What does it mean for our country and democracy in general when people can't believe election results. The news media tells us that there is no large scale election fraud, but they have ruined there reputation with blatant bias. They might as well have been wearing Biden for president buttons through much of the campaign. Now I get it Trump is an easy one to dislike maybe even hate but journalistic integrity used to mean something. If journalism has no integrity people turn to other sources. Back when George W Bush was running Dan Rather faked a news story we never would have known if not for an internet investigator. the media didn't get the message ratings fall, newspapers fold but still they would prefer to put there thumb on the scale instead of investigating even handedly.
People are not stupid they can see when the news casts everything negatively for one candidate and will barely look at the other guys shortcomings. Weather you like Biden or not the whole Hunter Biden thing should have been investigated and been put out for general consumption. Instead of hiding voting irregularities (173,000 votes almost exclusively cast for Biden with no registration in Michigan,poll watchers pushed so far back they aren't watching anything) if they were treated as legitimate news people could at least say they aren't just sweeping it under the rug.
I know it sounds like right wing grumbling. So I'll close with this a Rasmussen poll mid November says that 30 percent of Democrats believe that the election was stolen from Trump. It;'s a shame that people are in such a hurry to coronate Biden when even 30 percent of the winning side doesn't believe we had a fair election.
"What does it mean for our country and democracy in general when people can't believe election results."
ReplyDeleteIt means somebody is undercutting confidence in our election integrity on a massive unheard-of scale even as the Trump-appointed government agency heads issue statements proclaiming this election secure. And without providing any evidence to support their claims, I might add.
"The news media tells us that there is no large scale election fraud..."
No, the news media tells us there is no evidence to support the claims of widespread election fraud. Which is the truth. The Trump lawyers are not even claiming election fraud in the court cases.
"Dan Rather faked a news story..."
That's not true. He did not "fake a news story" but presented four of the Killian documents on air as authentic, not realizing they hadn't been authenticated. It was over a week before CBS and Rather said, "Based on what we now know, CBS News cannot prove that the documents are authentic, which is the only acceptable journalistic standard to justify using them in the report. We should not have used them. That was a mistake, which we deeply regret." People were fired, it was made into a movie, CBS established an investigative review to examine their procedures and practices used in vetting stories for airing, and Rather left the network in the scandal's aftermath.
That this caused such a huge scandal is evidence that the major media outlets take their job seriously and do the best they can to do right by their viewers in presenting facts. People make mistakes. Admitting those mistakes is something reliable news agencies do.
Hunter Biden? Again? Really? Investigations of him continue.
The claim that "173,000 votes almost exclusively cast for Biden with no registration in Michigan" is false and has been debunked. If you know of evidence to support the claim I'd love to see it.
Wasn't the poll watchers issue resolved? The distance is set the same for both sides to provide equal access in such a way as to not interfere with the poll workers and voters.
I'd love a link to the Rasmussen poll. I've searched and can't find anything that says that and would put actual money on it not being true ;)
Here is the link https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2020/11/19/whoa-nearly-a-third-of-democrats-believe-the-election-was-stolen-from-trump-n1160882. I don't know if I did this right but we'll see and I will keep trying.
ReplyDeletePoll watchers kept at the distances that video has shown can only see people open ballots postmarks and signatures can't be confirmed.
News media only admits mistakes when they are caught the rush to publish or air stories lets their fact checking bow to their biases.
The Hunter Biden thing is an important example because the majority of the nation has no idea anything questionable happened. The exact opposite of what happens when it is somebody they are not actively pulling for.
Donald Rumsfeld said the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. It's not like there is going to be giant red flags saying this way to the voter fraud.
When there are 173,000 ballots opened and over 97percent are for one candidate this is almost a statistical impossibility.
The news media makes all the right noise about professionalism but there are so many times that I've seen there selective editing that the only rational explanation is that they do it to promote an agenda. The one tv station by me Cleveland Ohio has a motto present the news and let the people decide(paraphrase I might be a little off) When they don't do this people are left a drift trying to make heads or tails of what they hear. Some say Democracy needs a free press to survive but I say we need a free and Honest press to survive.
PJ Media is a right-wing commentary/opinion site, so their interpretation of the poll reflects that bias. The poll itself, which PJ Media does provide a link to, does not say that.
DeleteAgain, the poll watchers abide by the same guidelines no matter their party. In PA poll watchers have to maintain “a safe and respectful” distance, with some counties specifying specific distances, and those are applied to both parties. The objection to the distance required in that one county was settled, though, right?
That news media don't always catch their own mistakes doesn't surprise me. That some media outlets are open to correction and some aren't is notable. The numbers of times PJ Media has been "caught" can be found online. They've never, that I can find, issued corrections. Everybody makes mistakes. Willingness to correct them is key.
"The Hunter Biden thing" is still under investigation. It's a focus for Trump and his administration. I'm sure when the results of the investigation are released to the public news outlets will cover it.
I mean, of _course_ you have to look for it, but they _do_ look for it, and the Trump legal team would surely be able to find _some_ evidence to present in court. So far they are not alleging fraud in court where they're under oath. I don't know of a single one of these Trump lawsuits that alleges fraud.
Show me any evidence at all of this: "there are 173,000 ballots opened and over 97percent are for one candidate".
We need a free and honest press, I agree, but we also need an educated populace that knows how to consume the news/opinion/media out there.
I know pj media is right wing, I kept hitting a wall at Rasmussen wanting me to up grade to see the full report. If you put poll watchers as far back as many places did you can't view anything. It doesn't matter if it's Dem and Rep it only effects the side that's getting cheated.
DeleteNews media makes mistakes because they are getting the answers that are looking for and rush to print or air a story. Time after time I've seen stories where incomplete telling or selective reporting alter the story . The media needs to find the center again or they will never find credibility.
The press instead of being the voice for democracy are becoming the problem.
With out trust there is no democracy and the press is far more to blame than Trump calling out the press or shady vote counters.
Yes, to see the full report, but PJ Media did link to the summary which did not say what PJ Media reported.
DeleteNews media makes mistakes because they're made up of human beings. Fallible creatures we are without any nefarious purpose being necessary. Corrections of mistakes are commonplace in publications I use. People need to compare reports and use a variety of sources. The press isn't the problem, although it's suffered since the fairness doctrine was revoked under Reagan.
I'd argue that Trump doesn't call out the press but rather insults the press that reports what he doesn't like. His insulting comments to reporters during press conferences were shocking to watch. His insulting tweets are are a strange way to deal with his disagreements.
There's no evidence at all of "shady vote counters". These kind of baseless accusations without even an attempt to cite a source or provide any evidence is part of how we got where we are and is how conspiracy theories take root and spread.
Happy St. Cecilia's Day! Soon we'll be eating turkey and then decorating the tree, even as we deal with these trying times.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving and stay safe
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