3 ms·

They're portrayed as evil in conservative media and by conservative politicians... which, as we know from Trump's election, are a hugely powerful and effective

They're portrayed as evil in conservative media and by conservative politicians... which, as we know from Trump's election, are a hugely powerful and effective influence on American politics.

mc32 5y ago
So, not by the mainstream media, right? So in some circles they are portrayed in a bad light. I think it's an exaggeration to say they are (implied universally) portrayed as evil. My experience with regard to negative opinion against them is from people who have to interact with Union employees.
- pmoriarty 5y ago
  "So, not by the mainstream media, right?" FOX News is the most successful news network in the US. It's very much in the mainstream.
  - mc32 5y ago
    Great. And what is the frequency and ratio of their mentioning unions and unions _EVIL_?
  - rayiner 5y ago
    Fox is the single largest one, but all the other ones put together are left leaning and bigger combined than Fox. You’re just making a point about consolidation in conservative media (okay?) not about the total impact of liberal versus conservative media.
  - nebula8804 5y ago
    Thats really the wrong metric to look at. Yes they are the largest but the median age of their viewer base is 70 years old. They are mainstream only in a few circles but don't really represent the mainstream of America. In fact along with MSNBC/CNN(median age 65) they have declining viewership numbers. This is why all these networks are making a big push(failing) into streaming.
  - parineum 5y ago
    > In prime time, Fox averaged 2.3 million viewers, including an average of 374,000 within the industry's coveted 25- to 54-year-old demographic. Tallest dwarf. > between the final quarters of 2014 and 2020, paid subscribers to The New York Times’ digital only news product increased from 910 thousand to over five million.
brimble 5y ago
They're also largely ignored by the supposedly-not-conservative parts of the media. You get a very different impression of unions (mainly, that they're not very active and/or barely exist) listening to NPR, versus Democracy Now.
- pmoriarty 5y ago
  How many Americans even know what Democracy Now is (much less listen to it), compared to the millions of FOX News viewers? Probably next to none.
  - brimble 5y ago
    Yeah, totally, I'm reinforcing your point. Fox News and conservative AM radio (which has many programs with a larger listenership than Democracy Now, I'm sure), not to mention places like Breitbart or OAN, portray unions negatively or not at all, while other mainstreams sources mostly just ignore them. You've gotta go pretty fringe-left to find anything that treats labor action outside of maybe the AFL-CIO or a few Hollywood unions and guilds, as worth consistently covering at all.
- dfxm12 5y ago
  Even MSNBC management made their workers jump through extra hoops to recognize their union. I continue to have no idea how people criticize the media as being "too liberal" with a straight face. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/559028-msnbc-says-it-wont-voluntarily-recognize-new-union-effort/ https://thehill.com/homenews/media/559028-msnbc-says-it-wont...
  - mc32 5y ago
    This does not disprove anything. MSNBC and others look after their own interests. That interest can be at odds with their ideology. They do not have to be internally consistent. Bernie Sanders wants millionaires (and billionaires) to pay very high taxes after certain cutoff --all well and good. He's a millionaire, the IRS allows you to overpay or donate to the treasury, but despite his beliefs, he personally does not overpay his taxes. The Soviet Union believed in workers' rights, except when it came to strategic state enterprises. Same with regard to luxury --yes, they frowned upon luxuries for the masses, but they did have dedicated "department stores" for the elites.

They're portrayed as evil in conservative media and by conservative politicians... which, as we know from Trump's election, are a hugely powerful and effective influence on American politics.

mc32 5y ago

So, not by the mainstream media, right? So in some circles they are portrayed in a bad light. I think it's an exaggeration to say they are (implied universally) portrayed as evil. My experience with regard to negative opinion against them is from people who have to interact with Union employees.

pmoriarty 5y ago
"So, not by the mainstream media, right?" FOX News is the most successful news network in the US. It's very much in the mainstream.
- mc32 5y ago
  Great. And what is the frequency and ratio of their mentioning unions and unions _EVIL_?
- rayiner 5y ago
  Fox is the single largest one, but all the other ones put together are left leaning and bigger combined than Fox. You’re just making a point about consolidation in conservative media (okay?) not about the total impact of liberal versus conservative media.
- nebula8804 5y ago
  Thats really the wrong metric to look at. Yes they are the largest but the median age of their viewer base is 70 years old. They are mainstream only in a few circles but don't really represent the mainstream of America. In fact along with MSNBC/CNN(median age 65) they have declining viewership numbers. This is why all these networks are making a big push(failing) into streaming.
- parineum 5y ago
  > In prime time, Fox averaged 2.3 million viewers, including an average of 374,000 within the industry's coveted 25- to 54-year-old demographic. Tallest dwarf. > between the final quarters of 2014 and 2020, paid subscribers to The New York Times’ digital only news product increased from 910 thousand to over five million.

brimble 5y ago

They're also largely ignored by the supposedly-not-conservative parts of the media. You get a very different impression of unions (mainly, that they're not very active and/or barely exist) listening to NPR, versus Democracy Now.

pmoriarty 5y ago
How many Americans even know what Democracy Now is (much less listen to it), compared to the millions of FOX News viewers? Probably next to none.
- brimble 5y ago
  Yeah, totally, I'm reinforcing your point. Fox News and conservative AM radio (which has many programs with a larger listenership than Democracy Now, I'm sure), not to mention places like Breitbart or OAN, portray unions negatively or not at all, while other mainstreams sources mostly just ignore them. You've gotta go pretty fringe-left to find anything that treats labor action outside of maybe the AFL-CIO or a few Hollywood unions and guilds, as worth consistently covering at all.
dfxm12 5y ago
Even MSNBC management made their workers jump through extra hoops to recognize their union. I continue to have no idea how people criticize the media as being "too liberal" with a straight face. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/559028-msnbc-says-it-wont-voluntarily-recognize-new-union-effort/ https://thehill.com/homenews/media/559028-msnbc-says-it-wont...
- mc32 5y ago
  This does not disprove anything. MSNBC and others look after their own interests. That interest can be at odds with their ideology. They do not have to be internally consistent. Bernie Sanders wants millionaires (and billionaires) to pay very high taxes after certain cutoff --all well and good. He's a millionaire, the IRS allows you to overpay or donate to the treasury, but despite his beliefs, he personally does not overpay his taxes. The Soviet Union believed in workers' rights, except when it came to strategic state enterprises. Same with regard to luxury --yes, they frowned upon luxuries for the masses, but they did have dedicated "department stores" for the elites.