Comments on: If Mitt Romney were running a “post-truth” campaign, would the political press report it?

By: Charles

Charles — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:27:46 +0000

My co-blogger MEC has a better word for it: anti-truth. With post-truth, one expects lies and fact to be used with equal frequency, with complete indifference. But the modern GOP is the party of anti-truth: it's when you take the truth, turn it inside out, and shake the pockets. The media, however, may be merely post-truth.

By: Old Topic Updates: Campaign Finance, the “Post-Truth Campaign” « Civilized Conversation

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 00:01:00 +0000

[...] This week’s lying was especially bad. Why does the press not call him on it? Because it’s too big to report. His newest lie is that President Obama is ending welfare work [...]

By: Mitch

Mitch — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 21:19:04 +0000

Ever notice how journalists covering the more trivial aspects of human activity are far less forginving of nonsense than those covering policy and politics? Watch ESPN sometime and try to imagine how the anchors on Sportscenter would react to a guest claiming that the University of Alaska football team is better qualified to play in the national championship than the University of Florida and USC combined. (Liz Cheney — Palin more qualified to be president than Obama and Biden combined). There’s zero doubt a statement like that (even though arguably an “opinion”) would rightly be ridiculed by any sports journalist with access to a television set or sports page. Moreover, anyone making such a claim would be dismissed by the sports journalist as a liar, a crackpot or someone with an agenda that is wholly inconsistent with the goal of enlightening the audience, and not taken seriously again.

Likewise a guest arguing that Roger Goodell is anti-NFL or secretly wants to subvert the game of football based on the guest’s disagreement’s with particular policies championed by Goodell (“Obama’s a socialist” -every other knucklehead that shows up on the cable talk shows). Patent falsehoods of this kind are not tolerated on ESPN, why on CNN?

By: Three Ways News Organizations Can Put Citizens Before Politicians in Political Reporting | Kim Pearson

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 22:56:17 +0000

[...] workers’ jobs and shipping them abroad. New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen suggests the Romney camp is likely running a “post-truth” campaign. Pollsters say the attacks [...]

By: Abadman

Abadman — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 04:13:25 +0000

It is good to see journalist is alive and well.

Six days after your post and there is no there there. The times has look into this and found nothing. Past Bain managers, working for the Obama campaign have been interviewed and confirmed Romney’s story. No smoking gun. Washington Post, For Christ sakes, fact check, Romney outsourcing stories, four pinocchios. So does the bain attack fit into strategy # 2 and are you playing a part?

Strategy # 1 uses a bad example. What verifiable facts are you talking about? Dr. Jones has admitted there has been no warming since 1998. That is a fact. There is no troposphere warming the initial “thumbprint” of global warming, also a fact. Mann’s hockey stick has been thoroughly discredited, a fact. The climategate E-mails a fact. Are we warmer than a century ago? Yes. Warmer than the mideveil warm period? Hard to say no real facts. Cause? Unknown. No facts. 3 time multiplier effect of carbon dioxide? Totally unproven. So I’m not sure what your facts are.

Strategy # 3 does that include Greg Sargent of the post and his afinity for Think Progress Talking points?

Secrecy? Where are Obama’s transcripts? LSAT scores? College thesis? small donor list from 2008? Transcripts from the Obamacare negotiations he said should be broadcast on C-span? Fast and furious documents?

If Obama was running a “Post Truth” Presidency would the press report it?Should this not matter too?

Looking back to an earlier post, people do not trust the press because it does not deserve trust.

Your civic journalism necessitates not telling the whole story because many times the facts you are so fond of are not all on your side( see climate change). So you leave some out emphasize others, thIs is not an objectivity debate, but a truth telling one.

The fact is that if the truth comes out that Romney was never active in Bain after he left in 1999, we will likely never see a post here about it. No analysis of how Obama used the press to slime Romney with false charges. Yet you remain a press critic.

By: Rorty's Revenge

Rorty's Revenge — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 01:52:32 +0000

[...] If Mitt Romney were running a “post-truth” campaign, would the political press report it? » Pre… Jay, I think you're right about this moment in the campaign. For example, the Times today editorializes on its front page about how both campaigns are focused on the past instead of the present–a perf… [...]

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 16:03:11 +0000

If Jay Rosen ran a Post-Truth partisan post on Pressthink as part of a working-the-refs campaign, would the political press see it for what it is and question his academic/media critic credibility?

No. It would not.

By: CardinalRed

CardinalRed — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 18:34:43 +0000

I would also like to know how a media that is going to rake in “about a billion dollars” this “cycle” (key word) from super pacs and the like will ever work to compel them to provide disclosure and transparency about their donors?

By: CardinalRed

CardinalRed — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 18:01:59 +0000

That’s all well and good, but please explain how the press never has a problem with all the too big to tell Democrat issues making it to the airwaves like birth certificates, hair cuts and twitter penises?

Hmmm ….the lies get told and the truth gets buried….always in favour of republicans….

Explain how come no one will call romney a liar on teevee but Obama is kind of a dick?
Explain that please. I think that’s the key to ending this sick media dance.

By: Jay Rosen

Jay Rosen — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 15:17:10 +0000

That is one possible dimension of too big to tell. The description of what is actually happening lies beyond the vernacular.