News Print & Digital

Leonard Downie Offers Harsh Critique Of Media, President

“The idea that the media is somehow broken or not doing its job depends on your political persuasion and what media you’re consuming, Downie says”

Published

2 years ago

September 25, 2020

Ryan Hedrick

Former Washington Post editor Leonard Downie recently released a new book called All About the Story: News, Power, Politics and the Washington Post. In it, he makes some strong statements about the state of the media, the president, and the way the two institutions interact in 2020.

The evolution of Presidential media coverage has changed the way the Trump administration is covered. That isn’t to say the media is unfair to the president necessarily. Downie notes he clashed with ith the Clinton administration over Bill Clinton’s extramarital affairs. He also said he faced pushback for the paper’s coverage of the Bush administration’s runup to the Iraq war. But he calls President Donald Trump’s attacks on the media “absolutely unprecedented.”

“All presidents have not always told the truth. Empirically, it appears to me there’s much more falsity from this president and the administration.”

The idea that the media is somehow broken or not doing its job depends on your political persuasion and what media you’re consuming, Downie says. He does note that he believes reporters have been compromised by the way stories are covered on television.

“It’s lucrative for outstanding news reporters to appear on TV,” Downie tells Fox. “Even if they are not stating opinions themselves, they’re in those boxes on panels with people that are stating opinions.

He also criticized platforms like Twitter for the way it tempts and rewards reporters.

“I don’t like that people who are fact-finding newspaper reporters are expressing opinions in any venue, including on Twitter,” he says.

Ryan Hedrick

Ryan Hedrick serves as the Co-Host of the Morning News Express at WFMD. He started in radio at 17 years old, doing sports and news for his high school radio station. He then spent several years at WFMD in Frederick, MD before joining WBEN in Buffalo, NY. In 2016, while working at WIBW-AM in Topeka KS, Hedrick earned the Kansas Association of Broadcasters (KAB) award for Major Market enterprise reporting. Hedrick grew up in Southern California where he attended Cal State University of Northridge. He can be found on Twitter @SureToCover.

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News Print & Digital

Lulu Garcia-Navarro to Host Opinion Podcast for NY Times

“When a lot of us hear the word “opinion” we think of hot takes — points of view in reaction to the news. But what about the experiences that shape our opinions?” The Times said in a press release.

Published

2 days ago

May 20, 2022

Eduardo Razo

New York Times

The New York Times will have a new opinion podcast coming out soon called “First Person.” The company announced that Peabody Award-winning journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro will host this new show beginning June 9th.

“That’s the question we’re exploring in “First Person,” a new podcast from New York Times Opinion with Lulu Garcia-Navarro. In each episode, Lulu sits down with people living through the headlines for intimate and surprising conversations that help us make sense of our complicated world.”

Garcia-Navarro will bring plenty of experience to her new podcast as a two-time Peabody Award-winning journalist with years of interviewing world leaders, authors, artists, and people living on the front lines of a changing world.

“This show is a new way of understanding where people’s opinions come from. It’s urgent and intimate and takes someone who is living through something incredible and asks them how they came to believe what they believe,” Garcia-Navarro said per Radio Ink.

Eduardo Razo

Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.

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News Print & Digital

Twitter Will Not Renegotiate Original Offer with Elon Musk

Twitter doesn’t plan on backing down from the agreement even as Musk attempts to cast doubt about the number of fake accounts on the platform.

Published

2 days ago

May 20, 2022

Eduardo Razo

Twitter is playing hardball with Elon Musk, who initially agreed to buy the social media platform for $44-billion. During a town hall meeting, executives of the company told staffers they would not renegotiate the price of his takeover agreement, per The Daily Beast.

Furthermore, Twitter doesn’t plan on backing down from the agreement even as Musk attempts to cast doubt about the number of fake accounts on the platform.

Nonetheless, earlier this week, the company stated that they had plans to “close the transaction and enforce the merger agreement” between the Telsa CEO and the social media giant.

The terms of the buyout contract will make it hard for him to evade the deal with Twitter. It contains a $1 billion breakup fee, and the company could sue to compel Musk to follow through on the transaction.

Last week, the entrepreneur tweeted that he was placing the deal on hold until Twitter could verify that spam and fake accounts do not comprise more than 5 percent of its users.

Musk stated that he was dedicated to purchasing the company and indicated that he was open to a deal at a lower price.

Eduardo Razo

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News Print & Digital

Donald Trump Accuses Google of Trying to Ruin TRUTH Social

Truth Social was developed by Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) and is headed by former congressman Devin Nunes.

Published

2 days ago

May 20, 2022

Ryan Hedrick

Former President Donald Trump is not happy with Google. According to Rolling Stone, Trump believes that the tech giant is trying to ruin his new social media platform, TRUTH Social. The platform is currently not available to Android users which have drawn the ire of Trump.

“One person whom the outlet did not identify claimed to have discussed TRUTH Social’s unavailability for Android users with Trump,” the magazine wrote. “The person said he has also asked questions such as, “What’s up with Google?” and, “[is Google trying to] screw with me?”

Truth Social was developed by Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) and is headed by former congressman Devin Nunes.

Trump reportedly believes that Google and YouTube are out to get him. “This has left Trump with questions about the status of the product and whether his perceived enemies at Google had any plans to reject it,” the report said.

“Is Google trying to f**k me?” Trump asked.

Big Tech banned Trump from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat following the Jan. 6 riots.