Melanie Sill

#Journalism + #democracy. Former top editor at The (Raleigh, NC) News & Observer (rock columnist, too), KPCC/Southern California Public Radio, Sacramento Bee. Helped start NC Local News Workshop.

Love digging, info and gardens. I tend to post on journalism and #localnews as part of society and culture. Will leave the paved path for #music, nature and #poetry. #fedi22 #journalists

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Last Notes

2024-09-13 13:17:05

It's hard to get past the reality that #Trump took someone who publicly described the 9/11 attacks as "an inside job" to the Sept. 11 memorials https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/12/us/politics/trump-laura-loomer.html?unlocked_article_code=1.KU4.wTk3.T_614GQpZ4mc&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb&ngrp=mnp #lauraloomer

2024-09-09 22:47:42

What I would love to see on these home pages instead of "what to expect" takes: Here are the top concerns of American voters, and the top issues facing the nation. Do #journalism explaining why these are concerns. Make a bingo card for people to see how many of these issues — climate change, health costs, housing, mental illness, public education — actually get asked about by moderators, or addressed by candidates. #USPol #Harris #Trump

2024-09-09 18:28:08

Once again reminded of the brilliance of #Apple training journalists to treat their annual product announcements as major news -- instead of making them buy advertising. Jobs was a genius marketer.

2024-09-01 20:48:00

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@npub1lrv…tth9 This latest about Trump's rambling, semi-fantastic, insult/lie speaking style should win a prize for bad reporting. Zero skepticism and all from
Trump's side

2024-08-31 15:58:39

How long will mainstream sports media cling to the framing of these professional teams as "college" football or basketball. They are marketing arms of universities, and it's right that athletes who bring in tens of millions in ad revenue and donations are now starting to be compensated. They are entertaining, talented and marketable. But the programs (often empires within institutions) have little to nothing to do with college anymore. #journalism #NCAA https://wapo.st/4dGAGbW

2024-08-30 10:24:07

Another in our daily reminders of how broken the #NewYorkTimes' political #journalism has become: Every development or finding about candidates and voters is framed in terms of who will win, to the point that reporters have internalized the sports thinking: "She was methodical and risk-averse in the 27-minute interview, performing like a top seed in the early rounds of the U.S. Open tennis tournament trying to hold serve, survive and advance to the next round." (By Reed Epstein) #USPol #Harris

2024-08-11 19:24:06

Tremendous service and findings from @npub1emy…q9w6 — 162 untruths in 65 minutes! But will #USPol news orgs recognize the harm to truth of carrying #Trump live and unfiltered? #journalism
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/11/nx-s1-5070566/trump-news-conference

2024-08-09 12:42:12

Imagine a #trump press conference where #journalists asked about his agenda re: #Gaza, #climatechange, other things besides the political hot buttons. Who does our #USPol press represent?

2024-08-01 00:28:50

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@npub1ahq…wjwd I heard the interviewers push back, several times.

2024-08-01 00:25:57

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@npub1ahq…wjwd Not sure what you are envisioning. Example of live fact checking of live interview?

2024-08-01 00:22:44

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@npub1ahq…wjwd If you're talking about NABJ, there was fact checking, by PolitiFact

2024-07-22 00:22:43

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@npub1lrv…tth9 It started right away.

2024-07-11 23:56:45

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If you have any doubt about how invested #NewYorkTimes reporters are in #biden's exit and in proving he's "faltering," read the comments on the Times live updates. It's like Mystery Science Theater but not funny. #NATO #Biden #journalism #journalists

2024-07-11 23:43:09

The current #NATO (or, "why don't you get out, #Biden?) press conference is Washington pack #journalism at its worst. Every question is the same question. (The question is legitimate, but why does every reporter have to ask it?) Ordinary people watching see a bunch of well-dressed people hounding the president, not exhibiting any interest in the NATO conference. It's the "gotcha" approach that gives #journalists such low esteeim.

