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>If the editor concludes that it's a garbage story dropped a few days before the election in an attempt to influence the election Nobody disputes why this stor

>If the editor concludes that it's a garbage story dropped a few days before the election in an attempt to influence the election Nobody disputes why this story was dropped at the time it was dropped. It's a common tactic that has been practiced for decades by political campaigns and even media outlets. Heck, there is a reason why the Kavanaugh story broke when it did. There is a reason why the NY Times published Trump taxes when they did. What's different is that all of center-left/left news establishment decided that they are going to get Biden elected and protect him from any negative news.

addicted 6y ago
Except it wasn’t news.
- macspoofing 6y ago
  It isn't news that the son of a presidential candidate is and has been using his name to enrich himself, raising AT BEST questions about conflict of interest? Are you for real?
  - ping_pong 6y ago
    To me, it's the fact that Joe Biden didn't put a stop to this immediately. Regardless of the emails, Hunter Biden is/was a drug addict with no skills, being paid upwards of $50,000/month to be on a Board of Directors of a known corrupt company. What skill does he possess that is worth $600,000? The only thing that makes sense is his connection to Joe Biden. It's obvious they were paying him money to be on the board because of his connection to Joe Biden, and Joe Biden should have put a stop to it. That's the crux of the issue to me. The fact that the media is forming a wall of silence around this issue really does show the vast biases they have. This doesn't mean Trump isn't corrupt, by the way, which he is and I believe he is unfit to be president and nothing about the laptop or these emails stopped me from voting for Biden. But every tiny issue with Trump is magnified and overanalyzed by the media, but this rather big issue on Biden is swept under the rug. The media is just as corrupt and biased but the only losers are we the people.
    - epistasis 6y ago
      We elected George W Bush to President, whose history isn't so far away from Hunter Biden's except that the Biden family isn't insanely wealthy. This wasn't that long ago. Everybody should remember Bush's coke problems. You are right that there's a double standard, but I don't think that double standard is where you assert it is. I mean, has there been any investigation of the intelligence response to Russia having bounties on US soldiers' heads? And you think that "any small thing" by Trump gets investigated? Four years ago we were obsessing over emails from the Clintons, which Trump would have us believe were worthy of jailing Clinton. Yet here we are four years later with absolutely no wrongdoing exposed, no grand jury indictments, etc. The lack of awareness and short memories are astounding.
      - macspoofing 6y ago
        >has there been any investigation of the intelligence response to Russia having bounties on US soldiers' heads? Yeah. It turned out to be speculative bullshit. There is no link between American solider deaths in Afghanistan to any bounty program from Russia (or even that such a bounty program has ever existed). Why do you think the story just disappeared?
        epistasis 6y ago
        Might want to update Wikipedia if you can substantiate "bullshit" in some way: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_bounty_program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_bounty_program And we still don't have a President that can keep up with intelligence briefings, apparently.
        macspoofing 6y ago
        You may want to actually read the article. Pretty much everybody, from the Taliban, to Russians, to DoD and American intelligence, dismisses the story. The choice lines from YOUR source: - "On July 9, 2020, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr. and DOD intelligence agencies have not found a link between alleged Russian bounties and that specific attack." - "On September 14, 2020, Gen. McKenzie stated, "It just has not been proved to a level of certainty that satisfies me," reflecting a growing consensus among the U.S. military leaders that the anonymous sources initially presented in the media were either exaggerated or false." Give me a break. If there was even an inkling that this story was true, it would be front-page news from now until election day.
  - confidantlake 6y ago
    First there has to be credible evidence for any story to be news. It isn't news that aliens are planning to invade earth. Not because that wouldn't be a huge deal, but because there is no evidence to support it. Second, if there is evidence of a son using a name to enrich himself but there is no evidence that the father played a part, I don't think it is news. It may be a shitty thing ethically to do from the son, but I don't think it is particularly news worthy. I thought the same thing when they were talking about how the wife of Bush Jr killed someone in a driving accident. Newsworthy if a candidate did it, not newsworthy if his wife did.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
- SamBam 6y ago
  I can't reply directly to macspoofing above, so to explain it clearly: the story wasn't Biden's son enriching himself with his name -- that story has been covered by every news organization for over a year, and didn't need a new article on the eve of the election. The new story specifically relates to Joe Biden being a part of it, and enriching himself, and that's the part that no news organization has been able to verify.
