The minute Trump returned to power I set in motion my personal project 2025. A large part is media-centric. I decided to wean myself off off traditional media and replace it with Substack authors including Anand, Joyce Vance, Heather Cox Richardson, Harry Littman, Steve Schmidt among several others. It reminds me of the paradigm shift in the 1980s when cable television took hold. I left CBS (old media) to start up ESPN with a bunch of guys from CBS and NBC. People thought we were bonkers. It was the best thing I did for my career. While my move wasn’t political as opposed to the landscape today, it is time to run don’t walk from these legacy guys. Trump didn’t break them. They broke themselves.
We are finally using the 4 letter word-COUP! My suggestion is we do our best to bring it home to Americans what that means for us moving forward: how are lives will be impacted, what we will lose. Musk is destroying what exists and simultaneously creating a new world that will include increasing uses of robotics, AI, bioengineering. As we face this impeding wave of life altering technologies ,our form of government will determine our say in our own futures. If we surrender our rights and voting power, the tech wave will be a tsunami.
Our media is not the "free press". Media is made up of corporations whose goals are to maximize profits for their shareholders, to not offend other corporations whose goals are to maximize profits, and to not offend political leaders who are responsive to donors who are corporation shareholders. We can't expect better until we change our economic and political cultures so that the purpose of our economy, the corporations within it, and the politicians who benefit from it exist for all citizens, not just corporation shareholders. Shareholders own shares, not the right to control our economy and government and not the right maximize their own income at the expense of everyone else.
That's a tall order, Rick, and most historians would remind you that whatever social progress we've made in this country has been made incrementally, with the exception of our response to the secession of the confederate states form the Union, which resulted in the freeing of black people from enslavement and the reforms made by FDR et al during the Great Depression. And there's been plenty of blood shed along the way. While it seems undeniable that Democratic Socialism is providing the populations of those countries which have embraced it a superior way of living and higher happiness index, we as a people have been thoroughly indoctrinated against that. Incredibly sad.
We are experiencing a coup from within. We need a macro and fundamental reformation to happen now. Trump has built his power by pretending to believe in and lead a populist movement that has been building for decades. I believe we can create a movement that wins the hearts and minds of the middle class and takes the leadership and power of the populist movement from Trump. See www.informedcitizens.com.
There are protests in 50 states today A search of CNN, MSNBC, and local media...so far no mention of any of it. Remember all the coverage the Tea Party got? They always seem to dismiss progressive protests.
Great piece. Timely warnings. Only one problem; this article, too, uses phrases like "anti-constitutional coup attempt." That's plain wrong. It is already a "coup-in-progress" - they have gone long past the 'attempted' stage (that was four years ago.) Please call it like it is.
Or do you want to continue to be 'partly boiled frogs' until you inevitably commit professional suicide? Elon/Don and their teenage/child soldiers might be deranged, but they are perfectly serious. I never imagined Gaza would be renamed "The Middle Eastern Riviera" but that meme has quickly slipped out, and it's already doing the rounds. That's just sick.
Refreshing voice....thank you. Yes, a whole heap of folks are complicit with this crumbling. I am avoiding nearly all visual/audio news on TV, but catch snippets here and there. I saw 1-2 minutes of CBS Morning show, and you would not know in the least, from all the smiles and bantering as usual, that evil is well underway to destroy what this nation has claimed as "the best," "the most powerful." So many people are complicit in this crumbling. So many human takers do not understand that the gift of life is not granted so one can suck the life and beauty out of other human lives for individual greed of wannabe superiority.. We are so un-evolved. I have wondered for sometime if this march to rubble is what it takes for a major transformation.
Thank you for taking the time and accepting the risk of making plain what anyone not inured to wishy-washiness can see for themself: too many in the legacy media and other places cannot or will not see or acknowledge what's staring us all in the face. We are, indeed in the midst of a coup. Sometimes it seems to me that our blinders are of an "It can never happen here," variety. But it can, it is, and it will continue to do so, growing in strength as it rolls on. God help us.
