Thanks, The Contrarian! Folks: This piece was inspired by you. So many listeners and readers have asked me exactly what to do to get through to the big news agencies. Here's the strategy. I even created a list of email addresses for you, and will update it over time.
Fight the good fight for the media to do its job: delivering the truth.👊❤
I keep thinking about why I no longer even read legacy media. I cant get around the blatant parroting of everything that Trump and his administration do, and the fact that none of what they print is fact checked as far as the headline reads. There was a time when real newspapers would not print what they knew to be false. Those days are gone and what was once called "the Yellow Press" started by Hearst, is now how most news is delivered. I think people who actually think about the world around them and how one thing affects everything else, want real news. That is why we are here at the Contrarian, and why we still read NPR, The Guardian, and AP news. Until the majority of Americans realize that they are not getting good information, nothing in our political future will change for the better. The days of blind trust in the media needs to end, and perhaps the havoc that Trump and the Republican Party are now causing, is the wake up call that was needed.
I hear you! Unfortunately, NPR, The Guardian, and AP all have big problems too. Bias, failure to fact check, open mic nights, the works. I've corrected them a bunch of times on They Stand Corrected!
Don't forget the BBC World Service. They still do a fair job over there. The Sunday morning news programs have deteriorated in quality, honesty and content. Gone are the days of Murrow, Cronkite, Russert, Couric, and Ivins.
Sadly, the BBC has gotten disastrous too. Truth=facts+context, and they deprive people of both. Definitely include them in the places you call out for journalistic failures!
Infuriating example all over the NYT today: Biden's factual stumbles defined in repetitive detail as catastrophic failures. The same factual evidence about Trump? Glancing mentions referred to as business as usual.
Thank You Josh!!!! This is an actual concrete "something" that can be done by anyone who is "tearing their hair out", like me, about the bothsidesism of the media, in particular, and the purveyors of alternate facts in general. Thank you for empowering us Josh!!!!
Thank you for the tips on contacting legacy media! I've found myself furious with even PBS News Hour, which is probably the best of the lot. However, I have felt emailing them was like "pissin' into the wind" (as we say down south)!
(News executives) "They’re often far more worried about image than mission".
More recently they appear to be more worried about clicks, profit, and appeasing a toddler dictator wannabe who might throw a tantrum if the news wasn't adequately loyal to him and his whims. The media needs to come to the understanding that both sides are not equal, nor does one of them come from a place of truth and fact. Presenters and reporters not only need to fact-check, but also hold the person questioned to answer the damned question. Allowing them to wander off on tangents that run the clock out without an answer is not doing the job. Letters and comments to the editors might help, though confidence isn't high.
I recently read "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman and I have just started "Technopoly" and I have to say they are eye opening. His discussions back in 1984 and 1993 were incredibly prescient. This piece speaks to so much of what he wrote back then. Thank you.
Thank you. I do take a look at some news outlets on your list, though not very often. I like the idea that I can respond and try to hold them accountable.
My time on legacy media is mostly confined to local sources. I like that they put national news in local context. But they seem risk adverse in their opinions/commentary related to national news. They often reinforce/repeat tired myths about Republicans and Democrats. I assume your advice applies to news and not to opinions, including editorials? Is that right? (It did occur to me today to email a columnist directly and ask her where she is getting her news such that she perceives Democrats are failing at wrapping themselves in the flag unlike Republicans.)
Josh, thanks for compiling the list. Where can we find it. I thought about writing to NPR this morning. As they did their pitch for us to support them (when the cancellation of federal funding was still just a threat), a reporter made a throw-away comment that was thoroughly misleading and unnecessary, especially in light of a report by his colleague only minutes earlier. I would love to send that comment with you copied. I didn't see a link to the list; can you provide it?
And thanks for all you're doing to address this. We need the media to stand up and do it's job as our fourth estate and to hold folks accountable. They are not entertainment, as they'd like to think they are. They have a huge responsibility that they've relinquished for ratings and likes. It's shameful.
Yup. When things are egregious, it's worth telling the advertisers. But the advertisers rarely listen unless a large enough number of people contact them and stop reading/clicking/ listening/watching the news outlet.
