New study shows how toxic right-wing media narratives sway coverage

[KingOrfeo]

Here:

Media balkanization is by no means a new phenomenon, but a new study by Columbia Journalism Review has found that pro-Trump propagandizing of this sort is having a measurably deleterious effect on how all media outlets cover Trump. The review identified Breitbart News as the gravitational locus of a conservative media galaxy that pumped out “disinformation” throughout the 2016 presidential campaign: “This turned the right-wing media system into an internally coherent, relatively insulated knowledge community, reinforcing the shared worldview of readers and shielding them from journalism that challenged it.”

This happens to a certain degree with all people: They seek out information that confirms their biases and are skeptical of information that challenges them. What Columbia Journalism Review discovered, however, is that conservative media outlets in the Trump era are far more effective at walling off their audience from any information that doesn’t comport with their preferred narratives.

“By repetition, variation, and circulation through many associated sites,” the review observed, “the network of sites make their claims familiar to readers, and this fluency with the core narrative gives credence to the incredible.” Once a source for disinformation is validated by like-minded sources, suddenly an allegation becomes “true” even if the person making it — in this case, the president of the United States — can’t put any factual weight behind what was said. Consumers of right-wing news see Sean Hannity go on the warpath against Obama associates on Twitter, then they read Breitbart’s write-up of Hannity’s tweetstorm, and subsequently they turn to Fox News and watch right-wing pundits talking about Obama’s “Soviet-level wrongdoing.”

The potency of this disinformation machine and its close ties to the White House will necessarily affect how mainstream outlets cover the news. Reporters and publications who report with justifiable skepticism on Trump’s “wiretapping” claims will come under attack from Breitbart, Hannity and others as part of the conservative media’s long-running effort to discredit mainstream publications. That provides incentives for journalists to strain for forced objectivity and give undue weight to discredited conservative narratives in the name of “balance.”

 

[FakeNews]

The Trump Nail in the Media Coffin

Mainstream news sources exposed their own long-held biases through their extended meltdown over Trump.

Journalists such as Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times and Christiane Amanpour of CNN said that they could not — and should not — be neutral reporters, given their low opinion of Trump.

CNN’s Donna Brazile leaked possible debate questions to Clinton. One op-ed columnist, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post, even asked Clintonites for research to help him attack Trump

Politico’s Glenn Thrush sent a story to the Clinton campaign team to be audited before publication. He begged to keep his collusion quiet and admitted that he had become a “hack” for such journalistic impropriety. Thrush may have been rewarded for his predictable left-wing bias, recently being hired by the New York Times as a White House correspondent.

http://www.nationalreview.com/artic...ump-opposition-exposed-their-bias-irrelevance

 

[phrodeau]

Donald Trump's appearance on Fox and Friends, March 7th, 2017.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...t-and-fox-and-friends/?utm_term=.dd465433e1d6

Early Tuesday morning, President Trump tuned into “Fox & Friends.”

At about 6:12 a.m. on the East Coast, it was time for some “HEADLINES.”

“A win in the war on terror,” a woman's voice declared. “The Trump administration just killed a former Guantanamo Bay detainee released by Barack Obama. Yasir al-Silmi, once considered the worst of the worst, killed in a U.S. airstrike in Yemen. He had been released back in 2009 even though the Department of Defense recommended that he stay behind bars. One hundred twenty-two prisoners released from Gitmo have returned to the battlefield.”

The report did not note that of the 122 prisoners who were released and then reengaged in terrorism, 113 were released by the administration of George W. Bush, according to a report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. That omission might have confused some viewers.

At 7:04 a.m., the president tweeted: “122 vicious prisoners, released by the Obama administration from Gitmo, have returned to the battlefield. Just another terrible decision!”

Back on the big white couch, the “Fox & Friends” family chatted about news of the day, including the president's new travel ban and health-care legislation. Just after 7 a.m., Fox News Washington correspondent Kristin Fisher ran through what's in the bill and highlighted how some Republicans are already uncomfortable with it, even calling it “Obamacare Lite.”

At 7:13 a.m., the president chimed in: “Our wonderful new health-care bill is now out for review and negotiation. Obamacare is a complete and total disaster — is imploding fast!”

Around 7:40 a.m., the morning crew interviewed Robby Mook, former campaign manager for Hillary Clinton, and peppered him with questions about Russia and wiretapping, topics usually reserved for White House staffers.

At 8:13 a.m., the president tweeted: “For eight years Russia ‘ran over’ President Obama, got stronger and stronger, picked-off Crimea and added missiles. Weak!”

At about 8:08 a.m., conservative commentator Laura Ingraham — who is close to Trump and often advises him — was beamed into the show to comment on the new health-care legislation.

“The Trump-ism of the health-care reform, the Trump-iest parts of it, were transparency in pricing, competition across state lines. … Where is that in this plan?” Ingraham said, as two of the three hosts snickered at her made-up words.

And the president assured Ingraham and others that he was already on it, tweeting at 8:41 a.m.: “Don't worry, getting rid of state lines, which will promote competition, will be in phase 2 & 3 of health-care rollout.” And just in case followers didn't know what he was responding to, the president added the morning show's Twitter handle, @foxandfriends.

Five minutes later, he followed up with another tweet: “I am working on a new system where there will be competition in the drug industry. Pricing for the American people will come way down!”

The president's morning live-tweet session ended at 9:14 a.m, with “Don't let the FAKE NEWS tell you that there is big infighting in the Trump Admin. We are getting along great, and getting major things done!”