This writing contains much wisdom, yet I bellieve using the correct words makes a difference to readers. Does Trump know the meaning of "coup" or how to spell it? Maybe those around him do. But sooner of later he will attack the 4th estate. It is lamentable that Project 2025 was not copied in all the press or at least parts of it. Someone pointed out that it is a hundred and eighty day plan--coup? That is why few questions can be answered about outcomes, cosequences, not that they care. Trump is a narcisist first. He said the Palestinians could go to Egypt and Jordan while he fixes up the place and makes it into the "riveara of the Mid-East." Netanyahu thinks its a great idea. Rids him of Palestinians forever. Who believes they would be invited back? It was like saying to family members, you can go to Aunt Lucy's and you can go to Uncle John's place while I fix up your house. Never mind what they say, or you for that matter. Would the legacy press have considered printing the Project? Or just a few parts of it? Were not the Pentagon Papers released to the Times and made a decided difference int Viet Nam War? Not the same circumstance, but sorely needed after much death and destruction. After.
Yes! This is exactly what I've been saying. It's the failure to connect the dots into one big picture.
Part of it is inherent in the model of news coverage. Reporters are given an assignment to report and write a story - one story - on one subject. Each article tells a separate story which lives out there as its own entity disconnected from its connection to all the others.
Also, as a society we are geared toward being issue-based.
Advocates/interest groups push a particular issue.
Elected officials deal with pieces of legislation that address one particular issue.
But there's no reason an article cannot link the story being covered to other ones ... "This, in combination with xxxxx, tells a story of ...."
Or even write stories covering more than one item: "In just one day, LIST OFFENSES, painting a picture of xxx."
We need creative thinking, not old habits.
Additionally, as has been discussed robustly, the press has a bias toward the cohesive and relatable narrative, resulting in sane-washing.
And then, yes, there is fear of getting on the wrong side of the powerful and sources. It used to be all about access. Now it's also about fear of retribution.
And, of course, corporate ownership changes the mission, whether they concede that or not.
But if there's any time we need a press to embrace its own power and stand up, it's now.
First, the right succeeded in undermining media credibility with its "fake news" rallying cry.
Now the left attacks "legacy media" as often as it does the new administration.
The attacks from the left are a combination of (very and necessary) legitimate criticism; everything Montopoli says is spot on and (while he is sympathetic) it is infuriating.
AND - not but - much of the criticism from the left is a product of group think and memes, and some of it betrays a complete lack of understanding about journalism. I have seen criticism about attributing a quote because it "weakened the statement," when it was clear to me there was a good reason to attribute. Other criticism seems to be longing for headlines/reports to be shrill, rather than strong/honest - people looking to the NYT to sound like their social media feeds.
Finally, I, too, appreciate all the great independent analysis/Substacks out there now from credible sources. Thank goodness for them.
But much of that analysis does not contain its own reporting. It relies on mainstream media reporting of the facts. No matter how great the analysis is, we need original reporting that meets the moment.
I used to be more hesitant to attribute bad motives (vs old, antiquated habit) to the press. But they have had eight years to figure this out.
I am of the opinion that stuff of red/blue, elephant/donkey - none of that matters. It's all dualism. Where are the moralists by NAME - NOT affiliation who will stand and state the obvious - "The Emperor Has NO Clothes!" - The tailor of choice has sold him a bill of goods - all illusion. How many people does it take to change the light bulb? Apparently thousands since all they see is illusion and don't get it that the lights are out in their own sensory systems let alone souls!
Thom Tillis. Ted Budd. Explain to me why to call them? I have done so daily for weeks, clearly to no avail. I’m warned off 50501 bc no one knows who is behind it and if it’s a false flag operation by MAGGATS. This citizen feels pretty helpless since she has no representation.
A reminder that NC has a pretty adequate new Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. Support them. Help by reaching out to the 65,000 voters challenged by rogue NC Supreme Court candidate Jeff Griffin. Do not sit on your hands.
The minute Trump returned to power I set in motion my personal project 2025. A large part is media-centric. I decided to wean myself off off traditional media and replace it with Substack authors including Anand, Joyce Vance, Heather Cox Richardson, Harry Littman, Steve Schmidt among several others. It reminds me of the paradigm shift in the 1980s when cable television took hold. I left CBS (old media) to start up ESPN with a bunch of guys from CBS and NBC. People thought we were bonkers. It was the best thing I did for my career. While my move wasn’t political as opposed to the landscape today, it is time to run don’t walk from these legacy guys. Trump didn’t break them. They broke themselves.