  - nojito 6y ago
    Why would they waste time verifying it when Joe was cleared by two administrations and the intelligence community? Seems like you’re searching for proof of guilt rather assuming innocence.
  - macspoofing 6y ago
    >and didn't need a new article on the eve of the election. What the heck does that mean??!??! What do you mean it "didn't need a new article on the even of the election". WHY NOT?! Because you're voting for Biden? And by the way, Biden has denied all wrongdoing by Hunter. It is certainly relevant when you have concrete proof that his denial was wrong.
    - SamBam 6y ago
      For the same reason that the NY Times suddenly publishing a front-page article on the 26 women who have accused Trump of rape [1] the week before the election would be a blatant partisan hack move. It's well-trodden ground, it's been covered (some might say not enough, but regardless), there's no significant new news, and it would be a blatant attempt to influence the election. In this case, the Times has written numerous stories on Hunter's use of his name to try and make money. That story isn't new. The new part of the story is the insinuation that he did this with Joe Biden's permission, and that Joe himself may have been making money. That part hasn't been verified by anyone. 1. https://www.businessinsider.com/women-accused-trump-sexual-misconduct-list-2017-12 https://www.businessinsider.com/women-accused-trump-sexual-m...
      - 6y ago
Swizec 6y ago
> What's different is that all of center-left/left news establishment decided that they are going to get Biden elected and protect him from any negative news. That’s what we all wanted right? That’s the point of all the tech folks talking about no bystanders and corporations being forced to take a political stance was about wasn’t it? It worked. They’re taking a stance.
- whimsicalism 6y ago
  > That’s what we all wanted right What are you talking about? I'm unsure if you're describing the tenor of comments here, but there was a clear amount of uneasiness with how these platforms are using their reach, whether with the Biden story or Uber on Prop 22.
- macspoofing 6y ago
  >That’s what we all wanted right? I never wanted that. But yes, this sentiment is out there. And yes, this is the logical end result.
SamBam 6y ago
There are two errors with this. First of all, was it "censorship" when Fox News had not a single article on Trump's taxes for many days after the NY Times pice? No, tat's not censorship, it's an editorial decision. Second, you're missing the "garbage" part of "garbage story" in the line you quoted. A news organization has a responsibility to vet stories, and avoid publishing stories that can't be vetted.
- macspoofing 6y ago
  >when Fox News had not a single article on Trump's taxes for many days after the NY Times pice Are you saying that all the news outlets that refuse to mention this story are acting like partisan hacks??!? I AGREE! >Second, you're missing the "garbage" part of "garbage story" in the line you quoted. What's the 'garbage' part of this 'garbage story'? >and avoid publishing stories that can't be vetted. Who vetted the NY Times story? Did NY Times release the documents or their sources? Or did everyone just report it? How about the Kavanaugh allegations? Did anyone have issues putting out prosperous, unverified, and clearly false accusations just to get him and by extension Trump? How about the Steele dossier, initially an unverified, and later found to be a fabricated document, put out by the Russians and paid for by the Hillary campaign ... it served as a basis for YEARS of reporting. The last 4 years, we've seen the mainstream media throw out all semblance of journalistic integrity just to get Trump.
- int_19h 6y ago
  Of course it was censorship. Censorship can be narrowly scoped - in this case, to Fox.
reilly3000 6y ago
This isn’t any just negative news, it’s a PR campaign of epic proportions. I see plenty of legit coverage of Biden gaffes and corporate influence. Media outlets are wising up to publicists’ tactics about getting them to cover things and are making risky editorial decisions about what to run. We’ll see how it plays out.
captainill 6y ago
When the center-left tries to over index on fairness and balance it loses. We don't yet know how to combat the disinformation campaign the president and fox news are waging. Greenwald was just on Joe Rogan yesterday and they each are either ignorant or unmoved by the effects this disinformation is having on our public discourse. Greenwald purports to be the ultimate protector of free speech and want us to be free to question all our the most sacred ideas but what does it mean when what's published is not a good faith critique of our institutions but is instead just lies. How do we fight back because it is a fight. I can't help but also add that Joe Rogan is leaning heavily Right in this election because he's pissed it's not the old days where he could hop on the mic with your everyday misogyny, sexism, and dull thinking without repercussion -- this is the Left's doing in his mind. Their conversation was striking for its lack of critique of Trump on any matter while they lay into Biden. This entire episode is interesting and nuanced.
rat87 6y ago
Kavanaugh story broke when it did because it leaked
- macspoofing 6y ago
  Yes. And the leak along with the timing of it, was no accident.

