Attention to the Unseen

The arrest of an American journalist in Russia is awful. For me, it’s also painfully personal

March 31, 2023 From elsewhere

Margaret Sullivan writes: His face stared out from news stories on Thursday morning, accompanied by headlines like this one in the Guardian: “Russia arrests reporter and accuses him of espionage.” Oh, that’s awful, I thought at first, reflecting that we really are involved in some kind of new cold war, and there is no end to the toll that authoritarian governments will take on journalists. The imprisonment of journalists is at a historic high worldwide; I’ve written columns about that….

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Evan Gershkovich’s arrest means no journalist can feel safe in Russia today

March 30, 2023 From elsewhere

The Moscow Times reports: Russia on Thursday arrested Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges in a major escalation of the Kremlin’s wartime crackdown on independent journalism. After being detained in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, Gershkovich was formally arrested by a Moscow court in a hearing held behind closed doors. Russia’s State Security Service (FSB) alleged that Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen, was involved in the collection of “secret information” about a Russian defense company, state-run news…

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Who’s afraid of ChatGPT?

March 30, 2023 From elsewhere

Jack Shafer writes: The basest complaint in newsrooms is that AI will “steal” publishing jobs by deskilling work that “belongs” to people. Without a doubt, technology has been pilfering newsroom jobs for more than a century. The telephone increased reporter efficiency by allowing journalists to remain in the newsroom instead of wasting time traveling to collect stories. Photographs replaced newspaper and magazine illustrators. Computer typography displaced make-up room artists, typesetters and pressmen. Answering machines displaced telephone operators and secretaries. Word…

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Inside the 3 months that could cost Fox $1.6 billion

March 21, 2023 From elsewhere

The New York Times reports: Since 2002, when Fox News first overtook CNN as the most-watched cable news channel, one thing has been as certain and predictable as its dominance: Every time a Democrat wins the White House, the right-leaning network’s ratings take a momentary dip. That happened after the election of President Biden in 2020, too. But the reaction inside Fox was far different than before. There was panic. From the chairman of Fox Corporation on down, executives scrambled…

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The FBI raided a notable journalist’s home. Rolling Stone failed to tell readers why

March 21, 2023 From elsewhere

NPR reports: Last Oct. 18, Rolling Stone served up a foreboding scoop: The FBI had raided the home of a renowned journalist at the top of his game months earlier, and he had disappeared from public view. It should have been a coup. Instead, acrimony inside the newsroom over how that scoop was edited led to accusations that the magazine’s brash leader pulled punches in overseeing coverage of someone he knew. The reporter who wrote the story, enraged, accepted a position at…

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‘Morality shouldn’t get in the way’ — Russia’s genocidal state media

March 14, 2023 From elsewhere

Julia Davis writes: When Russia invaded Ukraine, Vladimir Putin’s elite propagandists wanted to drink champagne in the studio to properly celebrate the moment. Head of state propaganda agency, RT, Margarita Simonyan, expressed “an overwhelming sense of euphoria” and added: “I’ve been waiting eight years for this . . . it finally happened. This is true happiness.” With the bloody all-out invasion now in its second year, the euphoria has been replaced by a lingering sense of dread, with Putin’s mouthpieces…

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‘We’re all embarrassed’: Inside Fox News as Dominion revelations rattle the network

March 8, 2023 From elsewhere

Brian Stelter writes: Last month Fox News producers in New York, Washington, and other bureaus were summoned for mandatory training sessions. The topic: libel law. With Fox facing down two defamation lawsuits that could cost the company billions of dollars, management decided to set up lengthy meetings about legal concepts like “actual malice.” That’s what Dominion Voting Systems and another voting technology company, Smartmatic, are trying to prove: that Fox aired lies about their firms while the people involved knew…

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Tucker Carlson used selective January 6 video footage to try and gaslight America

March 7, 2023 From elsewhere

Eric Lutz writes: You know what happened on January 6, 2021. You probably watched it on television that day, when Donald Trump agitated a mob of angry, armed supporters to storm the Capitol. They battled officers, busted through windows, and roved through the halls of Congress, some of them chanting the names of Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence. You saw terrified lawmakers, some of whom had helped fan the flames of the insurrection and would later side with it, seeking…

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Fox News bosses scolded reporters who challenged false election claims

March 5, 2023 From elsewhere

The Washington Post reports: As a reporter and an anchor for Fox News watched Donald Trump supporters gather at a rally in Washington, D.C., after his election defeat in November 2020, they both had some questions. Many in the crowd, said correspondent Rich Edson, “are picking up on the president’s unfounded claim that there was widespread electoral interference and that the election was stolen — no proof of that.” “What do these folks want?” wondered weekend anchor Leland Vittert. “Is…

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Democrats want to cut Fox off after lawsuit revelations

March 4, 2023 From elsewhere

Politico reports: The thunderclap of stories showing Fox News’ role in pushing 2020 election fraud conspiracies and aiding Donald Trump’s campaign has intensified calls among Democrats to black out the network. The revelations, made public as part of a $1.6 billion lawsuit brought against Fox by Dominion Voting Systems, showed that some network hosts and executives endorsed lies about Trump’s loss, hosted conspiracy theorists whom they thought were unhinged, and overtly prioritized the company’s profit over truth. A related deposition…

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Finally, Democrats appear ready to go on the offensive against Fox News

March 2, 2023 From elsewhere

Greg Sargent writes: For years, Democrats have been deeply conflicted about Fox News. At times, they’ve shunned the network as an irredeemable source of disinformation, boycotting it or banning it from covering Democratic presidential primary debates. But such efforts have been temporary: They have tended to resume appearing on the network and have reverted to treating it as more or less a news channel, albeit a hostile one. Now, however, it’s becoming clear that interacting with Fox News as a…

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Rupert Murdoch, legally exposed

March 1, 2023 From elsewhere

Judd Legum writes: It’s not a secret that Fox News is a political operation seeking to bolster the prospects of Republicans. Jeanne Pirro, co-host of Fox News’ The Five, regularly appears at Republican fundraisers. Mark Levin, who hosts a weekly Fox News program, appeared at a rally and fundraiser for a Republican candidate in Virginia. Sean Hannity, one of Fox News’ primetime stars, stumped for President Trump. Alternatively, just watch Fox News for a few minutes — the purpose is clear. At the same time, Fox…

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Murdoch acknowledges Fox News hosts endorsed election fraud falsehoods

February 27, 2023 From elsewhere

The New York Times reports: Rupert Murdoch, chairman of the conservative media empire that owns Fox News, acknowledged in a deposition that several hosts for his networks promoted the false narrative that the election in 2020 was stolen from former President Donald J. Trump, court documents released on Monday showed. “They endorsed,” Mr. Murdoch said under oath in response to direct questions about the hosts Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo, a legal filing by Dominion Voting…

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Press freedom in the crosshairs as DeSantis widens his assault on an open society

February 23, 2023 From elsewhere

Politico reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ broken relationship with the mainstream media could get even worse. At the governor’s urging, Florida’s Republican-dominated Legislature is pushing to weaken state laws that have long protected journalists against defamation suits and frivolous lawsuits. The proposal is part DeSantis’ ongoing feud with media outlets like The New York Times, Miami Herald, CNN and The Washington Post — media companies he claims are biased against Republicans — as he prepares for a likely 2024 presidential…

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