2024-07-09 17:46:15

From this we learn that the #NewYorkTimes jumped on a story reported by the New York Post and... Alex Berenson, pushed it into prominent position, didn't report it fully, missed key information, and ended up doing damage, including to its credibility https://wapo.st/3S2wiv3 The paper has not responded to widespread questions and criticism of its pressure campaign to get #Biden out of the race, and it's still barely covering the presumed GOP nominee #USPol

2024-07-08 18:36:03

Veteran newsman James O'Shea on the history of newspaper crusading and what the #NewYorkTimes is doing now with its all-out blitz on Joe #Biden's future, with some great perspective on the #journalism questions I, Dan Gillmor and others have been raising about this crusade.https://jeoshea.com/blog/the-news-crusaders #USPol

2024-07-07 14:39:44

This analysis from Media Matters was published pre-debate, and we'd guess the numbers skew even more now: Much more attention to Biden's cognitive issues than Trump's despite closeness in age and many examples of Trump saying things publicly that indicate problems of cognition and memory. https://www.mediamatters.org/washington-post/top-newspapers-fixate-bidens-age Again, #Biden's candidacy is a big story, so is #Trump's

2024-07-06 15:22:36

You can read about #NorthCarolina gov candidate #MarkRobinson's "some people need killing" and other radical comments in national media, including The New Republic, which broke the story, but not in #NC news outlets. None has the #journalism firepower to cover governor's candidates on the trail day to day, which means there's a lot being said that voters aren't hearing. This is where #LocalNews losses hit hard. #NCPol

2024-06-29 16:03:08

After more closely reading NYT coverage over the past week, a simpler conclusion: The Times has lost its mind. This is an old-school crusade by the paper, news and editorial, fixated on Biden's age and the NYT's belief he should leave the contest. It is not "independent journalism" or neutral, the two descriptions its editors use. But they reject all criticism as partisan, and are blind to their biases. #journalism #USPol https://mastodon.social/@melaniesill/112700669294275770

2024-06-28 02:13:34

This debate is a disinformation tsunami and @cnn needs to own that #cnndebate #Trump #Biden

2024-06-10 18:12:36

This is a good package on the specifics of the #Trump machine's public plans (not rhetoric) for a second term. it was only on the #NewYorkTimes home page for (part of?) one day. (#Journalists: Can you imagine doing all that work and not making it more visible?) Worth your time to have things put together this way: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/06/07/us/politics/trump-policy-list-2025.html?unlocked_article_code=1.yk0.JfbY.EMinqkw8Usoj&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

2024-04-18 23:26:28

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@npub1lrv…tth9 OMG. It might be hard to run against charismatic individuals, but it oughta be easy to campaign against people who do policies like this

2024-04-17 22:52:06

If you're going to report on people basing their presidential #2024Elections vote on #IsraelGazaWar policy, you really need to detail what each candidate is saying and doing. #journalism J-101

2024-04-11 13:00:57

Imagine #journalism that continually brought context and helped people consider their own ideas. For instance, American commerce has rejected regulation in favor of free-market capitalism, but everyone (including #USPol news media) focuses on government as the cause and solution for inflation. Corporations, not government, set prices and take profits. Independent journalism means questioning and reporting vs. parroting public sentiment (and partisan rhetoric)

2024-04-10 19:40:53

You really can't parody the #NewYorkTimes' framing of every national issue through its horse-race lens and obsession with handicapping the 2024 presidential election. This myopia distorts coverage (presidents don't control inflation) and misses the chance at broader, more accurate and more contextual coverage on all kinds of issues. #journalism #2024Elections #USPol
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/248/621/289/315/268/original/6161f452eb61c078.jpeg

2024-03-10 13:01:09

Even decades after the news industry began trying to recognize the hazards of language that lazily picks up the rhetoric of politics, major news organizations continue to parrot phrases like "tough on crime." All policing is tough on crime, conceptually. Focus on what policies have proven to work, where proof is missing -- I.e. avoid the rhetoric, focus on facts. #journalism #USPol