addicted 6y ago

Except it wasn’t news.

macspoofing 6y ago
It isn't news that the son of a presidential candidate is and has been using his name to enrich himself, raising AT BEST questions about conflict of interest? Are you for real?
- ping_pong 6y ago
  To me, it's the fact that Joe Biden didn't put a stop to this immediately. Regardless of the emails, Hunter Biden is/was a drug addict with no skills, being paid upwards of $50,000/month to be on a Board of Directors of a known corrupt company. What skill does he possess that is worth $600,000? The only thing that makes sense is his connection to Joe Biden. It's obvious they were paying him money to be on the board because of his connection to Joe Biden, and Joe Biden should have put a stop to it. That's the crux of the issue to me. The fact that the media is forming a wall of silence around this issue really does show the vast biases they have. This doesn't mean Trump isn't corrupt, by the way, which he is and I believe he is unfit to be president and nothing about the laptop or these emails stopped me from voting for Biden. But every tiny issue with Trump is magnified and overanalyzed by the media, but this rather big issue on Biden is swept under the rug. The media is just as corrupt and biased but the only losers are we the people.
  - epistasis 6y ago
    We elected George W Bush to President, whose history isn't so far away from Hunter Biden's except that the Biden family isn't insanely wealthy. This wasn't that long ago. Everybody should remember Bush's coke problems. You are right that there's a double standard, but I don't think that double standard is where you assert it is. I mean, has there been any investigation of the intelligence response to Russia having bounties on US soldiers' heads? And you think that "any small thing" by Trump gets investigated? Four years ago we were obsessing over emails from the Clintons, which Trump would have us believe were worthy of jailing Clinton. Yet here we are four years later with absolutely no wrongdoing exposed, no grand jury indictments, etc. The lack of awareness and short memories are astounding.
    - macspoofing 6y ago
      >has there been any investigation of the intelligence response to Russia having bounties on US soldiers' heads? Yeah. It turned out to be speculative bullshit. There is no link between American solider deaths in Afghanistan to any bounty program from Russia (or even that such a bounty program has ever existed). Why do you think the story just disappeared?
      - epistasis 6y ago
        Might want to update Wikipedia if you can substantiate "bullshit" in some way: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_bounty_program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_bounty_program And we still don't have a President that can keep up with intelligence briefings, apparently.
        macspoofing 6y ago
        You may want to actually read the article. Pretty much everybody, from the Taliban, to Russians, to DoD and American intelligence, dismisses the story. The choice lines from YOUR source: - "On July 9, 2020, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr. and DOD intelligence agencies have not found a link between alleged Russian bounties and that specific attack." - "On September 14, 2020, Gen. McKenzie stated, "It just has not been proved to a level of certainty that satisfies me," reflecting a growing consensus among the U.S. military leaders that the anonymous sources initially presented in the media were either exaggerated or false." Give me a break. If there was even an inkling that this story was true, it would be front-page news from now until election day.
- confidantlake 6y ago
  First there has to be credible evidence for any story to be news. It isn't news that aliens are planning to invade earth. Not because that wouldn't be a huge deal, but because there is no evidence to support it. Second, if there is evidence of a son using a name to enrich himself but there is no evidence that the father played a part, I don't think it is news. It may be a shitty thing ethically to do from the son, but I don't think it is particularly news worthy. I thought the same thing when they were talking about how the wife of Bush Jr killed someone in a driving accident. Newsworthy if a candidate did it, not newsworthy if his wife did.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
SamBam 6y ago
I can't reply directly to macspoofing above, so to explain it clearly: the story wasn't Biden's son enriching himself with his name -- that story has been covered by every news organization for over a year, and didn't need a new article on the eve of the election. The new story specifically relates to Joe Biden being a part of it, and enriching himself, and that's the part that no news organization has been able to verify.
- nojito 6y ago
  Why would they waste time verifying it when Joe was cleared by two administrations and the intelligence community? Seems like you’re searching for proof of guilt rather assuming innocence.
- macspoofing 6y ago
  >and didn't need a new article on the eve of the election. What the heck does that mean??!??! What do you mean it "didn't need a new article on the even of the election". WHY NOT?! Because you're voting for Biden? And by the way, Biden has denied all wrongdoing by Hunter. It is certainly relevant when you have concrete proof that his denial was wrong.
  - SamBam 6y ago
    For the same reason that the NY Times suddenly publishing a front-page article on the 26 women who have accused Trump of rape [1] the week before the election would be a blatant partisan hack move. It's well-trodden ground, it's been covered (some might say not enough, but regardless), there's no significant new news, and it would be a blatant attempt to influence the election. In this case, the Times has written numerous stories on Hunter's use of his name to try and make money. That story isn't new. The new part of the story is the insinuation that he did this with Joe Biden's permission, and that Joe himself may have been making money. That part hasn't been verified by anyone. 1. https://www.businessinsider.com/women-accused-trump-sexual-misconduct-list-2017-12 https://www.businessinsider.com/women-accused-trump-sexual-m...
    - 6y ago

