Thicker Than Water

What this weekend's "Bloodbath" Moment tells us about the state of journalism in 2024

March 18, 2024

Dateline: The week Don Lemon came back, and caused some new drama

Watching this week…

— American journalism’s terrible “bloodbath” moment

— What Acosta’s promotion means for CNN

— Stewart, Gillis, and our culture today

— When the press turns on Biden…

— Great Moments in Racist AI Journalism

What our “Bloodbath” Moment says about the corporate press, Trump, and the months ahead

Donald Trump was delivering a rant over the weekend, on a subject that combined three of his favorite topics dating back nearly nine years when he announced his run for president in 2015, if not longer — China, Mexico, and tariffs. He was speaking extemporaneously about China building plants in Mexico to sell cars to the U.S., promising to impose giant tariffs on them if he’s elected in 2024. “Now if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole,” he said, trailing off. “That’s going to be the least of it, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole country, that’s going to be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars.” Then he went off ranting about his friend who builds car plants.

For any neutral, objective, observer, it was obvious the point Trump was making — if Biden is re-elected, the automobile industry will be hurt, as will the rest of the country’s economy, because of the way China and, by extension, Mexico are eating our proverbial lunch.

But we no longer have a corporate media apparatus that serves as neutral, objective, observers. And so we got framing like this from Politico, one of the first media outlets on Saturday night to frame the comments about the “bloodbath” as if it was somehow a tacit call to violence.

Now some media outlets didn’t follow Politico’s lead. CNN, for example, noted in its headline yesterday that Trump was “warning” about a “bloodbath” for the “auto industry” if he loses in 2024. The Daily Beast followed that same, accurate and precise, framing.

This bothered political “influencers,” like Senator Brian Schatz, a frequent poster on X. He posted late Saturday night a directive to the press: “Headline writers: Don’t outsmart yourself. Just do ‘Trump Promises Bloodbath if he Doesn’t Win Election.’”

So, partisans are going to partisan — these creatures don’t understand how journalism works, and it’s not surprising to see them attempt to exert some influence on the Acela Media. But a media that is strong, and comfortable in its own principles, would eschew this attempt at swaying the coverage — laugh and scoff at it, even.

Instead, what we saw was a level of subservience to this point of view — and a seemingly deliberate attempt to misinform viewers and readers. CBS News in its post on X, ABC News in its framing on the Sunday evening news. MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough initially posted a video linking the “bloodbath” comment to January 6, inexplicably sharing some rando #Resistance dude’s video of violence at the Capitol that he has promised to post every day until the election. Scarborough would later delete the misinformation after being directly called out by Elon Musk.

Grabien put together a great supercut of all sorts of uses of the term “bloodbath” on cable news and in the legacy media from the past, but in many ways this misses the point. No person thinking logically and objectively —inside the press or outside of it —would watch the clip in context and believe Trump is calling for some violent uprising when he uses the term “bloodbath.” He is literally using the dictionary definition of the term.

It doesn’t matter, because some in the corporate press believe there is a higher calling now when it comes to their occupation. “‘Bloodbath,’ aside, Trump’s violent rhetoric is unambiguous,” writes The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake today. What he’s really saying — ‘it doesn’t matter if we take this particular comment out of context. He’s Trump. He’s bad. And we have to stop him.’

Joe Biden’s campaign has already turned the fully out-of-context comment into a campaign ad, full of other out-of-context comments to smear his opponent and raise the temperature in the country. And Biden’s buddy Joe Scarborough has obliged in elevating the smear himself today, in one of the more absurd clips you’ll see.

This is nothing new — in fact, it’s a callback to what we saw during the entirety of the Trump Era. As I lay out in my book “Uncovered: How the Media Got Cozy With Power, Abandoned Its Principles, and Lost the People” — available now in paperback! — this is a perfect encapsulation of so much of what’s wrong with the modern media. It’s Glance Journalism. Pascal’s Wager of Woke Journalism. And obviously a very severe case of The Trump Addiction.

So it’s not new, but it’s also a sign of what’s to come for the rest of this campaign — where large elements of the press once again believe they’re in an existential fight with a guy running for office, and they’ve abandoned their mission of objectivity in favor of a new one that involves “saving democracy” or whatever they’ve convinced themselves about.

Jen Psaki was Biden’s press secretary. Now she hosts a show on MSNBC — and described the “context” of the “bloodbath” comment yesterday as Trump wanting insurrection and violence. Jen Psaki, who last week was giving out awards to her new colleagues in the press as she hosted the First Amendment Awards. That’s about all the context you need to know about where the state of journalism is today.

Blood is thicker than water. And for today’s corporate press, stopping Trump is more important than truth, fairness, and accuracy. It’s a higher calling, a more valued mission. But for those who would prefer a media that simply did the job of a journalist, this Bloodbath Moment will resonate, and further erode trust in the institution.

