Greg Tsipusky, a specialist in “post-truth politics” explains why Trump’s base believes his lies.
The media reports what he says, they reports there is no evidence. His base does not read or remember more than what he said and they believe him.
Tsipursky proposes a different way to report honestly and accurately about flat-out lies, like the size of Trump’s inauguration crowd or his loss of the popular vote.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Good point, but if you haven’t seen it, please also read https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/01/27/in-venezuela-we-couldnt-stop-chavez-dont-make-the-same-mistakes-we-did.
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It is also possible that Trump believes his lies. In that case, he thinks he is telling the truth, and the more he repeats and elaborates on this self-rightness, the more emotional fervor he drums up–for himself, and his base. IN any case, Bannon is certain to be pleased if the press continues to poke holes in Trump’s lies.
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I can see the writer’s point; it would be less likely to bolster a pro-Trump point of view if headlines were framed differently. On the other hand, for the hardcore supporters, I doubt that would make a difference.
“…a Qualtrics poll showed that 29% of respondents believe that Trump won the popular vote…”
I’m not citing specific research, but 29% seems like a pretty fair, & frankly, conservative (in the non-political sense) number to indicate the portion of people who’ll dismiss anything negative about Trump, just as they dismissed far more outrageous statements & facts during the campaign.
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Sorry to interrupt, but the World’s Greatest Healthcare Plan has been introduced in the House of Representatives. (Well, at least the greatest so far this year.)
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1275/text
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Without looking, I already know it will cover everyone and cost less.
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But only by looking will you see that the bill is actually entitled “the World’s Greatest Healthcare Plan of 2017.”
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I thoroughly agree with the article, & it applies as well to CNN & MSNBC. But all the hearfelt ltrs to the ed in the world won’t change this as long as the media can only make profit from whipping up emotional frenzy & polarization. What was different ’46-’76 when there were giants of investigative journalism selling nwspprs?– or did I just imagine that.
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bethree5,
I am less cynical about all of the media then you seem to be.
Even the Wall Street Journal is getting critical of the Trump regime. Maddow adds drama to some solid investigative reporting for certain, but she and her staff are following the money and connecting the dots. Last night she tracked which lawyers in Trump’s inner circle were trying to get information from the FBI and other federal agencies about any Russian activity and/or wiretapping. She named them. The lawyers were trying to get special access to information held by agencies that were off limits to Presidential requests for special access…and clearly so, by law.
I pray that the media will keep up the investigative work that is absolutely essential for any thinking citizen and the fate of our nation.
Diane has been doing a remarkable job of curating news worth thinking about and in some cases, acting upon. This blog is only one of her venues for stirring up good trouble. And there are many bloggers doing great work, much of it local but set up for national circulation. The networks for news are not limited to the “major” outlets.
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If I see one more he said she said panel on CNN . I will through up. When did that become news . That format allows false equivalence and alternative facts.
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throw up
Never fails . My birthday is in September . I would love the edit button . Can’t put White Out on my lap top screen.
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It’s called throw ‘it’ on the wall and see if ‘it’ sticks. Now all we hear and read is the wiretap and the Russian investigation has taken a back seat. Just what the DT wanted.
Trouble is, if it comes out he lied, he will be in BIG trouble.
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Given that 45% of GOP voters believe Mr. Obama is Muslim and 67% of the GOP voters are concerned about extremism in the name of Islam, it is not surprising that Mr. Trump has selected Mr. Obama as a target for his twitter rage.
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It’s similar to doing Google (or any) search: most people will only look at the first page of the results. And there are ways of gaming that system so that your site will pop up on that page. We learned about some of those methods in a PD we had as tech liaisons.
Good article. Thanks for the heads up, Diane. Hopefully other periodicals will pay attention.
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