It is easy to criticise bothsidesism on general terms, we can all do that - the point is to avoid it in a concrete situation. I can see that most people on this platform stand in principle against bothsidesism - and yet, when I write here, I get answers which are precisely bothsidesism, if I dare touch on issues which are not just critical of MAGA, Trump and his cronies, Musk etc. Whether it is the invasion of Iraq and the almost total destruction of that country, with possibly almost million victims, or the total US support for the present day Gaza genocide and the decades old apartheid - I will immediately be told how we need to take into account both sides, give credit to both sides, accept the narratives of both sides, even if one is deliberate lies in the case of Iraq or the fascist propaganda fuelled by the AIPAC in the case of Gaza. I wish the author had touched upon the most pressing issue of today's fight for democracy, the survival of people and their land, today reduced to dust and rubble. I wish we would debate this greatest of human tragedies where basically entire population never knew of freedom, right to self determination, peace - we talk of 77 years of oppression and direct land annexation, we talk of the plan to expel all people of Gaza to create a Trump-like resort, we talk of of tens of thousand killed, and many more mutilated and wounded (a good deal children), we talk of destruction of hospitals, schools, universities, museums, monuments, you name it. And yet, we are either silent or we pretend that both sides are responsible, that it is some internal conflict we must stay out of - although it is an ongoing crime against humanity, the onslaught of Palestinians directly funded by American taxpayers' money and perpetuated by arms made in and/or by the USA. And this in spite some of the mainstream politicians such as Sanders and AOC eloquently and passionately defending Palestine and condemning the openly preached ethnical cleansing practiced by the Israeli government, a government run by a Trump-like criminal with fascist views and surrounded by some true nazis. This in spite the Gaza genocide representing arguably the greatest threat to the US democracy and the rule of law- the persecution of those with love for truth, courage, who armed with solidarity and empathy defend the right of Palestinians to exist, started much before Trump, to finally lead us to the situation of today where you can be easily illegally detained for exercise your right to free speech. Please watch this powerful depiction of a removal of brilliant black woman Harvard president for her moral integrity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYpEypG0dkk. The tragic truth is that it was Biden and his administration that enabled Netanyahu to commit war crimes on daily basis, and avoid prison in spite of losing one process after another, and being a sought after war criminal. It you look for bothsidesism, just listen to most Democrats on Palestine and Israel (great many funded by APIAC) - no need for Trump and his enablers.
Thanks for caring. I am troubled though, and deeply worried about this almost total lack of solidarity in the US for the Palestine cause - even a platform like this one, claiming it fights for democracy, is complicitly silent about the unspeakable crimes against humanity and unbearable human suffering. This is how fascism wins, not because of fascists like Trump and/or Musk and all their cronies - it wins by us not caring or no reacting. I believe that Holocaust happened because the world let it happen - but one could always argue that maybe people did not know. This is different though, we are all witnesses, in real time - and letting be is simply unforgivable.
Hi Josh, You say, "...focus on two key things that news executives have to take responsibility for: facts and rules." I think there are two additional key things that are more subtle but equally powerful on an unconscious level: 1) the "feel"of images shown for different politicians (e.g., animated or flat, confident or passive), and 2) the number of times the names of politicians show up in headlines. During the Biden years, I'll bet Mr. 47's name showed up three or four times as much in legacy media as did the real president's. Even the anti-47 media showed his image a great deal! What you focus on increases--and news executives are certainly responsible for what their media choose to focus on. Personally, I'd like the media to pay much less attention to sensational executive antics, and awaken to focus on the one thing that really matters now: how to organize all of humanity to slow global warming STAT.
Unfortunately, bothsidesism is here to stay. The MSM has decided out clicks and profits are far more important than journalism (the Fox News playbook).
Thanks, The Contrarian! Folks: This piece was inspired by you. So many listeners and readers have asked me exactly what to do to get through to the big news agencies. Here's the strategy. I even created a list of email addresses for you, and will update it over time.
Fight the good fight for the media to do its job: delivering the truth.👊❤
theystandcorrected.substack.com
I keep thinking about why I no longer even read legacy media. I cant get around the blatant parroting of everything that Trump and his administration do, and the fact that none of what they print is fact checked as far as the headline reads. There was a time when real newspapers would not print what they knew to be false. Those days are gone and what was once called "the Yellow Press" started by Hearst, is now how most news is delivered. I think people who actually think about the world around them and how one thing affects everything else, want real news. That is why we are here at the Contrarian, and why we still read NPR, The Guardian, and AP news. Until the majority of Americans realize that they are not getting good information, nothing in our political future will change for the better. The days of blind trust in the media needs to end, and perhaps the havoc that Trump and the Republican Party are now causing, is the wake up call that was needed.