2024-03-08 04:06:10

We don't need 15 reporters (more?) per outlet doing sideline commentary on #SOTU2024. We need more journalists reporting independently on the realities of the issues that get aired in a speech like this, and explaining policy and governing in everyday terms (and on social platforms, broadcast and accessible summaries) so that when elections come around, people understand the stakes and choices. #USPol #journalism #2024Elections

2024-03-04 15:58:17

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@npub1lrv…tth9 Yes. So little coverage of governing snd impact of either administration— ongoing or big picture. People know little, because he’s w coukd they? I couldnt see that they asked voters which policies they gained from.

2024-03-04 15:31:05

If you’re not in #NorthCarolina and want a good sense of our governor’s race, I recommend the WaPo coverage over the NYT’s, including this piece https://wapo.st/49Wf4WL
@npub1lyq…c6u4

2024-03-02 16:58:26

You just cannot parody the #NewYorkTImes' obsession with polls and use of them as the center of their political coverage. #USPol

2024-02-25 15:18:56

There's no reason for the #NewYorkTimes' CEO to be insightful about #localnews, and he isn't, though this interview is worth reading. But Joshua Benton at Nieman Lab knows this territory well, and I agree with his assessment that if the Times "believes in its “core #journalistic mission... it should be using its position of relative financial security to work harder on the biggest and most intractable part of the problem. And that’s local news." https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/02/weve-really-worked-hard-not-to-ever-have-a-pivot-at-the-new-york-times-a-g-sulzberger-on-ai-local-news-and-that-trump-bump/ #journalism

2024-02-24 16:23:00

Imagine if all #2024Elections #journalism were reframed, recast and relaunched as ongoing voter gudance. #USPol

2024-02-14 13:40:10

The Hur #Biden report coverage knocks down the idea that the #USPol national press ever "learns," from its mistakes, such as failings documented after 2016 and other elections and the "but her emails" outrage. Instead, deeply entrenched culture and unacknowledged institutional biases almost guarantee that our press will get things wrong first — not the facts, but the framing and emphasis. Peer reinforcement may be the most powerful factor. Because this sets the frame, the impact is meaningful.

2024-02-09 22:43:35

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@npub1lrv…tth9 But the Times doesn't care -- it's indifferent to criticism. And as it keeps adding subscribers (many drawn by games and cooking) it can claim it's giving the people wha they want.

2024-01-15 19:28:30

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@npub1su4…a0dw These platforms aren't built for users. Just look at Facebook's terrible UI. They're built to deliver targeted advertising.

2024-01-13 21:48:09

This story appears ignorant of what the Biden administration has done re #fentanyl in past 2 years (is it effective? Don't know, #journalists reported only briefly as moves occurred): Prosecutions against cartel leaders, cooperative steps with the Mexican government, targeted steps to cut off inflow including from China. If reporters are uninformed, how can they inform others? As with other issues: Report on what has happened, not just what is said. (Gift link) https://wapo.st/3TXVhBs

2024-01-12 21:31:43

While there are many failures of mainstream #journalism on #Trump, this isn't the worst. The worst is failing to report on what #trump and #Biden actually did in office, vs. what is said. A news culture that evolved to focus on rhetoric and polls produces systemic failure over time, not one headline or one day at a time. Biden has been an active and consequential #POTUS, whether you agree or not with policies, but coverage is glancing and superficial. https://wapo.st/41T52Tz

2023-12-29 23:42:04

I'd love to see #journalism research tracing the rise of predictive (vs. explanatory or revelatory) stories like this one (gift) https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/29/us/supreme-court-trump-election.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Jk0.XFXp.dwJUfykb-pCS&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare Predicting is a staple now especially for #NewYorkTimes and other major #USPol outlets. Why not (instead) explain legal principles, precedent, etc.: use it to educate about how #SupremeCourt works. #Newspapers used to be how many learned to understand US #democracy and its processes, but now emphasis is on prognostication and appearing savvy.

