleash a whopper. In fact, Hillary Clinton has had her bald-faced moments—moments that are too kindly described as “lawyerly.” But, in the scale and in the depth of his lying, Donald Trump is in another category; this effort, which begins with Eyal Press’s essay on Trump and immigration and will continue every week through the election, is by way of keeping track of a record that appears to know no bounds, and certainly no shame.

Read the series here: 
Eyal Press writes about Trump on Immigration and Crime
Adam Davidson on Trump and the Unemployment-Rate Hoax
Adam Gopnik on Trump and Conspiracy Theories
Adam Davidson on Trump’s Interest-Rate Flip-Flops 

CNN finally puts that annoying breaking news banner to use, begins live fact-checking Donald Trump

Trump’s latest lie, that he had never said Japan should develop nuclear weapons, was boldly called out by CNN in real time on Thursday. During the June 2 edition of CNN’s “At This Hour With Berman and Bolduan,” correspondent Jason Carroll reported that Trump recently claimed that he never said he wants Japan to get nuclear weapons.

Here

The erosion of truth: Trump’s surrogates are Fox-ifying mainstream television news

One peculiar consequence of the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump is that the mainstream television media has been invaded by marauding truth-free barbarians who have compromised its integrity.In normal times, mainstream television media outlets pursue excellence by seeking to adhere to well-established journalistic standards, such as the code of ethics promulgated by the Society of Professional Journalists.


A central tenet of journalistic standards is that reporting must strive to be accurate and truthful. And presenting the truth is crucial not only to the integrity of news journalism but also to the proper functioning of our entire democratic society itself.

http://www.salon.com/2016/09/11/the-erosion-of-truth-trumps-surrogates-are-fox-ifying-mainstream-television-news/

http://www.salon.com/2016/09/11/the-erosion-of-truth-trumps-surrogates-are-fox-ifying-mainstream-television-news/

2016 Could Be Fact-Checking’s Finest Year—If Anyone Listens

Wired

https://www.wired.com/2016/09/2016-fact-checkings-finest-year-anyone-cared/?mbid=social_twitter

Over the last decade, and since the last election especially, weighing the veracity of politicians’ statements has become one of journalism’s hottest cottage industries. Social media lets journalists and ordinary citizens call out politicians’ lies in real time. Accuracy activists have more ways than ever to shine a veracious light on the scourge of misinformation. At the same time, digital platforms provide more efficient vectors than ever for falsehoods to spread. It’s the fact-checkers’ paradox: even as they gain new powers to hold politicians accountable, lies are more persistent than ever.

Fact-checkers must also contend with an irony that would demoralize less tenacious truth-squadders. When presented with facts that contradict their worldview, the most informed partisans may be the ones least likely to change their minds. The facts, it turns out, don’t just reflect the world as it is. People pick and choose among them to define who they are.

The secrets of David Fahrenthold's reporting on the Trump Foundation

Washington Post journalist David Fahrenthold is investigating the Trump Foundation -- and simultaneously showing how to involve readers in the reporting process.

Other journalists say Fahrenthold's work is inspiring. Some have dubbed it Pulitzer worthy. Its impact was reinforced on Tuesday when President Obama cited the reporting while stumping for Hillary Clinton.

While the Clinton family foundation "has saved countless lives around the world," Trump's foundation "took money other people gave to his charity and then bought a six-foot-tall painting of himself," Obama said.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/13/media/david-fahrenthold-washington-post-donald-trump/index.html?mc_cid=f358693d2f&mc_eid=f1f2b1408e

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3GDVqcg2mc&app=desktop

Univision’s Jorge Ramos to journalists: ‘Neutrality is not an option’ for Donald Trump coverage

“It doesn’t matter who you are — a journalist, a politician or a voter—we’ll all be judged by how we responded to Donald Trump,” Mr. Ramos wrote in an op-ed for Time magazine.

“Trump has forced journalists to revisit rules of objectivity and fairness. Just providing both points of view is not enough in the current presidential campaign,” he argued. “If a candidate is making racist and sexist remarks, we cannot hide in the principle of neutrality. That’s a false equivalence.

“Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite were right; sometimes you have to take a stand. They did it against the dangerous persecutions of Senator Joe McCarthy and in denouncing the pernicious official spin during the worst years of the Vietnam War,” Mr. Ramos continued.
“Donald Trump’s candidacy has created the same moral dilemma and sense of urgency. So, yes, when it comes to racism, discrimination, corruption, public lies, dictatorships and the violation of human rights, we have to take a stand.”

A week with CNN’s Corey Lewandowski

Columbia Journalism Review

Partisan hackery is a feature, not a bug, of many cable programs, and networks’ stables of on-air analysts are filled with thoroughbreds. CNN contributor Corey Lewandowski is not unique in that regard. What makes Donald Trump’s former campaign manager different from his counterparts on the split-screen is threefold: He has a non-disparagement agreement with his former boss; he will continue receiving severance payments from the Trump campaign until after the election; and he reportedly still advises the GOP nominee on an unofficial basis.