Jim Acosta was promoted at CNN by the new management, signaling… something notable

It was just like old times, sort of — fact-checker extraordinaire Daniel Dale, largely sidelined for the duration of the Biden presidency, was back on CNN recently, to conceivably fact-check the President of the United States when he made a border visit last month, the same day former President Trump did. Except that’s not what happened. Handwaving Biden’s comments as “highly factual,” Dale stuck to fact-checking his favored target, Trump, instead. Ah yes. What’s old is new again — 2024 is simply a return to the Trump years, apparently, at CNN.

It pairs nicely with an elevation of a former top Trump antagonist at the network, who was previously relegated to a lengthy but largely anonymous weekend slot. Jim Acosta is perhaps the individual most representative of the Zucker Era of Journalism at CNN that remains employed at the network. And in a somewhat surprising turn of events, he was quietly promoted last month to host the 10amET hour every weekday.

What’s that been like? Here’s an example of the vibe of the show, with Acosta interviewing Democratic strategist James Carville during the first week, citing “The Big Lie” and essentially framing his question using the greatest hits of a #Resistance-targeting broadcaster (click the screenshot to watch the interview):

Recall that it was the former head of CNN, Chris Licht, who publicly discouraged his talent from using the term “The Big Lie” because he correctly pointed out it was a political framing that undermined the credibility of the network.

But apparently those minor guardrails are removed. Former New York Times CEO Mark Thompson was brought on in August as the new CEO, and has now started to make some on-air moves at the network. Thompson has a reputation for being a business-first leader, more interested in focusing on the bottom line rather than the editorial output. The question regarding Acosta’s promotion is — does he not know about what Acosta represents, or does he just not care?

Either could conceivably be true. But both do not bode well for what it says about the direction of CNN. Either Thompson is fine with Acosta’s brand of “journalism” being elevated, or he’s not paying attention to the credibility damage it does to have that become part of his revamped weekday lineup. As reports emerge that CNN is looking to potentially slash big salaries of top anchors, Acosta might look like a cheaper alternative, and someone who brings with him a large social media footprint and a cheerleading fanbase, of sorts.

But that surface interpretation of who Acosta is and what he signals about the direction of CNN is lacking a nuanced picture. Unless it’s part of the plan — in which case, it’s a bad sign for those of us who hoped the network would get back to being “boring old CNN” and begin the hard work of establishing trust with the audience that just wants the news.

On Thursday last week, Acosta brought on CNN’s JV media guy for the most snark-filled, embarrassingly ignorant segment about X and Elon Musk that could possibly be constructed on cable news. On Saturday at 4:30pmET, it would have been one thing. Post-promotion — this is, apparently, the new CNN.

[I spent a chapter on CNN in my book, “Uncovered” — about my time at the network as well as stories from others who worked there, like Salena Zito, Will Cain, John Roberts and more. Check it out!]

From Jon Stewart to Shane Gillis, a telling comedic moment in our culture and media

Two events took place last month that signal where we currently stand in our culture. First was Shane Gillis hosting Saturday Night Live — and being funny. I wrote about it in The Hill, on how Gillis flipped the script on the cultural scolds today: “There’s a dearth of critical thinking and nuance among our supposed cultural elites. But Shane Gillis on SNL proves that the unimpressive consensus-pushers are losing. The state of our culture, and the country as a whole, is better for it.”

And slightly before that was the return of Jon Stewart to his old home “The Daily Show” — and the instant, hyperbolic reaction to it that came next. My TheHill column warned Stewart was about to learn a hard truth about the state of media and culture: “Stewart has ‘appalled’ the left because of his ‘betrayal’ for daring to state the obvious about Joe Biden. Welcome to the all-or-nothing future you helped build, Jon. Good luck — you’ll need it.” (Russell Brand ended up reading a large portion of the column on his show while discussing the Stewart topic.)

Of course, this also relates back to “Uncovered,” and specifically the section detailing the consensus vs. counter-consensus moment we’re in — where the counter-consensus (and counter-culture) is winning, exemplified by stars like Joe Rogan.

So what comes next? It pairs perfectly with this next section— on if, and when, a shift in coverage of Biden’s age may be on the horizon.

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The corporate media isn’t ready to push out Biden yet — but that might be coming

In “Uncovered” I laid out how the Democratic party establishment teamed up with the left-leaning press to torpedo Bernie Sanders’ 2020 primary run just as it seemed he was about to run away with the nomination. So there’s precedent for the political and media elite making a concerted effort to successfully impact the Democratic nominee for president. And it could happen again in 2024.