2023-12-08 00:09:49

Can you imagine being in this extremely difficult situation at all, and then, having to ask the government -- via a judge -- to allow you to make the medical decision that's right for your family and you, and then to have men like Ken Paxton attack your choice? https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/07/us/texas-abortion-ruling-exception.html?unlocked_article_code=1.EU0.Nstz.uOnEX5wgE59p&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

2023-11-25 22:46:53

As the report notes, NYT, WaPo and other major #USPol media campaign coverage remains little changed despite huge shifts in the culture, the political and media environment, and in how people get information. If anything, these institutions and their #journalists are more settled in their conventions and more resistant to criticism. We need #journalism not on what people say but on what candidates have done and will do; not predicting who'll win, but informing the vote. https://www.cjr.org/analysis/election-politics-front-pages.php

2023-11-10 13:21:30

More bad framing and lazy assumptions, this time from @npub1lyq…c6u4: It's not just about the punditry in the article or whether you agree with conclusions. More important: Who is this article for, and what value does it deliver? There are a thousand better uses of journalism firepower on any given day than political chatter, which reaches an overserved audience with little of the impact #journalism hopes to achieve. https://wapo.st/49sUwpr

2023-11-06 12:58:21

This weekend, @npub1vjr…6m8s made it clear: They're doubling down on the horse race in #2024 election #journalism. A better way than the Biden-vs.-Trump poll preferences as news (I'm declining to link) would have been to use the polls to reflect what people are concerned about and report what #Biden and #Trump have done/ would do to address issues: inform people's choices, instead of predicting. The Times' political coverage is locked in and impervious to criticism or reflection, but should be better.

2023-10-25 22:55:13

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@npub1lrv…tth9 it's the only one anyone has

2023-10-25 18:32:33

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@npub1lrv…tth9 yes. Obv some are trying to do journalism in better ways - but how do you call out these questions in ways that have impact

2023-10-25 11:41:13

Ultimate example of the odds vs. the stakes: NYT takes till midway through story to note that Johnson was a primary leader of #GOP efforts to overturn 2020 election results. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/24/us/politics/house-speaker-election.html?unlocked_article_code=1.5Uw.un9s.LXbJGI0rYpK0&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare He's a radical, not a conservative by any definition. #Journalists join the narrative that the point is to elect a (any) speaker, not to serve #democracy. Short attention spans. We need better #journalism

2023-10-21 11:37:36

This #NewYorkTimes piece is a case study in @npub1u6c…uwj7's "View from Nowhere" and "savvy journalism" point of view, in which you don't evaluate how a president does his job, but instead detach the viewpoint so see everything as politics and theater. Better #journalism would look at policy, context and impact in evaluating this #POTUS and his predecessor. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/21/us/politics/biden-voters-approval-israel.html?unlocked_article_code=1.4Uw.SqMk.elbPuF3MvGVb&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare (gift link)

2023-10-09 01:25:21

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@npub1ks4…x88p @npub1rky…0xq2 I just use the search icon in the app menu...

2023-10-08 11:18:33

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@npub19kr…8m4r @npub1lrv…tth9 I know that journalists continue to talk to each other there, and to other political communities and sources. It's raised all kinds of questions and recognition for me about where many journalists connect and with whom. (Twitter has never been where local news, for instance, finds much audience - vs. other platforms, especially Facebook and Instagram) But I'm also disappointed by the acceptance of Musk's terms.