I have changed my media diet too. Welcome to the club.
I shook my head at NYT newsletter this morning which said something like Trump is “remaking” government according to his “vision”. Ridiculous.
The NYT sounded crazed about Hilary’s emails and Joe’s age but an active coup? Not so much.
We are finally using the 4 letter word-COUP! My suggestion is we do our best to bring it home to Americans what that means for us moving forward: how are lives will be impacted, what we will lose. Musk is destroying what exists and simultaneously creating a new world that will include increasing uses of robotics, AI, bioengineering. As we face this impeding wave of life altering technologies ,our form of government will determine our say in our own futures. If we surrender our rights and voting power, the tech wave will be a tsunami.
Our media is not the "free press". Media is made up of corporations whose goals are to maximize profits for their shareholders, to not offend other corporations whose goals are to maximize profits, and to not offend political leaders who are responsive to donors who are corporation shareholders. We can't expect better until we change our economic and political cultures so that the purpose of our economy, the corporations within it, and the politicians who benefit from it exist for all citizens, not just corporation shareholders. Shareholders own shares, not the right to control our economy and government and not the right maximize their own income at the expense of everyone else.
That's a tall order, Rick, and most historians would remind you that whatever social progress we've made in this country has been made incrementally, with the exception of our response to the secession of the confederate states form the Union, which resulted in the freeing of black people from enslavement and the reforms made by FDR et al during the Great Depression. And there's been plenty of blood shed along the way. While it seems undeniable that Democratic Socialism is providing the populations of those countries which have embraced it a superior way of living and higher happiness index, we as a people have been thoroughly indoctrinated against that. Incredibly sad.
We are experiencing a coup from within. We need a macro and fundamental reformation to happen now. Trump has built his power by pretending to believe in and lead a populist movement that has been building for decades. I believe we can create a movement that wins the hearts and minds of the middle class and takes the leadership and power of the populist movement from Trump. See www.informedcitizens.com.
Excellent!
There are protests in 50 states today A search of CNN, MSNBC, and local media...so far no mention of any of it. Remember all the coverage the Tea Party got? They always seem to dismiss progressive protests.
Great piece. Timely warnings. Only one problem; this article, too, uses phrases like "anti-constitutional coup attempt." That's plain wrong. It is already a "coup-in-progress" - they have gone long past the 'attempted' stage (that was four years ago.) Please call it like it is.
Or do you want to continue to be 'partly boiled frogs' until you inevitably commit professional suicide? Elon/Don and their teenage/child soldiers might be deranged, but they are perfectly serious. I never imagined Gaza would be renamed "The Middle Eastern Riviera" but that meme has quickly slipped out, and it's already doing the rounds. That's just sick.
Refreshing voice....thank you. Yes, a whole heap of folks are complicit with this crumbling. I am avoiding nearly all visual/audio news on TV, but catch snippets here and there. I saw 1-2 minutes of CBS Morning show, and you would not know in the least, from all the smiles and bantering as usual, that evil is well underway to destroy what this nation has claimed as "the best," "the most powerful." So many people are complicit in this crumbling. So many human takers do not understand that the gift of life is not granted so one can suck the life and beauty out of other human lives for individual greed of wannabe superiority.. We are so un-evolved. I have wondered for sometime if this march to rubble is what it takes for a major transformation.
Thank you for taking the time and accepting the risk of making plain what anyone not inured to wishy-washiness can see for themself: too many in the legacy media and other places cannot or will not see or acknowledge what's staring us all in the face. We are, indeed in the midst of a coup. Sometimes it seems to me that our blinders are of an "It can never happen here," variety. But it can, it is, and it will continue to do so, growing in strength as it rolls on. God help us.
P.S. Dear Presses: Stop calling out what Musk does and use Trump's name first.
Shirley, what will that accomplish?
For now (?) they're joined at the hip (Elon's hip).
