Eric Boehlert: A wave of good news for Biden wrecks media's doomsday narrative

[babylonsister]

A wave of good news for Biden wrecks media's doomsday narrative
Still obsessing over Va.
Eric Boehlert
10 min ago

snip//

How reluctant was the press to sing Biden’s praise on Friday? Both “ABC World News Tonight” and “NBC Nightly News” ignored the stunning October jobs report. “Nightly News” though, did find time to report on Biden’s “plummeting” approval rating Friday night.

In the middle of the afternoon on Friday, news consumers visiting WashingtonPost.com had to scroll down past 75 different stories and links before they found the first mention of the blockbuster jobs report. Ironically, at the top of the Post site Friday afternoon was a column about how the White House is having trouble spreading good news about the economy. Over at CNN.com, readers at the “US” homepage had to scroll past 70 stories before seeing the first jobs headline.

Saturday’s front page of the New York Times announced the passage of the infrastructure bill, but stressed in the headline that Democrats were still “haggling” over the Build Back Better social spending bill. Just in case readers didn’t pick up on the pessimistic framing, the Times ran an accompanying report about how America feels “gloomy” under Biden.

Sunday’s Washington Post reported on how Biden “finally” had some good news to tout. But most of the Post article retraced how difficult it had been for Biden to get the infrastructure bill passed, while detailing Biden’s “yelling has become more frequent and directed at a wider audience of staff.” Imagine what the Post coverage would have looked like if the infrastructure bill had been voted down.

This is what happens when the press becomes wed to a gotcha storyline. The doomsday narrative took hold in August when the U.S. troop pullout in Afghanistan exploded into a weeks-long story, and was covered almost universally as a cataclysmic failure, even though the Biden administration not only ended the Forever War for America, but oversaw the largest, most efficient wartime evacuation in history, spiriting 120,000 Afghans out of the country. Nonetheless, the press was sure it was the White House’s “summer from hell” and that Biden was in a political “free fall.”

more...

https://pressrun.media/p/wave-of-good-news-for-biden-scrambles

[Lovie777]

1. Corporate media goals is to kept" a narrative of bad news . . .

concerning Pres Biden and the Democratic Party any means necessary.

I hear nada about Qanon insane forthcoming of JFK, Jr. and the continuance lies such as CRT and others. But constant messages about the "doom" of the Democratic Party, while their trolls influx of negative news on various pro-Dems sites.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

7. Corporate media are not true fascists, but they are #2 (after fox) with fascists.

[Deminpenn]

2. Competent government is boring

Boring = fewer viewers = lower ratings = lower ad $s = lower income.

Controversy, otoh, is great for ratings. This is why the media got addicted to Trump, 24/7 controversy. They don't have that with Biden and are latching onto anything that can be construed as "controversial".

[Mister Ed]

13. Exactly. n/t

[TheRickles]

14. In a nutshell. Good summary!

[mountain grammy]

16. Perfect!

[tblue37]

66. If corporate media weren't owned by rightwingers, they'd be just as likely to satisfy

their need for controversy with stories casting Republicans in a negative light, especially since they wouldn't have to perform such contortions to show real Republican disasters.

[True Blue American]

3. I heard all that,

Last edited Mon Nov 8, 2021, 10:49 AM - Edit history (1)

Then turned to Stephanie Rhule on MSNBC at 9. She was so happy I expected her to do a Happy Dance like my Eye Specialist did when she told me my Laser surgery was perfect.

When they start the gloom and doom bit in my house they are not there long. Stephanie is an Economist Expert who knows what she is talking about. Larry Summers is an idiot. He is never right. Not since Clinton yet they drag him out.

I prefer to be an optimist, and right now I feel pretty darn good about how we are headed.

[Haggard Celine]

4. They didn't really give a shit about the soldiers who died in Afghanistan.

They never cared about all the others who died over there. Why all of a sudden were they so broken up about the ones who were evacuating people?

They're still mad at Biden for ending that stupid fucking war. It was a cash cow for some very wealthy, powerful people and they're not going to forgive Biden very easily, if they forgive him at all.

Biden's focus seems to be on the concerns of the common people, and the corporate interests in this country are horrified by that. They're doing all they can to minimize his successes and magnify his flaws.

The Democrats have an uphill battle against the moneyed interests, and the only thing that will save us is to show the common man that we stand with him. If we show them that, the people might just turn out to vote for us. It's risky, but I think if we work hard enough to deliver for them, people might just stand up for us.

