Former Australian Prime Minister Lambasts Rupert Murdoch in CNN Interview

 From CNN's "Reliable Sources" Newsletter tonight:

"Market for crazy"   Most moments on cable news are ephemeral – that's the nature of the 24/7 beast – but this recent interview with Malcolm Turnbull is an exception to the rule. Ever since it aired on Sunday morning, I've been getting emails and texts and DMs about what he said and how he said it. Turnbull, the former Australian prime minister, delivered a brutal evaluation of Rupert Murdoch's effects on the world.   He spoke with the poise of a world leader who knows that many other public figures fear the repercussions of criticizing the Murdoch media empire. "People in public life are terrified," he told me, terrified that "a vendetta will be launched against them," whether through News Corp papers or Fox Corp TV shows or other forums. But that just makes this subject all the more important. His view, shared by many, is that Murdochworld has created a "market for crazy," resulting in "enormous damage to the United States."   We decided to publish the entire 24-minute interview with Turnbull on our podcast feed so that folks can hear the portions that didn't make air. Turnbull went into more detail about the impact of Murdoch media's climate denialism; the family divide between brothers Lachlan and James; and Fox's "imitators in the right wing media ecosystem." Turnbull's main point: Rupert "has to take responsibility for what he has done."     Three key quotes    -- "What Murdoch has delivered, largely through Fox News in the US, is exactly what Vladimir Putin wanted to achieve with his disinformation campaigns."    -- "One of the biggest obstacles to effective global action on global warming has been the influence of right wing populist politics, climate change denial, massively amplified by Murdoch."    -- "It breaks my heart as an Australian to see the damage that has been done to American society and American democracy by this right wing populist agenda... which is in large part all about denying the facts."   Hear the rest of Turnbull's remarks via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, or your favorite app...

Subscribe to the Reliable Sources nightly newsletter at www.ReliableSources.com, and set your DVR to record it every Sunday at 9 a.m. Mountain Time. 

The Trump Era Is Summed up by the phrase "Enemy of the People"

I have to share these opening paragraphs from tonight's "Reliable Sources" email newsletter. (Subscribe here.) 

Enemy of the people

 

If someone managed to sleep through the Trump years, and asked me what they'd missed, I'd start with "enemy of the people." Why? Because Trump's demonization of the media explains almost everything. He convinced his fans that the people covering him were lying. He advised them to trust certain Fox shows and ignore practically everything else. He said he was in a "running war with the media" on his very first weekend in office, and never stopped.

 

Many times, in many influential corners of the mainstream media, there was an impulse to ignore Trump's attacks. To deprive him of oxygen. But here's the counter-argument: Americans are drinking from a poisoned well of information. It's what caused some of the fractures in America and exacerbated so many of the others. And the poison is advertised as an antidote! Whataboutism, cherry-picked controversies, cover-ups of Trump's corruption – all of it flows 24/7 from a parallel universe of news, a universe that is largely predicated on criticism of legacy news outlets. All of it relates back to Trump's endless campaign against the people who report the news. The people he labeled as the "enemy."

 

Trump said it more and more every year, between 2017 and 2020, according to Factba.se data. And his base believed it. Disdain for the media glued his base together. That's why, in my view, "enemy of the people" is the No. 1 thing to understand about the past four years. It needs to be factored into every story about governmental action and inaction, every analysis of American politics, even after President-elect Biden is sworn in...

 

 

A "cult president"

 

David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, wrote this about Suffolk and USA Today's newest poll: "What does it mean to be a 'cult president' — one whose supporters will believe and trust him no matter what any other government officials, academics, journalists, politicians, and 'professional' experts say? Donald Trump could at the very least be characterized as one of the few presidents with a cult of personality and a cult-like following."

 

"A whopping 78 percent of Republicans do NOT believe that Joe Biden was legitimately elected president," Paleologos wrote. In the poll, he wrote, "we ask a question about which television and news sources are trusted the most. Among those who trust Fox News, 16% said that Biden was elected legitimately and 83% said he was not. If you combine the next seven news sources including PBS, NPR, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS and NBC, 93% said Biden was legitimately elected and 6% said he was not."

 

Biden was elected legitimately. The widespread belief that he was not – that a vast conspiracy rigged the election against Trump – is evidence of radicalization among the Fox-GOP base. Conservative columnist and CNN contributor Matt Lewis tweeted on Monday, "As a lifelong conservative, I am still surprised by how many people I thought were like me have revealed themselves to be right-wing AUTHORITARIANS."

Here's what talk radio is saying about Joe Biden - and people believe it!

 

Rush Limbaugh, Aug. 5: “The contrast in knowledge of events and issues, mental acuity, the contract between Trump and Biden is striking. It’s why they’re keeping Biden in the basement.”

Mark Levin, Aug. 5: “I actually don’t believe Joe Biden is working out of his house. I believe he’s working out of a nursing home or an assisted living home. Because that’s what he needs…. Oy, yoy, yoy, at least get new dentures for God’s sakes.”

Ben Shapiro, Aug. 6: “The big problem for Joe Biden is that he is falling apart. He’s just falling apart.”