I hear you! Unfortunately, NPR, The Guardian, and AP all have big problems too. Bias, failure to fact check, open mic nights, the works. I've corrected them a bunch of times on They Stand Corrected!
Don't forget the BBC World Service. They still do a fair job over there. The Sunday morning news programs have deteriorated in quality, honesty and content. Gone are the days of Murrow, Cronkite, Russert, Couric, and Ivins.
Sadly, the BBC has gotten disastrous too. Truth=facts+context, and they deprive people of both. Definitely include them in the places you call out for journalistic failures!
Guess I haven't watched them for a while; it's quite possible that they have gone the way of so many others.
Infuriating example all over the NYT today: Biden's factual stumbles defined in repetitive detail as catastrophic failures. The same factual evidence about Trump? Glancing mentions referred to as business as usual.
Wow tell them and CC my show! Or send it to me via the newsletter or form at my website.
Bothsideism is THE reason I haven't read ANY main stream/legacy/billionaire media since about mid-October 2024.
Thank You Josh!!!! This is an actual concrete "something" that can be done by anyone who is "tearing their hair out", like me, about the bothsidesism of the media, in particular, and the purveyors of alternate facts in general. Thank you for empowering us Josh!!!!
I'm glad you're committed to fighting the good fight! Much more on this at theystandcorrected.substack.com
Thank you for the tips on contacting legacy media! I've found myself furious with even PBS News Hour, which is probably the best of the lot. However, I have felt emailing them was like "pissin' into the wind" (as we say down south)!
(News executives) "They’re often far more worried about image than mission".
More recently they appear to be more worried about clicks, profit, and appeasing a toddler dictator wannabe who might throw a tantrum if the news wasn't adequately loyal to him and his whims. The media needs to come to the understanding that both sides are not equal, nor does one of them come from a place of truth and fact. Presenters and reporters not only need to fact-check, but also hold the person questioned to answer the damned question. Allowing them to wander off on tangents that run the clock out without an answer is not doing the job. Letters and comments to the editors might help, though confidence isn't high.
I recently read "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman and I have just started "Technopoly" and I have to say they are eye opening. His discussions back in 1984 and 1993 were incredibly prescient. This piece speaks to so much of what he wrote back then. Thank you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
This sharing and collection of data is greatly appreciated.
The fact that you can pass real data to those who worry - priceless.
I applaud. 👏
And, I 100% agree as to the cynical intentions of decision makers who watch only the $$.
Those folk follow $$ rather than the truth and care for our fellow humans are a problem.
I do genuinely believe truth will prevail, eventually.
Respect all, always, no exceptions.
Thanks! Yes - in each episode and newsletter I try to offer the latest, most important analyses.
Thank you. I do take a look at some news outlets on your list, though not very often. I like the idea that I can respond and try to hold them accountable.
My time on legacy media is mostly confined to local sources. I like that they put national news in local context. But they seem risk adverse in their opinions/commentary related to national news. They often reinforce/repeat tired myths about Republicans and Democrats. I assume your advice applies to news and not to opinions, including editorials? Is that right? (It did occur to me today to email a columnist directly and ask her where she is getting her news such that she perceives Democrats are failing at wrapping themselves in the flag unlike Republicans.)
Both, absolutely. I discuss news and editorials on They Stand Corrected.
Yes! This is exactly the information I need to deal with my biggest pet peeve!
Josh, thanks for compiling the list. Where can we find it. I thought about writing to NPR this morning. As they did their pitch for us to support them (when the cancellation of federal funding was still just a threat), a reporter made a throw-away comment that was thoroughly misleading and unnecessary, especially in light of a report by his colleague only minutes earlier. I would love to send that comment with you copied. I didn't see a link to the list; can you provide it?
And thanks for all you're doing to address this. We need the media to stand up and do it's job as our fourth estate and to hold folks accountable. They are not entertainment, as they'd like to think they are. They have a huge responsibility that they've relinquished for ratings and likes. It's shameful.
Hello! It's linked in the piece above, and you can find it here: https://theystandcorrected.substack.com/p/how-to-email-your-complaints-to-big
I wonder if it might help to include the advertising sponsors of the program in the email as well
Yup. When things are egregious, it's worth telling the advertisers. But the advertisers rarely listen unless a large enough number of people contact them and stop reading/clicking/ listening/watching the news outlet.