[KPN]

18. Biden and the White House also need to do a better job bragging

about accomplishments and good news like the jobs report. They need to beat the drum and claim credit for every accomplishment, every bit of good news.

As distasteful as claiming credit is for well-balanced, competent people, there is no question that when it comes to the media and most Americans, bragging and claiming credit gains attention.

[Demsrule86]

27. Oh please...who they going to brag to? The media will continue with the doom and gloom bullshit.

Stop blaming Biden. I suggest we turn off the news and boycott them...not worth watching anyway. I watch nothing including MSNBC because they are part of the problem too...it would be nice if some rich Dems would start a news organization that would at least be fair.

[KPN]

43. Well good morning to you too!

[Elessar Zappa]

35. You know what would really help us?

If Democrats had a marketing unit that flooded social media with good propaganda regarding Biden and the Dems’ accomplishments. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are the biggest sources of disinformation, imo, and it needs to be countered.

[KPN]

44. Exactly.

[CaptainTruth]

41. +1000

[Tommymac]

20. For Democrats the Grass Roots have always been our bedrock. Let's add the Net Roots.

And now they are even more important.

The M$M Corporate controlled media - yes, even MSNBC - will not let up on their attempts to portray President Biden as a loser.

We have to use the only megaphone we have - individual communication via Grass Roots.

Talk Prez Joe up at your local bar, church, barbershop, beauty salon, pet groomers, Dr. office, sporting events, kids events, etc.

And the Net Roots have to be kept active too.

It is up to ALL of us to deliver in 2022 and beyond, and spread the good news about what we Democrats have done and want to do.

Put on your smiley faces and let's get to work!

[Demsrule86]

28. I don't see that working in the 21st century...we need to perhaps start stuff using the internet

as a tool...including facebook. But turning off the media including MSNBC would help.

[True Blue American]

23. Agree!

Give ‘em hell Barack is doing just that at the climate Conference.

You are going to hear bits of this for weeks. Only CNN is covering him.

[Haggard Celine]

24. Thanks for the heads-up. I'll check it out.

[True Blue American]

37. Laid the do nothings out!:)

Young people like him!

[Demsrule86]

29. Really has any of that been on the nightly news? Also, we need to get Biden reelected,

not Obama. The media did not even cover the jobs report...disgusting.

[True Blue American]

38. If you listened to Obama

He is a great asset for the young.

The old were too busy fretting about school to listen to him in Virginia.

[IronLionZion]

36. Not much hate for the terrorists who murdered them.

A good way to avoid Americans being murdered in Afghanistan in the future, is to not send Americans to Afghanistan.

[doc03]

5. Yep Top story Yahoo News "Bidens approval plummets, VP Harris even worse"

Maybe it will start improving now that Congress got off their ass, now pass the BBB.

[uponit7771]

6. "press becomes wed to a gotcha storyline" Biden admin needs to call press on narratives then

... and make sure there's a counternarrative to that level of group think.

For instance, it took Biden admin 3 weeks to say "we gave people 3 months to get out of Afghanistan" ... or make it pithy in a true claim such as "we can't make people we told we're leaving leave with us when we want to"

Dems are NO DOUBT in a bind when it comes to reality, we have to defend reality that is made up by the M$M and the GQP ... we can do that with monitors etc.

[Demsrule86]

31. No it didn't actually. I heard that right at the beginning. It just wasn't widely reported by

the media. stop blaming President Biden. That is part of the problem. The media and the GOP colluded basically to destroy president Biden and some join them by blaming Biden...not helpful.

I edited this to say that I wrote down every Democrat's name who went on shows and criticized what I believe was a masterful pull out in Afghanistan...if/when they show up in a presidential primary and some of them will...they are off my list of presidential candidates that I would vote for in a primary and I hope none of them are... of course should any of them be our nominee, they have my vote. Loyalty matters.

[True Blue American]

39. I know them by heart. The 6 have turned

People against them by all the negatism.

[disndat]

8. doomsday media

Trumpers, and Pramia Jayspal.

[PatSeg]

9. I love that subject line

"A wave of good news for Biden wrecks media's doomsday narrative"

Unfortunately, a lot of people will only notice all the negative and often trivial stories that obscure the really positive news. The first nine months of this administration have been extremely successful, but you wouldn't know that listening to most mainstream media.

[CBHagman]

10. Every Washington Post story I read about the administration...

...includes a reference to Biden's approval rating.