Swizec 6y ago

> What's different is that all of center-left/left news establishment decided that they are going to get Biden elected and protect him from any negative news. That’s what we all wanted right? That’s the point of all the tech folks talking about no bystanders and corporations being forced to take a political stance was about wasn’t it? It worked. They’re taking a stance.

whimsicalism 6y ago
> That’s what we all wanted right What are you talking about? I'm unsure if you're describing the tenor of comments here, but there was a clear amount of uneasiness with how these platforms are using their reach, whether with the Biden story or Uber on Prop 22.
macspoofing 6y ago
>That’s what we all wanted right? I never wanted that. But yes, this sentiment is out there. And yes, this is the logical end result.

SamBam 6y ago

There are two errors with this. First of all, was it "censorship" when Fox News had not a single article on Trump's taxes for many days after the NY Times pice? No, tat's not censorship, it's an editorial decision. Second, you're missing the "garbage" part of "garbage story" in the line you quoted. A news organization has a responsibility to vet stories, and avoid publishing stories that can't be vetted.

macspoofing 6y ago
>when Fox News had not a single article on Trump's taxes for many days after the NY Times pice Are you saying that all the news outlets that refuse to mention this story are acting like partisan hacks??!? I AGREE! >Second, you're missing the "garbage" part of "garbage story" in the line you quoted. What's the 'garbage' part of this 'garbage story'? >and avoid publishing stories that can't be vetted. Who vetted the NY Times story? Did NY Times release the documents or their sources? Or did everyone just report it? How about the Kavanaugh allegations? Did anyone have issues putting out prosperous, unverified, and clearly false accusations just to get him and by extension Trump? How about the Steele dossier, initially an unverified, and later found to be a fabricated document, put out by the Russians and paid for by the Hillary campaign ... it served as a basis for YEARS of reporting. The last 4 years, we've seen the mainstream media throw out all semblance of journalistic integrity just to get Trump.
int_19h 6y ago
Of course it was censorship. Censorship can be narrowly scoped - in this case, to Fox.

reilly3000 6y ago

This isn’t any just negative news, it’s a PR campaign of epic proportions. I see plenty of legit coverage of Biden gaffes and corporate influence. Media outlets are wising up to publicists’ tactics about getting them to cover things and are making risky editorial decisions about what to run. We’ll see how it plays out.

captainill 6y ago

When the center-left tries to over index on fairness and balance it loses. We don't yet know how to combat the disinformation campaign the president and fox news are waging. Greenwald was just on Joe Rogan yesterday and they each are either ignorant or unmoved by the effects this disinformation is having on our public discourse. Greenwald purports to be the ultimate protector of free speech and want us to be free to question all our the most sacred ideas but what does it mean when what's published is not a good faith critique of our institutions but is instead just lies. How do we fight back because it is a fight. I can't help but also add that Joe Rogan is leaning heavily Right in this election because he's pissed it's not the old days where he could hop on the mic with your everyday misogyny, sexism, and dull thinking without repercussion -- this is the Left's doing in his mind. Their conversation was striking for its lack of critique of Trump on any matter while they lay into Biden. This entire episode is interesting and nuanced.

rat87 6y ago

Kavanaugh story broke when it did because it leaked

macspoofing 6y ago
Yes. And the leak along with the timing of it, was no accident.