It is easy to criticise bothsidesism on general terms, we can all do that - the point is to avoid it in a concrete situation. I can see that most people on this platform stand in principle against bothsidesism - and yet, when I write here, I get answers which are precisely bothsidesism, if I dare touch on issues which are not just critical of MAGA, Trump and his cronies, Musk etc. Whether it is the invasion of Iraq and the almost total destruction of that country, with possibly almost million victims, or the total US support for the present day Gaza genocide and the decades old apartheid - I will immediately be told how we need to take into account both sides, give credit to both sides, accept the narratives of both sides, even if one is deliberate lies in the case of Iraq or the fascist propaganda fuelled by the AIPAC in the case of Gaza. I wish the author had touched upon the most pressing issue of today's fight for democracy, the survival of people and their land, today reduced to dust and rubble. I wish we would debate this greatest of human tragedies where basically entire population never knew of freedom, right to self determination, peace - we talk of 77 years of oppression and direct land annexation, we talk of the plan to expel all people of Gaza to create a Trump-like resort, we talk of of tens of thousand killed, and many more mutilated and wounded (a good deal children), we talk of destruction of hospitals, schools, universities, museums, monuments, you name it. And yet, we are either silent or we pretend that both sides are responsible, that it is some internal conflict we must stay out of - although it is an ongoing crime against humanity, the onslaught of Palestinians directly funded by American taxpayers' money and perpetuated by arms made in and/or by the USA. And this in spite some of the mainstream politicians such as Sanders and AOC eloquently and passionately defending Palestine and condemning the openly preached ethnical cleansing practiced by the Israeli government, a government run by a Trump-like criminal with fascist views and surrounded by some true nazis. This in spite the Gaza genocide representing arguably the greatest threat to the US democracy and the rule of law- the persecution of those with love for truth, courage, who armed with solidarity and empathy defend the right of Palestinians to exist, started much before Trump, to finally lead us to the situation of today where you can be easily illegally detained for exercise your right to free speech. Please watch this powerful depiction of a removal of brilliant black woman Harvard president for her moral integrity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYpEypG0dkk. The tragic truth is that it was Biden and his administration that enabled Netanyahu to commit war crimes on daily basis, and avoid prison in spite of losing one process after another, and being a sought after war criminal. It you look for bothsidesism, just listen to most Democrats on Palestine and Israel (great many funded by APIAC) - no need for Trump and his enablers.
Goran,
Thank you for the detailed comment.
I did watch the youtube piece. Keep shouting truth.
Education is the keystone of democracy.
Thanks for caring. I am troubled though, and deeply worried about this almost total lack of solidarity in the US for the Palestine cause - even a platform like this one, claiming it fights for democracy, is complicitly silent about the unspeakable crimes against humanity and unbearable human suffering. This is how fascism wins, not because of fascists like Trump and/or Musk and all their cronies - it wins by us not caring or no reacting. I believe that Holocaust happened because the world let it happen - but one could always argue that maybe people did not know. This is different though, we are all witnesses, in real time - and letting be is simply unforgivable.
Human rights and respect for all is the issue.
I too am troubled by lack of solidarity in the US, that unfortunately is what we have.
Agreed on your point that the lack of knowing is not an excuse.
Being real time witnesses is the burden of all world citizens.
Just some of us take that responsibility seriously and some do not.
Savagery is always unforgivable.
IMHO - religion is the root cause of most evil between humans.
Just saying.
Hi Josh, You say, "...focus on two key things that news executives have to take responsibility for: facts and rules." I think there are two additional key things that are more subtle but equally powerful on an unconscious level: 1) the "feel"of images shown for different politicians (e.g., animated or flat, confident or passive), and 2) the number of times the names of politicians show up in headlines. During the Biden years, I'll bet Mr. 47's name showed up three or four times as much in legacy media as did the real president's. Even the anti-47 media showed his image a great deal! What you focus on increases--and news executives are certainly responsible for what their media choose to focus on. Personally, I'd like the media to pay much less attention to sensational executive antics, and awaken to focus on the one thing that really matters now: how to organize all of humanity to slow global warming STAT.
Unfortunately, bothsidesism is here to stay. The MSM has decided out clicks and profits are far more important than journalism (the Fox News playbook).