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Thornton Hall

The Revolution Will Be Kuhnian.

What this guy at Brookings gets wrong about the press

Some dude at Brookings wrote a thing about the press with a list of things they should do in response to people like me bitching and moaning.  

So here's his list:

  1. Journalists must understand the new landscape is structural and not about the election
  2. Journalists must begin to do their verified reporting out in the open, with the public—news as “collaborative intelligence.”

blah, blah, blah there are like 7 more and they amount to: do what you do but do it better.  

Here's my list: 

  1. Admit to yourself and the public that your job is to sell newspapers; 
  2. Try to sell newspapers; and
  3. Try to sell newspapers to me.

Who is me? A liberal who wants a newspaper that:

  1. Supports the efforts of government to improve people's lives.  
  2. Knows that news happens in public and that "sources" provide gossip. If a story is gossip, label as such and do not call it news.  
  3. Does not want normal campaign contributions labeled "corruption," no matter what! If a politician listens to the people who help him get elected, that is called being a healthy and normal human being! Corruption means the person himself makes money, not his campaign. Trump is corrupt. Obama is not. 
  4. Treats as fact the idea that government deficits are good and natural.  
  5. Treats as fact the idea that rich people do not work to make more money. They work because it's what they like to do. Therefore, higher taxes do not affect their behavior. 
  6. Similarly, all poor people are poor for precisely one reason: they do not have enough money. Giving them money is the most efficient way to fix poverty. It has no more ill effect than rich people giving their children money.  

The Media We Have and The News We Need

Poor People: Same As It Ever Was