24 Comments

What a thorough (and sobering) analyzis. I missed The Guardian in the Media Bias chart, that's often my news source after I cancelled NYTimes. And good to see Bellingcat almost at the top -- I learned about them when I saw the "Navalny" documentary. They're awesome.

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Thank you Jessica. The Guardian and Heather Cox Richardson are my “go to’s” while caffeinating to begin the day.

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Yes -- I read Heather's daily letter every day. She's a national treasure.

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@Jessica. I believe The Guardian is the white capital ‘G’ in the blue circle, sandwiched between Vox and CNN (web) near the top of the triangle, slightly left of center.

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Thank you, Michael, I found it -- and have a new question?!? Right above the 'G' (which in the chart that I'm looking at, is ABOVE both CNN and Vox, a tad to the right of both?) and a bit more left, is a 'T' with the same font as The NewYorkTimes. Either I'm wrong and this isn't for NYT, or the chart has problems. NYT shouldn't be in the "skews left" column; I think they used to be, but not any more.

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I agree. The ‘T’ appears to be for the New York Times, in which case it should be right of center. The position may take into account the Times reporting on news other than national politics. I’ve seen this chart before and believe many Corporate media sources near the top center of the triangle should be shifted slightly to the right. The bigger problem (actually reality) might be American media and public perception has been drifting towards the right for forty years. So what you and I might consider “center right” is now “center “.

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Sadly true. Thank you Michael.

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Michael, thanks for clarifying. I'm with you -- the corporate media should be more to the right. And I agree with the drift; I grew up in Germany, and Angela Merkel, for example, who represented the conservative party in Germany, was more progressive than many Democrats here, and that was 10 - 20 years ago.

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Absolutely beautifully covered! The same conditions have existed before...and democracy lost. Hopefully we can sort out our media choices and make some clear paths forward...

https://barrygander.substack.com/p/preview-americas-deadliest-election

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Thank you Barry, I tried to make it as comprehensive yet as accessible as possible.

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You walked the line perfectly. This should be mandatory in civics classes...

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Excellent article you've shared today! Thank You,Bob, and will reStack ASAP 💯👍🇺🇸💙🌊🌊

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Well worth waiting for, thank you George. Well researched, written and documented.

Count me in.

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Thank you Bob. I outlined this article last week during a whirlwind trip in the U.S., and my cousin (who's a real author and amazing person) and I were discussing the horrors of the music publishing business (and the publishing business in general). The thought of the media pipeline has been rolling around my head for awhile, and was pleased to finally get it written.

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Looking forward to civ.works

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Checked and rechecked. The Media Bias Chart has FOX 10 surprisingly placed at the center on the (L/C/R) Media Bias axis on top. In addition, it places FOX10 at the top of the reliability axis, on the left. How can this be possible? Have they made a complete about face after the Dominion lawsuits? Is my interpretation grossly incorrect?

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The Fox10 affiliate is different than Fox “News”. I do know that Ad Fontes Media has Fox “News” rated right wing low value on their chart.

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Thank you. I will check again and also look at this “FOX 10” organization more carefully.

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To be sure, the problems you delineate are structural, and the election of KH won’t move the needle to redress these issues. All of this is to suggest that democracy as we know it is likely to end in the next decade. Given the oligarchy that shapes our thought process, I see no way for us to tackle in a meaningful way the 4 problems that confront us right now : burgeoning debt, climate change, disease, and foreign adversaries .( There are many others, of course, like income inequality, health c are, inflation, care for the young and elderly ). You started your piece talking about an informed, engaged, educated electorate. Perhaps you have been an expat too long if you think that remotely resembles the US voting public. Stay safe, brother.

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Thanks Allan. The foundational requirements for a meaningful democracy do not imply the requirements have been met. And a meaningful democracy in the United States is aspirational.

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Thank you. Anything by Noam Chromsky is worth reading.

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He is an inspiration and a truly great intellectual.

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Excellent review George. How to reach a wider readership?

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Thanks Janan. Ideally 100 million subscribers on civ.works (but I’m delighted with all who restack, share, and distribute to other social platforms for now). 🤓

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