2023-10-06 11:09:53

TIL that a former US president gave nuclear submarine secrets to an Australian businessman who shared them with at least 45 other people -- and it isn't lead news in any mainstream publication. 🤷‍♀️ #journalism #Democracy #USPol

2023-10-04 10:26:00

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@npub1xr8…3q0g @npub15zu…s7lx A more extensive account of this here from Popular Information newsletter: https://popular.info/p/north-carolina-republicans-create?r=2j3sf&utm_medium=email #journalism @npub1puf…raj3

2023-09-18 10:22:33

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@npub1lrv…tth9 I think the era of AJR/ CJR / press critics at major papers, Romenesko, public editors, created at least a conversation within journalism about things -- you're right that it missed a lot, but we lack even that

2023-09-18 01:10:51

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@npub1lrv…tth9 There's no structure of accountability for the #USPol press -- no system of criticism or scrutiny in spaces with significant audience. We lack even the modest accounting that used to come from ombudsmen and public editors, along with press criticism in national magazines. And digital traffic also rewards the damaging coverage, so they can claim they're serving audience interests.

2023-08-20 21:47:05

Since #trump is the only Republican running who has been #POTUS, it should be easy to evaluate how effective he was in the job. What policies, what impact, how did he handle various crises (#COVID19 and others). But our #USPol media, who cover the former president more than the current one, fails at this. He should be running on his record -- good #journalism would offer some ways for people to evaluate that record. We need better journalism for #2024 than the gaming-out of who'll win.

2023-08-01 11:07:20

The race is well underway for #USPol news outlets to predict the outcome the #2024 presidential race. Imagine what it would be like if these outlets were as obsessed with reporting that actually informs decisions, not just for #POTUS, i.e. the worries and troubles of voters, from #fentanyl's devastation and impacts of #ClimateChange, #AI's impact on humanity, #healthcare costs and access (yes, still and pervasively, health care), so much more. Polls, of course, are easier. A pipe dream.

2023-07-11 00:23:16

I’ve been looking for #journalism that doesn’t just shock with how serious the #ClimateCrisis threat is, but that holds to account the powerful people and institutions that control the big decisions determining our future. Anyone seen this kind of reoprting? Instead, we’re getting stories blaming ordinary people for not caring enough https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/10/climate/climate-change-extreme-weather.html?unlocked_article_code=fGyFF_OByAnuDnTSaUlLDcYnqKwOhRwXT5hNTXx2Q7dceJ-Eqb5tOn-sfNzIHKiRjuDWuuFCsOSaygB8EBbkJh2KbJ-wWURnivABASa9QZ_wNFvHDDVOHpmooxckdIe_zX-oj4_A390TlR3YAPofayiPNbYC1hCDNpi5PO2EJg5X5zv8yMDpggT07xgpuvSmiMYPhJYT5ltoR91o3UqnlzEa-fu357iasklI-n1Xd2k1FasgZPr7nyEFWXJ3QFWKJUHLD6Zp6xPDY7FN3nb46Rc74gj_hcjSyhP9LpXQM9rTrt26VzQg_AilSYONmbvZgewdFicHXUNjXt_TAHTwFtRL2XNRs0i7&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare How about laying out the many actions that have been identified for helping, who controls them and what’s being done? #USPol #ClimateChange

2023-06-22 00:30:18

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@npub1dm5…5sqe @npub1kmn…8cg8 Same

2023-06-12 01:34:11

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@npub1lea…zztp What’s most striking is Sulzberger’s inability to recognize the very strong biases that show in the NYT’s choices of what to cover and how, of how to frame issues and assign talent — to not show genuine interest in the growing discussion around ‘objectivity’ and the way #journalism can improve. Instead, he gaslights and accuses those who want better, more honest and more accurate journalism of advancing political causes or ideology.

2023-06-10 23:30:43

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@npub1lrv…tth9 Yes. Despite their statement that they don’t take sides, their focus and microphone are offered mainly to the right, and normalizing these extreme views as “conservative.”