This writing contains much wisdom, yet I bellieve using the correct words makes a difference to readers. Does Trump know the meaning of "coup" or how to spell it? Maybe those around him do. But sooner of later he will attack the 4th estate. It is lamentable that Project 2025 was not copied in all the press or at least parts of it. Someone pointed out that it is a hundred and eighty day plan--coup? That is why few questions can be answered about outcomes, cosequences, not that they care. Trump is a narcisist first. He said the Palestinians could go to Egypt and Jordan while he fixes up the place and makes it into the "riveara of the Mid-East." Netanyahu thinks its a great idea. Rids him of Palestinians forever. Who believes they would be invited back? It was like saying to family members, you can go to Aunt Lucy's and you can go to Uncle John's place while I fix up your house. Never mind what they say, or you for that matter. Would the legacy press have considered printing the Project? Or just a few parts of it? Were not the Pentagon Papers released to the Times and made a decided difference int Viet Nam War? Not the same circumstance, but sorely needed after much death and destruction. After.
Yes! This is exactly what I've been saying. It's the failure to connect the dots into one big picture.
Part of it is inherent in the model of news coverage. Reporters are given an assignment to report and write a story - one story - on one subject. Each article tells a separate story which lives out there as its own entity disconnected from its connection to all the others.
Also, as a society we are geared toward being issue-based.
Advocates/interest groups push a particular issue.
Elected officials deal with pieces of legislation that address one particular issue.
But there's no reason an article cannot link the story being covered to other ones ... "This, in combination with xxxxx, tells a story of ...."
Or even write stories covering more than one item: "In just one day, LIST OFFENSES, painting a picture of xxx."
We need creative thinking, not old habits.
Additionally, as has been discussed robustly, the press has a bias toward the cohesive and relatable narrative, resulting in sane-washing.
And then, yes, there is fear of getting on the wrong side of the powerful and sources. It used to be all about access. Now it's also about fear of retribution.
And, of course, corporate ownership changes the mission, whether they concede that or not.
But if there's any time we need a press to embrace its own power and stand up, it's now.
First, the right succeeded in undermining media credibility with its "fake news" rallying cry.
Now the left attacks "legacy media" as often as it does the new administration.
The attacks from the left are a combination of (very and necessary) legitimate criticism; everything Montopoli says is spot on and (while he is sympathetic) it is infuriating.
AND - not but - much of the criticism from the left is a product of group think and memes, and some of it betrays a complete lack of understanding about journalism. I have seen criticism about attributing a quote because it "weakened the statement," when it was clear to me there was a good reason to attribute. Other criticism seems to be longing for headlines/reports to be shrill, rather than strong/honest - people looking to the NYT to sound like their social media feeds.
Finally, I, too, appreciate all the great independent analysis/Substacks out there now from credible sources. Thank goodness for them.
But much of that analysis does not contain its own reporting. It relies on mainstream media reporting of the facts. No matter how great the analysis is, we need original reporting that meets the moment.
I used to be more hesitant to attribute bad motives (vs old, antiquated habit) to the press. But they have had eight years to figure this out.
Time's up.
We need better.
Because I am reading this in The.Ink, it feels like preaching to the choir. HOW do we get the NYT and MSM to grow a pair?
We need to call a general strike.
I am of the opinion that stuff of red/blue, elephant/donkey - none of that matters. It's all dualism. Where are the moralists by NAME - NOT affiliation who will stand and state the obvious - "The Emperor Has NO Clothes!" - The tailor of choice has sold him a bill of goods - all illusion. How many people does it take to change the light bulb? Apparently thousands since all they see is illusion and don't get it that the lights are out in their own sensory systems let alone souls!
Thom Tillis. Ted Budd. Explain to me why to call them? I have done so daily for weeks, clearly to no avail. I’m warned off 50501 bc no one knows who is behind it and if it’s a false flag operation by MAGGATS. This citizen feels pretty helpless since she has no representation.
A reminder that NC has a pretty adequate new Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. Support them. Help by reaching out to the 65,000 voters challenged by rogue NC Supreme Court candidate Jeff Griffin. Do not sit on your hands.