Speaking of Missing the Point
Legacy media continues to fumble the bag. Fortunately, creators are filling the gaps.
By the time you read this, someone’s already spun it softer.
The Big Take
Legacy media missed the plot—again. And once more, the real journalism came from people who don’t have a newsroom, just receipts.
Let’s run it back.
Trump bombed Iran.
Not “launched airstrikes.” Not “authorized a response.”
He bombed Iran to goose his poll numbers. And the press nodded like a bobblehead on the Resolute Desk. The New York Times buried the motive 74 grafs deep: Trump saw FoxNews fawning over Israel’s strikes and wanted in on the montage. That’s not foreign policy—it’s influencer envy with a body count.
Say it with me: It’s a war. An unauthorized, ego-fueled, primetime war.
Dan Froomkin at Press Watch said what others wouldn’t: illegal, reckless, and fully about Trump’s vanity. When the far right’s Telegram accounts are showing more journalistic skepticism than NBC, maybe we’ve entered upside-down land.
Then came Gaza.
While Israel turned aid convoys into target practice and erased universities off the map, NYT ran an op-ed… begging the left to be nicer to Zionists.
Not to stop the bombing. Not to question the war crimes. Just to tone down the tweets, thanks. Mondoweiss calle it a masterclass in false equivalence.
Trump’s team dropped a memo on the “Office of Remigration."
Axios broke it, but The Handbasket dissected it. Marisa Kabas combed through 136 pages of the blueprint for a government that liquidates refugee offices and launders fascist language through federal reorg.
Three stories. One throughline:
When the powerful whisper, the press leans in.
When the vulnerable scream, the press edits.
Legacy media is obsessed with misinformation on social. But lately, the worst crime isn’t what they got wrong.It’s what they didn’t or won't say.
What happens when the gatekeepers forget they’re supposed to guard something?
Younger audiences aren’t confused. They’re exhausted. They want clarity, not cowardice; accountability, not access. And they’re not tuning in to broadcast news because they think ethnic cleansing is a “complicated” issue.
This latest fumbles are a reminder that media power is shifting: here the big names dropped the mic, independent voices picked it up: sharper, faster, braver. You’re expertise is needed out there, whether you start off with one like, or a million: you are the future.
Speaking of which… Creators who actually are broaching critical issues:
ROOMS WORTH ENTERING
The Paint Explainer recently released a video titled “Every Major Event Happening Today That Isn't Being Covered by Mainstream Media.” In this video (garnering hundreds of thousands of views within days), the creator runs through major global and domestic events largely ignored by corporate news outlets. (YouTube)
a word:
Tiktok failed to load.
Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browserDemocrat Rep. Jared Moskowitz called for the US government to seize TikTok to protect young minds from content critical of Israel, and blamed the Chinese government for turning youth against the Israeli government. The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate discuss his tirade (YouTube)
On 6/23, Jabari Latrell Peoples, an unarmed Black teenager, was killed by Homewood Police in Homewood, AL. He was a security guard sitting in his car when someone called the cops saying he looked “suspicious.” He complied and they shot him anyway. His family was not notified, his body was moved and an autopsy was performed without their consent. The Marshall Project is tracking.
The Handbasket breaks down Alligator Alcatraz (The HandBasket)
@reformwithalphaThe NYC subway is the MTA’s map of inequality. In the Bronx, the 4 train breaks down under pressure, patrolled by police instead of upgraded. In Long Island City, the 7 train rolls in sleek and on time because developers demanded it. Same city. Same fare. Two different class experiences. If you want to see who NYC invests in, follow the subway lines. #reformwithalpha #nyc #bronx #subway #mta #learnontiktok #socialism #classstruggle #fypTiktok failed to load.
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