Now, as of this moment, the press has not made that turn to take out Joe Biden, and replace him with a younger, more competent, more popular candidate. Instead, we’re getting reputational rehab jobs like this from NBC on some of the more embarrassing media moments of 2020:

Oh they feel vindicated, do they? A little journalism could enlighten them as to why they shouldn’t.

And in the wake of the Robert Hur special counsel report, we saw example after example of the media jumping to defend Biden from the revelations laid out for the world to see.

But there’s still time. Watch the polls, in particular. If they stay at five-alarm fire level for the Biden campaign, there’s going to be more rumblings like this from the New York Times’ Ezra Klein, who last month pushed to have the Democrats replace Biden and hold a contested convention. He’s an influential voice, and it matters. (I direct your attention to when Chris Stirewalt was on The Megyn Kelly Show last year, and laid out a scenario where the Democrats could replace Biden after the convention and it would simply require the DNC selecting who the nominee would be — watch out for that!)

We have a very long eight months ahead of us before Election Day. The press has tremendous power on the Democratic side… and exerting it could become a major story in the near future.

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WATCH IT… People can overplay the term “real,” but it’s hard to use any other description for the conversation Pat McAfee had a couple weeks ago on the “All The Smoke” podcast, and this particular moment when he retold the story of calling out a top ESPN executive live on his ESPN show. McAfee oozes authenticity, and when he says he “don’t got no mf-ing boss”… I think he means it.

HEAR IT… I like Coleman Hughes and most of the others involved, and would have expected a two-hour debate on Reason’s “Just Asking Questions” podcast about the George Floyd case, trial, and media narratives to be substantive and fair. Instead, it was a 3 vs. 1 onslaught, full of emotionality rather than rationality from the two hosts and Radley Balko, and Hughes emerged as the clear winner.

READ IT… Two fascinating pieces with an Israel-Gaza theme to them… First, a brilliant look in Tablet Magazine at the reality of the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, with real evidence for why the media should not trust what they are putting out. And a thought-provoking long-read in The Washington Post, about the nuances to an encounter on a playground in NYC, and the ramifications of that moment.

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QUICK HITS

• Don Lemon’s debut interview with Elon Musk drops today, and the backstory is one of the juicier media stories of the past year. What a mess — and a must-watch for what happens next. More to come…

• Vice Media was once the hot new media property — now it’s basically dead, as the site has gone dormant.

• Speaking of dead, goodbye to Deadspin, which has been sold to a foreign buyer and essentially shuttered too, with the staff fired.

• Mehdi Hasan has re-emerged since his MSNBC exit, starting a “media company” (love that Substacks are now called “media companies”!), as well as writing for The Guardian.

• YouTube star Patrick Bet-David has hired Chris Cuomo to be a “talent partner,” but Cuomo remains with NewsNation and hosting his own podcast.

• Former Daily Beast editor and CNN contributor and fill-in host John Avlon is now running for Congress, as a Democrat on Long Island.

• I thought the upcoming “Civil War” movie would be a January 6-tinged #Resistance fantasy, but this interview with the filmmaker Alex Garland was encouraging — talking about the bubbles both extreme left and right live in.

⏪ REWIND // FAST FORWARD: NYT Israel Bias Edition ⏩

⏪ The Intercept was among the progressive media outlets that took on the issue of the New York Times’ reporting relating to sexual assault that took place on October 7. Let’s put aside the names like “anti-Semitic” or “anti-Zionist.” The Intercept is an outlet that has displayed, let’s say, extreme skepticism on any coverage that displays Israel in a sympathetic light since October 7.

⏩ It was the subject of a segment I did recently on HillTV’s Rising, where Briahna Joy Gray and I had a strong disagreement about the details of the issue. It was respectful — it’s one of the reasons I’m a fan of the show. But I do think this is an important story to continue exploring, and exposing why certain media outlets seems so intent on diminishing the atrocities committed by Hamas that day.

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MORE TK…

Kara Swisher is out with a new book, and making the media rounds. It’s a tell-all of sorts, that play right into the mystique she’s created for herself. She’s so tough, always willing to ask the most powerful people the hardest questions! But it’s a facade — she has cultivated this persona based on a lie. She avoids going against the consensus in almost every avenue of her coverage — she loved Elon when her friends loved him, and hates him now that they hate him, for example. I’m working on a bigger piece, for down the road. But for now… if you can point me to any opinion Kara has put out publicly that got her pushback from her favored crowd on X, I’d love to hear it. Shoot me an email!

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GREAT MOMENTS IN JOURNALISM

After all the terrible PR about Gemini, exposing its clear anti-white bias, the New York Times found an angle for the headline that even its audience could get outraged about — “people of color in Nazi-era uniforms.”

Thanks for reading, and apologies again about the long break. Back on track…

-Steve