2023-05-30 14:35:56

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@npub1u6c…uwj7 Many suitable alternatives, some of which I have seen in coverage: Hard-line, hard-right, far-right, extreme right. The word "conservative" politically has lost its meaning.#journalism #USPol

2023-05-30 01:00:40

No surprise that #Succession is the show finale the mainstream political press is covering obsessively… as with #SNL, it’s a show that decision makers at these orgs think is important. But it’s not the most watched streaming show by far, nor is #SNL today a show that merits weekly recaps in major newspapers. Leaders at the #WashingtonPost and #NewYorkTimes make choices that reflect their world views — biases — by deciding what to cover and not cover. Goes far beyond TV. #journalism #USPol

2023-05-23 16:09:38

Excellent coverage of the radical push in #Texas and elsewhere to insert Christianity (really, Christian nationalism) into the structures of government, with a huge gap: If ever there was a time to quote the #1stAmendment directly, this is it. The #USConstitution isn’t even mentioned till pretty low in the story, and there’s only a paraphrase description of what it says about religion and the state. https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2023/05/23/texas-commandments-chaplains-christianity/ #journalism #Democracy

2023-05-16 00:25:09

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@npub1u6c…uwj7 “Not the odds, but the stakes” brilliantly sums up all that is wrong and missing with #USPol press coverage’s fundamental framing. Terrific.

2023-05-12 23:14:53

We need different #journalism for these times, not this kind. This is a deep dive on a “behind the scenes spat” — a classic formula featuring unnamed sourcing and grave tone. What do readers gain? The prosecution and indictments in this case got almost little coverage — and no followup as to their impact. Fentanyl addiction is part of a devastation affecting communities at countless levels, and how the indictments fit in and what comes next — that’s worth a deep dive. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/12/us/el-chapo-sons-fentanyl-charges.html?unlocked_article_code=b65MJbLqecaP3UXsLYWAqDqvbajzg9WgAo0YXy2T0RKBsWhU8P2K85jI8G1ZLkK2pc5ZazkldoNoIb8bFjts75hXw-r5G7_Q5jmGp5zJt2uQsY648pliH157OImEXYNSGbNzFiJ3SC2ajGBEFlAyQ2cb5nFa9ETmexCs37DyqjE4ka4XfHq_hMEft2yc3PN42FmOVAm93FiP18J2OF7bCgFl87YSCUQ5-aNUGTHRY7Oy_SRPaGLkLpmjnamcR-K6SrM7jqAD7mSZ0SCnHY_jbWYhbhO8mRdtCzK9dd3jHZ-e-IqkK5WdIh-y_-WGZA8P1z4Kxo_O8iYp1yC0HjGfoFF5Xw&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

2023-05-03 14:42:13

Have read the (coordinated?) leaked stories about #TuckerCarlson and #Fox and struck that these reporters did not ask or explain to readers *why* board members and execs were so alarmed by the texts — what was different from past behavior, on-air rants, internal communication? #Journalists remarkably credulous of unnamed sources. https://wapo.st/42fNOiN (gift) #USPol

2023-04-24 01:40:46

This is excellent #[0] from the #[1] about the group leading the charge to roll back child labor protections, but it also shows that “conservative” is not the right word to describe this kind of politics —it is radical change, of which most Americans are unaware. It’s time for #[2] #[3] to retire the word conservative in describing modern #[4] politics. https://wapo.st/43VJ7vD

2023-04-16 12:52:11

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#[0] So much of the coverage is portrayed as work of separate extreme factions instead of recognizing the national plan and connections. So much of the reaction is “they’re crazy” or “right-wing wackos” instead of recognition that what’s happening is the use of power, the quest for more power, and the loss of power among others. Independents are a bigger and bigger part of voters but they lack organized power, and I’ve seen zero reporting evaluating that.

2023-03-31 21:01:52

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#[0] #[1] Agreed. I think my concern is that this “national poisoning” is connected to lots of trends that worry us — rising homelessness, crimes of desperation, mental health and addiction/ death themselves— and yet it’s not getting constructive attention as a natioonal criss.

2023-03-31 20:31:50

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#[0] #[1] for your consideration (gift link) https://wapo.st/3MpnptN

2023-03-30 23:12:19

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#[0] Checked in over there, and boy, it’s awful. Both user features and content.