Manuel Roig-Franzia profiled Alejandro Mayorkas for The Washington Post Magazine and worked a reference to Biden's approval ratings into it. As one does.

[Lonestarblue]

11. Corporate media loves Republicans in power because the owners get big tax cuts.

Their version of presenting both sides for Democrats and Republicans is to slam Democrats and praise Republicans. Headlines about Democratic issues almost always have a negative connotation. Headlines about Republicans have no negative words and often have positive ones or just neutral ones. As an example, Ted Cruz is holding up doEns of Biden’s nominees, a story media has covered, but not one has used a negative headline about his hissy fit.

The new Executive editor at the Post has made the paper worse in my opinion.

[KS Toronado]

15. Exactly along the lines of what I've been saying

MSM prefers Fascist Rs in charge because it means more $$$ in their pockets. But if Fascist Rs ever take
complete control of our government, the Fascists will turn them into propaganda machines and take
away their profits.

[IronLionZion]

12. Dems in array

[Wounded Bear]

34. I see what you did there...

[progressoid]

17. Eric Boehlert underestimates the media's ability to sell negativity.

[bucolic_frolic]

19. I'm concerned but the best time for down-time is after an election

We've got a year to change the narrative. I'm not sure my local Dems have a clue what needs to be done.

[Upthevibe]

21. He's about to come up on

The Stephanie Miller show.

Thanks for this post.

[Paladin]

22. Somebody clue in the "liberal" New York Times editorial crowd... (nt)

[liberalmediaaddict]

25. Boehlert is spot on as always

His newsletter is essential reading.
I've given up on cable news and mainly follow Reuters, my local newspaper, DU, Crooked Media and various media critics on Twitter.

There has to be a way for Biden and Democrats to cut through the right wing noise and tout their accomplishments. It's hard because Democrats don't have a 24/7 platform like Fox News to get our message out. And no, MSNBC is not a liberal network. It's mainly a bunch of former Republicans giving Democrats unsolicited campaign advice and bashing us for not eliminating Trumpism (the monster they helped create).

[Elessar Zappa]

63. The way to counter it is through social media.

We can’t rely on cable because they’re not fair to Democrats. We need to have a team that specializes in social media, creating viral memes, buying ads on the platforms, etc. I believe that Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are responsible for the brainwashing of most people under 65 in this country. We have to hit back.

[Botany]

26. "U.S. troop pullout in Afghanistan was covered as a cataclysmic failure ...

even though the Biden administration not only ended the Forever War for America, but oversaw the largest, most efficient wartime evacuation in history, spiriting 120,000 Afghans out of the country. Nonetheless, the press was sure it was the White House’s “summer from hell” and that Biden was in a political “free fall.”

[True Blue American]

56. Amen!

Those people had time to get out after Trump signed with the Taliban. They were warned, refused to listen.

President Biden was right. They should have spoken right out at the lying press!

[Botany]

57. In the end we had grown ups working.

Did anybody hear that the Taliban would meet the Americans, other foreign nationals, and Afghans
that we said were our friends about 1 mile from the Kabul airport and escort them to special gates
and then hand them over to US forces? We did not lose 1 person. This happened because of negotiations
between us and the Taliban who were after all the powers to be in the country.

Biden and his people helped to pull off the largest and most successful airlift/evacuation in history
and he worked with other nations (called our allies) and different airline companies to pull it off.
BTW why wasn't the larger Bagram Airfield used? Oh, Trump's actions prior to Joe Biden being
POTUS all but gave it to the Taliban.

[True Blue American]

59. Every word true!

We need to speak out against the lying press and do nothing gossip mongering pundits.

Reminds me of the old neighborhood ladies peeking out of the lace curtains deploring the awful kids in the neighborhood, ignoring what her 6 or 7 were up to.

[Botany]

60. We "lost" Afghanistan when Donald Rumsfeld let bin Laden walk away from Tora Bora and ...

... the group that had did the suicide bombing outside of the Kabul airport ISIS had
its birth because we invaded Iraq and led to the formation of the original ISIS* despite
the warnings of blow back from such an adventure. But somehow much of the media
made Biden's proper decision to get out of that endless and unwinnable war as "Biden's
Chaotic Withdrawal From Afghanistan."

* And that ISIS went on to cause one of the biggest refugee crisis in history with their
actions in Syria.