Michael Savage, Aug. 5: “He’s not really running for the office. It’s the communist that he picks as his number two who will be running America within 3 months after he is sent to the long, long rest he has worked for all his life. You know, a blanket over his hips, around the clock sweets, around the clock care, the man needs the care right now. I pity the man.”

Thanks to my favorite Sunday morning show, "Reliable Sources" on CNN.  Set your DVR for this show at 9 a.m. every Sunday.  And subscribe to their nightly email newsletter at http://cnn.it/reliable.  It's amazing how thoroughly this show's staff monitors the world's media.  This is must-see TV, all about how the media works.  I never miss it. 

Trump's "Enemy of the People" Rhetoric Led to Police Assaults on Reporters

Maybe you have seen the footage of TV reporters and their crews being targeted and even arrested while covering the demonstrations and rioting which followed the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

I'm waiting for someone to suggest that assaults by police officers on reporters displaying press credentials is the logical and inevitable result of President Trump's declaring that the mainstream media are the "enemy of the people."

As a long-time journalist myself, the CNN program "Reliable Sources" (Sunday at 9 a.m.) is a must-watch for me, and their nightly email newsletter is a must-read.  You can subscribe to it here. 

Here's an excerpt from the Tuesday, June 2nd, Reliable Sources newsletter:

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker says it has counted 211 "press freedom violations" since the start of the George Floyd protests, which in some cases have led to riots. The group's records show "33+ arrests, 143 assaults (118 by police, 25 by others), 35 equipment/newsroom damage."

This huge total # of infringements is partly a reflection of the sheer scope of the unrest... but it also an indication of something sinister at work. Many of the affected journalists have said they felt targeted. Tuesday's letter to Minnesota authorities addressed that: "In every case that we are aware of, there are strong indications that officers knew the journalist was a member of the press."

Words matter, especially from the President of the United States.  Since 32% of the general population is Trump's "base," which accepts as truth what their "great leader" says, it only makes sense that 32% of police officers, more or less, are part of his base, too, and have blindly accepted Trump's statement that journalists (except from Fox News, of course) are the enemy of the people.  It makes sense that some of those pro-Trump police officers would feel justified in attacking a journalist who embeds himself or herself in a demonstration. It only makes sense that a paramilitary officer would feel justified in attacking or arresting an "enemy of the people." 

We saw this same dynamic at work earlier in Trump's reign.  His anti-immigrant and anti-minority "dog whistles" emboldened white supremacists and other alt-right members to come out of hiding and participate openly and blatantly in such demonstrations as the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, where they carried torches and chanted "Jews Will Not Replace Us!"  These people always existed in society, but it was only when the President of the United States started "speaking their language" that they felt comfortable making their feelings known.

I mentioned the Charlottesville rally in last week's "Talking Turkey" column and got several emails and a few letters from Trump supporters, one of whom made a point of defending Trump's statement that there were "many fine people" among the alt-right and white supremacist demonstrators.  Here's a paragraph from Jane W.'s email:

When you refer to the statement about “many fine people” during the Alt right and Antifa demonstrators’ in Charlottesville what do you think these peoples’ “day jobs” were?   These demonstrators may have carried around their “torches” when they were demonstrating – but probably were wearing business suits and holding very important positions and jobs in their communities (fine people to those that work with them and know them-they probably don’t know their “dark” side)?  I would bet that among these demonstrators there were upstanding citizens in their communities, maybe they were leaders, business men, church goers, PTA officers, teachers, city council members – fine people respected by their communities when they are living their daily lives. (Remember the democrats KKK when very prominent men would dress up and terrorize and kill colored people – wearing hoods, of course so they were not recognized, but undoubtedly considered “fine people” when their robe and hood was off.)

Yes, and some of them may have been police officers -- very fine police officers, when among fellow white people.

And that's the problem, isn't it?

"Enemy of the People"

I strongly recommend watching "Reliable Sources" on CNN at 9 a.m. Sundays and subscribing to host Brian Stelter's nightly newsletter.  You can subscribe to it at http://cnn.it/reliable.  Here's the lead story from his Thursday night email:

Radicalized

I usually come up short when I reach for words to describe the radicalization of the far right in America. This short video conveys it like no words can. Kevin Vesey, a reporter for News 12 Long Island, covered a reopening rally in Commack on Thursday. Vesey was harassed by a bevy of pro-Trump protesters who called him "fake news," a "traitor," and so on.

After he shared the video on Twitter and it went viral, Vesey followed up by saying, "I'll probably never forget what happened today. I was insulted. I was berated. I was practically chased by people who refused to wear masks in the middle of a pandemic. All the while, I was there to tell THEIR story." He did, and he filed this fairreport at the end of the day.

Among the verbal arrows targeting Vesey: "You're disgusting." "You are the virus." "You are the enemy of the people!" "You shouldn't be here." "Traitor!" "F--- you. You guys are f---ing fake news." Some of the taunts were very personal, reflecting the fact that Vesey is well known in the community: "Tell the truth, Kevin, come on." At one point the crowd chanted: "Fake news is not essential."

This crowd didn't reflect all Trump supporters, nor did it reflect all Long Islanders. But these behaviors toward the news media... the intolerance... the indecency... have all been modeled by President Trump for several years. No one should be surprised to see it infect local communities. But everyone should be disturbed by it. Constructive critiques make journalism better, but destructive attacks make society worse.