Stealth Story Evolution – POLITICO
When the readers serve as the fact-checkers, these changes are commonplace.
The effort to rewrite the history of Kamala Harris continues in the press, as yet another topic concerning the newly minted Democratic candidate is in need of being revamped for the campaign. This time it is her stance on fracking that is becoming a negative issue, thus, another batch of altered histories is being attempted.
Politico delivers a piece on how Donald Trump has been discussing Kamala’s desire to get rid of fracking in this country. Politico described this as an “accusation” made by Trump, an “allegation,” as if this was disputable. The main problem? Harris is clearly on the record repeatedly declaring she was firmly against fracking.
Once this reality had been pointed out and Politico mocked, the outlet altered its headline to sound far more neutral.
Initial framing
— Brad Slager - Scrubbing Down In a Bloodbath (@MartiniShark) July 29, 2024
vs.
Result of being called out for ignoring the facts. pic.twitter.com/NheqOggMux
DNC PR Firm – VARIOUS OUTLETS
This candid moment was amazingly covered perfectly.
Numerous news outlets enthusiastically covered former President Barack Obama spontaneously calling up Kamala Harris to lend his full endorsement of her for the campaign.
Less enthusiastic was the analysis of this event. Not only were there cameras conveniently running just at the moment he dialed in, but Harris had her phone set to speaker so all could hear (as she held it to her ear), but there was little risk it might have been missed. It just so happened she was also wearing a Lavalier wireless microphone.
Watch Kamala Harris answer a phone call from Barack and Michelle Obama, officially endorsing her for president. https://t.co/xZplpsgXgQ pic.twitter.com/piKfxhdC1A
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) July 26, 2024
Race to the Bottom – PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE
Criticizing the Kamala Harris record? Oh yeah, that's racist.
Eugene Daniels of Politico was on the panel and he essentially laid the groundwork for the inevitable talking points going forward in this election – sexism and racism will be the knee-jerk explanation for most criticisms of Kamala Harris over the next three months:
I will also say, something that’s really important is that we’ve already seen a lot of racism and sexism, and that’s going to be a huge part of this campaign. And Republican leadership are talking to them behind the scene, and saying please cut it out there are things that we can talk about here, but calling her a DEI hire, and being sexist, I won’t say the things that they’ve been saying.
TONIGHT: @peterbakernyt, @EugeneDaniels2, @AdamHSays and @asmamk join @JeffreyGoldberg to discuss how the landscape of the 2024 election has changed now that Vice President Kamala Harris is poised to be the Democratic Party’s nominee.
— Washington Week with The Atlantic | PBS (@washingtonweek) July 26, 2024
Watch at 8/7c on @PBS! pic.twitter.com/xg6KMhQhj6
Stealth Story Evolution – ASSOCIATED PRESS
It was worth mentioning, but not worth keeping on the site.
J.D. Vance has been a lightning rod for criticism since he was tabbed to join Donald Trump on the Republican ticket, not enjoying any of the glowing coverage Kamala Harris has been receiving. He has even been on the receiving end of false claims, including one that was circulating about his allegedly once having had a sexual experience with a sofa. This fraud was made by a social media account that falsely stated it was based on an entry in Vance’s memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.”
The Associated Press had performed a fact-check on this bizarre and ridiculous claim, but inexplicably, it was taken down. A passing mention was made about it not meeting the standards of the news syndicate, but this still allowed a number of news outlets to use that decision as cause to repeat the false story.
The @AP yanked down this fact-check on a completely fraudulent story about Vance, yet others in the press use it as an excuse to repeat the false claim. pic.twitter.com/aEnaab4DGt
— Lie-Able Sources (@LieAbleSources) July 29, 2024
Matching Media Memorandum – VARIOUS OUTLETS
Such a generic term used at the same time is rather convenient.
Vox referring to Vance as “weird” was more than just a tossaway line. This was suddenly a common description cropping up repeatedly this weekend across the media landscape. It was so prominent that it became measurable.
Tom Elliot of Grabien performed a term search and came to find out that between just two news networks – CNN and MSNBC – Vance was described as “weird” over 150 times. That was the total heard from them over a span of only two days. The talking points had been delivered.
As the Grabien data below demonstrates, CNN & MSNBC are the locomotives pulling the “Vance is weird” talking point. In the last two days they’ve broadcast that DNC line more than 150 times between the two networks. pic.twitter.com/OsAJhXaKYt
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) July 29, 2024
Anti-Social Media – THE GUARDIAN
You almost could not have planned it to be any worse...
Every so often there is a case of an ill-timed advertisement cropping up with a news item that is deeply inappropriate and/or tasteless when juxtaposed with the subject matter. These instances can usually be excused away with explanations that the ads were selected by a user’s algorithm or may have been randomly generated by an outside advertising server. This deflection is not an option, however, when it comes to an example in print.
This weekend, The Guardian ran a feature about a married couple where the wife discovered her husband had been looking at content displaying abusive acts with children. Directly in the middle of this article was a print ad for timepieces that simply had the words “Watch Porn” boldly displayed.
— Alex Selby-Boothroyd (@AlexSelbyB) July 27, 2024
Legalized Press-titution – NEW YORK MAGAZINE
Can you at least try to pretend you are not operating at the level of an escort’s customer...?
This new magazine cover is just…
Welcome to Kamalot! Our new issue grapples with the two weeks that reshaped the 2024 election — and the thrill of taking a risk on Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee.
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) July 29, 2024
Read our latest now: https://t.co/SxuIO6orTx pic.twitter.com/GKeozlI5TO
