January, 03 2022, 12:30pm EDT
Media Experts to News Networks: Don't Cover Trump's January 6 Press Event Live
Statement from Angelo Carusone, President of Media Matters for America, a nonprofit media watchdog, on Donald Trump's upcoming January 6 press event:
WASHINGTON
Statement from Angelo Carusone, President of Media Matters for America, a nonprofit media watchdog, on Donald Trump's upcoming January 6 press event:
"Donald Trump's January 6 press event should be recognized for what it is: an opportunity for Trump to lie to downplay the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and set up his 2024 presidential campaign. It is critical that news networks do the right thing -- refuse to carry it live, so they do not uncritically promote the lies and disinformation that is generated from Trump's speech in real time.
"Trump has a well-established pattern of lying every time he opens his mouth. He has also had ample opportunities to weigh in on the insurrection - including when Fox hosts begged Trump to take action in real time to stop the riot. To give Trump a platform to spread lies and misinformation on this tragic anniversary would be to repeat the very mistakes that helped foment the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in the first place."
Media Matters' recommendations echo those of New York University professor and author of PressThink Jay Rosen, who in responding to a prompt from a Columbia Business School Adjunct Professor on Twitter, offered recommendations for news outlets:
- No build up, no count down, no empty podium awaiting his arrival
- Don't carry it live; disinformation risk too high
- After it's over, sift for any genuine news and report it
- Do not amplify familiar lies and distortions; they've all been fact checked already
Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.
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Trump has picked Harmeet Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. She has stated that it must be "made unsafe" for hospitals to provide trans care, and frequently shares Libs of TikTok posts. She intends to target trans people in blue states. Subscribe to support my journalism.
[image or embed]
— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) December 10, 2024 at 8:14 AM
Reed continued:
Dhillon's most prominent work includes founding the Center for American Liberty, a legal organization that focuses heavily on anti-transgender cases in blue states. The organization's "featured cases" section highlights several lawsuits, such as Chloe Cole's case against Kaiser Permanente; a lawsuit challenging a Colorado school's use of a transgender student's preferred name; a case against a California school district seeking to implement policies that would forcibly out transgender students; and a lawsuit against Vermont for denying a foster care license to a family unwilling to comply with nondiscrimination policies regarding transgender youth.
Reed also highlighted Dhillon's attacks on state laws protecting transgender people, as well as her expression of "extreme anti-trans views" on social media—including calling gender-affirming healthcare for trans children "child abuse."
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