[True Blue American]

61. Never a thought to look back at History.

The war was based on a lie. The Media pushed that war like crazy. Even the Reporters who have spent 20 years living off it showing us many of the horrors, failing to show how the lies caused it.

GW stuck his neck out a little criticizing the withdrawal but quickly pulled it back in. Not a peep out of Cheney. His daughter is getting good press now.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

30. Headline: "Biden's social bill is in trouble after his infrastructure bill struggled to an end."

Manchin's name usually appears within the first three paragraphs, with emphasis on all the parts of the bill he is demanding be cut. They'll also give credence to any musings he might express about the need for this bill after passing the last one?

What are they going to complain about once BBB passes? "After chaotic journey, Biden's socialist bill squeaks by, BUT Republicans claim his refusal to say 'Merry Christmas' is destroying the country"

Biden is demonstrating that a democratic government can work for everyone, while T**** and his mindless acolytes in the GQP are committed to continuing the coup and establishing an autocracy with TFG as its president-for-life. Guess which one gets the largest amount of positive press?

Having personally benefited financially from everything Biden and the Democrats have done -- but hearing the Regugs claim credit for it -- guess which party voters will put in charge in 2021? Anyone? Anyone?

Who do you think will be the first GOP politician to hold a self-congratulary ribbon-cutting ceremony at a bridge he didn't vote to save?

[Wounded Bear]

32. K & R...nt

[Peacetrain]

33. Thank you babylonsister for posting this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I almost pull my hair out by its ever whitening roots because of the negativity.. and people hang onto negative stories because of the adrenalin rush we get from them... they cut deeper pathways in to our memories.. A person can get a hundred compliments on what ever they are wearing and one person lies for the fun of it and says it makes them look like a buffalo.. the person will believe the lie over the truth 9 times out of 10 because the lies cause a deeper emotional response..

[c-rational]

40. Democracy's biggest problem - It's the media (stupid).

[dchill]

42. Wow. The media sure do miss them some Trump.

[Vinca]

45. You'd think this would be the case, but I've had CNN on while doing some kitchen chores

and you'd think it was the end of the world. In all my decades of watching news coverage of presidents, I've never seen anyone treated as badly as Joe Biden has been and is still being treated. The reporting is horrendous. God forbid they should talk about the number of Covid vaccines given and the dramatic drop in Covid deaths or the hundreds of thousands of jobs created or even the damn stock market. No. I'm surprised CNN didn't put up a graphic of the devil while reporting on Biden. I'm really pissed off. (No kidding, right?) And to make it worse there's really no way to contact them about their biased, shitty coverage.

[XanaDUer2]

64. I had to turn it off

I just cannot stand it anymore. Trump was never treated this way.

[mahina]

46. Thank you!

K and k and r and r.

[Torchlight]

47. For-profit media needs this struggle.

A vague, undefined conflict they can air over and over again gets the eyeballs, the emotional manipulation, and the advertisers.

[Ohioboy]

48. It's just like what they did to Obama

As things were getting better following the crash in 2008, Obama rarely got credit for things improving. And, when those publications that report on economic issues were forced to tell the truth they would run articles about how the economy was improving in spite of Obama, and not because of him.

[Joinfortmill]

49. Dems need to beat the drum

On their accomplishments

[spanone]

50. ...K&R...

[McKim]

51. I Talk Back to Them!

I talk back to them big time at the NYTimes Opinion page. This week I made several comments and one got 750 or so likes! We need to attack the media and call them out! One thing I said was : "It is obvious that this newspaper wants the Democrats to fail.". Tell it like it is. Thousands agreed and pushed back. Keep talking and tell them we are not having it!

[Scurrilous]

52. K&R

[Dopers_Greed]

53. A historic infrastructure bill, a recovery from the pandemic is almost here, great economic data

The lying media is doing their best to distract from this so they can get Baron Harkonnen elected again

[Laura PourMeADrink]

54. ??? You, and you alone, by your actions and deeds, create

the narrative. In personal life, in business, in politics. Seriously, in history, does anyone believe that anyone would be lauded for being great but dissed by media and opposition?

Biden WILL turn it around! Perhaps the Clintons or President Obama will advise? Hope so.

From a total armchair...we NEED a savvy PR group ASAP

[Blue Owl]

55. K&R

And FUCK tRUMP

[Demovictory9]

58. K&R

[Dawson Leery]

62. kick

[tblue37]

65. This:

Ironically, at the top of the Post site Friday afternoon was a column about how the White House is having trouble spreading good news about the economy.